Basketball Coaches Sports Spectrum Podcast

SS PODCAST: Ashland women's coach Kari Pickens on winning titles, walking with Jesus

By Jason Romano Aug 7, 2023
Kari Pickens in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Ashland University)

THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST
WITH JASON ROMANO, FEATURING KARI PICKENS

Kari Pickens is the women’s basketball head coach at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. In 2022-23, she led her team to a perfect 37-0 record and the NCAA Division II national title. She is the first woman to win a D-II basketball title as a player (2013), an assistant coach (2017) and a head coach. All three championships came at Ashland.

Following the 2022-23 season, Pickens was named Women’s Basketball Coaches Association D-II Coach of the Year, becoming the first woman to earn both WBCA Coach of the Year and Player of the Year honors, and the first coach in any NCAA division to be both WBCA Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year.

She was named head coach at Ashland prior to the 2018-19 season after serving as an assistant following her graduation in 2013. She was a two-time WBCA National Player of the Year and a two-time WBCA first-team All-American.

Today, we talk to Kari Pickens about shining the light of Jesus in coaching, the struggle in giving glory to God, the importance of prayer walks, and the lessons in finishing the season undefeated with a national title.

RELATED PODCASTS:
– Matt Roth, Blackhawk Christian H.S. basketball coach
– Patty Gasso, Oklahoma Sooners Head Softball Coach

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