The Lawrence Technological (Mich.) University athletic department names Joshua Pickens to lead the men’s basketball program, athletic director Scott Trudeau announced Monday morning.
“Coach Pickens comes from an NAIA playing and coaching background and he will be a great asset to our team,” said Lawrence Tech Athletic Director Scott Trudeau. “His energy and hard work will be a perfect match for our department. He has a tremendous amount of experience recruiting and has worked with some very good teams. I am confident that will transition well with getting our basketball team competitive again in the near future.”
Joshua Pickens is the second LTU men’s basketball coach in the modern era, joining Lawrence Tech Blue Devils for the 2017-18 season after serving as an assistant coach at Midland University in Nebraska the last two years.
Pickens spent two years as an assistant coach at Midland. While on that staff, the team went 16-14 during his first year and improved to 21-10 in his second year. Midland made the national tournament in 2016-17 and as they finished in second place in the GPAC.
Before Midland, Pickens was an assistant coach at Ashford University where he helped recruit two All-Americans and numerous All-Conference selections as the Saints made the NAIA DII National Championship Tournament three times, advancing to the Round of 16 in 2015. He was a member of the coaching staff all five years that Coach Drake was at the helm as Ashford posted a combined 108-55 record.
Pickens, a native of Rockford, Illinois, began his collegiate playing career at Rock Valley Junior College before transferring to Ashford University for his junior season. At Rock Valley he was a two-time First Team All-Conference selection. Following a two-year career at Ashford, where he was named Team MVP as a senior, Pickens joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant in the 2010-11 season.
Pickens earned his bachelor’s degree in December of 2009 from Ashford before obtaining his Master’s in Education and Public Policy while working as a graduate assistant.
