Donald Pickett

DON ALD P I CK ETT H e a d Coa ch 12th Season Overall (297-293-1) 12th Season at NSU

CHAMPIONS ‘91 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘15 24 Don a ld P ick e t t posted his fifth 30-win season in his 11-yeartenure at Northwestern State as he led a young bunch against a challenging schedule. The 2019 Lady Demons (30-27) won their most overall games, Southland Conference games (15) and league tournament games (two) since taking the regular season title in 2015. He had seven freshmen and sophomoresstartatleast20gameswith three ofhis fourpitchers being underclassmen ornewcomers. Pickett became the Northwestern State softball’s all-time winningest coach toward the beginning ofthe 2018 season and has six winning seasons in the last seven years. His 297 wins represents a turnaround at NSU that includes three Southland Conferencetitles(2013 and 2014tournamentchampionshipsand 2015 regularseason title) as he guided the Lady Demons to two NCAATournaments. NSU has made seven postseason trips in his 11-yeartenure. In 2018, freshman Cayla Jones was selected to the NFCA All-Region First Team, only the third player in school history to earn that honor. Jones followed that with the All-Louisiana Freshman oftheYear. Jones led three all-conference selections in 2019, joined by sophomore E.C. Delafield and juniorEliseVincent. Pickett is known for his offensive prowess, and his players own six career batting statistics and litterthe top-five charts. Kellye Kincannon captured three careerhitting marks and shares anotherwith Cassandra Barefield. Brittney Jones and BrittanyVirgoe each own a category. EightofPickett’s last10 teams have had winning oreven records afterstarting 5-45 in his first season, inheriting a program that had 10 wins in the previous campaign. Pickett rebuilt NSU softball into a perennial Southland Conference championship contenderby winning three league titles between 2013-15. The Lady Demons won an SLC regular season title in 2015 and conference tournament championships with corresponding NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2014. The regularseason conference title is NSU’s first since 2000. From 2013-15, NSU posted a 106-55 record (.658), the second-best winning percentage in any three-yearwindow in program history. The 2015 team had the bestconference season ofanyNSU softball squad, posting a 22-3 league record to finish 36-18. The top-seeded Lady Demons fell in the championship game ofthe conference tournament, preventing three straight NCAA appearances. Freshman pitcher Mikayla Brown was named SLC Pitcher of the Year to headline six all-conference selections, including Kincannon (SLC Softball Student-Athlete ofthe Year). For his efforts, Pickett was named SLC Coach ofthe Year for the second time (also winning in 2013). Atotal of34playershavebeen selected totheAll-Southland Conferenceteamswith 18 All-Louisiana selections. In 2013 and 2014, NSU stormed to SLCConference tournamenttitles with records of 40-15 and 30-22, respectively. In 2014, the Lady Demons appeared in a regional with No. 13 Baylor, Houston and Tulsa. NSU nearly knocked offHouston in a 7-6 loss. Nine LadyDemonswere named to the All-Southland squadswith sixbeing selected forthe All-Louisiana team. Tara McKenney and Kincannon became the first NSU players in more than 10 years to earn All-South Region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Head coach Donald Pickett has led NSU to three Southland Conference titles since 2013 -- two tournmaent titles (2013-14) and one regular season (2015).

In 2013, Northwestern State found itself in similar circumstances. As they did in 2014, the LadyDemons tooksecond place in the regularseason aftera hot finish to the season. The squad made an NCAA Tournament appearance in the Baton Rouge Regional and played a nail-biteragainst SuperRegional qualifierUL Lafayette. Pickett was voted Coach oftheYearhonors on the 2013 All-Louisiana softball team and five Lady Demons were included on the All-Louisiana Team. The 2013 haul of accomplishments included the best winning percentage in the program’s history (.727), the longest winning streak (11) since 1998, the fewest losses (15) since 1983 and the best 20-game start (16-4) since 1990. While restructuring the NSU softball program, he led the charge to provide a reconstructed Lady Demon Softball Complex. The stadium hosted the 2013, 2015 and 2019 SLC tournaments. Before helping establish a new program at Memphis (2006-08) as an assistant, he worked at a pair of highly successful programs in Tennessee-Chattanooga (2001-05) and Chattanooga State Community College (1998-2000). Pickett helped UT-Chattanooga to three NCAA Tournament appearances and the brinkofa Women’s CollegeWorld Series berth. At Chattanooga State, Pickett was part ofa staffthat led the team to three top-five finishes in the NJCAA along with three regional and conference championships. Working forfive seasons undercoach FrankReed atChattnooga, Picketthelped the Mocs advance within one win of the World Series. The Mocs had an overall 210-126 record whilepicking up threeSouthern ConferencechampionshipsbeforePickettjoined coach WendyThees at Memphis following the first yearofsoftball fortheTigers. Also serving as assistant to Reed at Chattanooga State CC forthree seasons, Pickett helped post a 151-27 record, including a 62-3 mark in 2001. A year earlier, Pickett was part ofthe National Fastpitch Coaching Staffofthe Year, and in 2002, Pickett was part ofthe Chattanooga State team that was inducted into the Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame. A 2005 Chattanooga graduate, Pickett is regarded as an excellent recruiter whose expertise in coaching, hitting and defense is recognized nationally. Donald is married to Paige Pickett. Daughter Ainsley and son Jacob were both born in Natchitoches.

THE PICKETT FILE

Pe rson a l Hometown..............................................................................................Whitwell,Tennessee High School...........................................................................................Whitwell High School College....................................................................................Tennessee-Chattanooga, 2005 Family....................................................Wife, Paige; Daughter, Ainsley Elizabeth; Son, Jacob

Coa ch in g H ist or y Northwestern State............................................................................................2009-present Record..........................................................................................................297-293-1 (.503) University ofMemphis (assistant)..............................................................................2006-08 Tennessee-Chattanooga (assistant) ...........................................................................2001-05 Chattanooga Community College...........................................................................1998-2000

H e a d Coa ch Ye a r-by-Ye a r 2009.................................................................................Northwestern State, 5-45; 3-26 SLC 2010.............................................................................Northwestern State, 27-27; 13-17 SLC 2011.............................................................................Northwestern State, 32-25; 15-17 SLC 2012...............................................................................Northwestern State, 19-31; 7-13 SLC 2013...............................................................................Northwestern State, 40-15; 18-7 SLC 2014.............................................................................Northwestern State, 30-22; 15-10 SLC 2015...............................................................................Northwestern State, 36-18, 22-3 SLC 2016.............................................................................Northwestern State, 27-25, 10-17 SLC 2017.............................................................................Northwestern State, 23-33, 12-15 SLC 2018.............................................................................Northwestern State, 28-25, 14-13 SLC 2019.............................................................................Northwestern State, 30-27, 15-12 SLC 11 Years.............................................................................................297-293-1; 142-150 SLC