2024 Josh Pickett, a 6’5 guard from Illinois, recently announced that he had added another offer to his list, one that certainly hits home for him. Northwestern, a program just an hour away and one he is familiar with, recently offered Pickett and he dives into it all with Phenom Hoops about the offer, along with what he saw during his recent visit there, and who else has been showing interest his way.
Check out the latest in his recruitment.
Recruitment Update:
Pickett recently made news when he added an offer from Northwestern, a program that is right in his backyard and he is quite familiar with. It was an exciting moment, to say the least, as he is starting to build a solid relationship with the staff.
“It is a great school with great, experienced coaches,” Pickett told Phenom Hoops. “I understand what they are building and think I’ll be able to help the team win games in two years. It’s in my home state and an hour from where I live.”
“Coach Lowery joined the staff not long ago. I heard they were checking me out on the EYBL Circuit but then nothing,” Pickett continued when talking about the relationship he has built with the staff. “When Coach Lowery joined, he said he heard I as a player he had to look into. A few weeks ago, I started talking to Coach Lowery, he visited my open gym at West Aurora, and invited me to a visit, which I took this past weekend.”
So, what did he exactly get to see and do on the visit to Northwestern'
“It was an unofficial, so not much more than a meet/greet,” Pickett said. “However, the visit as great as far as seeing how the team is coached to play. I got to see an intrasquad scrimmage which was great. This is the most important thing to me – how the team is coached to play and what is the player-coach relationship like. Northwestern is great at both. My family and I spent time with all the coaches and spoke a ton with Coach Collins.”
Northwestern now joins his list of offers, which also consists of UIC, NIU, George Washington, San Diego, Eastern Michigan, and Western Illinois.
Pickett has already taken visits as well to UIC and San Diego this past year, while also visiting George Washington and Eastern Michigan last year. He said he enjoyed each and “loved the coaching staffs at all of the schools.”
Interest though continues to build with Pickett, as schools like Stanford, Iowa State, Yale, Dartmouth, Loyola-Chicago, Southern Illinois, Miami (OH), Belmont, Cal Poly, and Lehigh have expressed some type of interest his way.
Upcoming Season (with West Aurora):
“The team is really solid this year. We have a couple of transfers that will make our backcourt better. This will allow me to play more off the ball and show my ability to score at all three levels. I also plan to show more of my athleticism this year (rebounding and above-the-rim play). Everyone knows I shoot the three but I’m planning to showcase my playmaking and facilitating as a combo guard. I’m also planning to become a better leader for my team, be more vocal.”