Lamar Stevens Named Preseason All-Big Ten First Team By Jon Rothstein
Despite it being the middle of July, Penn State men’s basketball still managed to make some noise on Monday when college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein tweeted out a flurry of Big Ten rankings.
Lamar Stevens caught plenty of buzz when Rothstein had him among his preseason all-conference first team. The small forward was listed with stars such as Michigan State’s Cassius Winston and Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson, among others.
Stevens was without a doubt the Nittany Lions’ leader throughout the 2018-19 season. The first-team All Big Ten selection led Penn State with 19.8 points per game, while tacking on 7.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Nittany Lion fans rejoiced when the 6’8″ small forward announced he would return to Penn State for his senior season this past May.
Rothstein also released a top-ten list of under-the-radar freshman in the conference, which included incoming small forward Seth Lundy.
The Philadelphia native committed to Penn State this fall after playing at Roman Catholic High School. He’s the fifth player in five years to come to State College from Roman Catholic, following in the footsteps of Nittany Lion stars such as Tony Carr and Stevens. Lundy was the eighth-best player in Pennsylvania according to 247Sports and could certainly make a name for himself early in his college career.
Penn State transfers Curtis Jones and Izaiah Brockington were also mentioned in Rothstein’s rankings. Brockington, a transfer from St. Bonaventure, was among the top-ten Big Ten transfers. Jones, a graduate transfer from Oklahoma State, found himself on the list of five under-the-radar transfers.
Despite finishing with 14-18 a record last season, Penn State landed at the No. 5 spot in Rothstein’s offseason power rankings. The Nittany Lions were ranked well ahead of Michigan and one spot ahead of Wisconsin, two teams that finished third and fourth in the Big Ten last season, respectively.
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