Donald Pickett enters his 14th season as head coach for Northwestern State in 2022 with eight winning season in the last nine years and the NSU record holder with 336 career victories, seventh most in Southland Conference history.
He has five 30-win seasons and guided the Lady Demons to three Southland Conference titles (2013 and 2014 tournament championships and 2015 regular season title) and two NCAA Tournaments (2013 and 2014).
The Lady Demons posted their fourth straight winning season under Pickett in 2021, the second time accomplishing the feat and matching the best such streak since Pickett took over the program.
In 2019, NSU (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 sophomores start at least 20 games with three of his four pitchers being underclassmen or newcomers.
NSU has made eight postseason trips in 12 seasons (not including 2020 where there was no postseason).Â
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 of the Year.
Pickett became the Northwestern State softball’s all-time winningest coach with a 6-5 victory against Stephen F. Austin early in the 2018 season.
Pickett is known for his offensive prowess, and his players own six career batting statistics and litter the top-five charts.
Kellye Kincannon captured three career hitting marks and shares another with Cassandra Barefield. Brittney Jones and Brittany Virgoe each own a category.
Eight of Pickett’s last 10 teams have had winning or even records after starting 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 contender by 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 regular season conference title was NSU’s first since 2000.
From 2013-15, NSU posted a 106-55 record (.658), the second-best winning percentage in any three-year window in program history.
The 2015 team had the best conference season of any NSU softball squad, posting a 22-3 league record to finish 36-18. The top-seeded Lady Demons fell in the championship game of the 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 of the Year). For his efforts, Pickett was named SLC Coach of the Year for the second time (also winning in 2013).
In 2013 and 2014, NSU stormed to SLC Conference tournament titles 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 off Houston in a 7-6 loss. Nine Lady Demons were named to the All-Southland squads with six being selected for the 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.Â
In 2013, Northwestern State found itself in similar circumstances. As they did in 2014, the Lady Demons took second place in the regular season after a hot finish to the season.
The squad made an NCAA Tournament appearance in the Baton Rouge Regional and played a nail-biter against Super Regional qualifier UL Lafayette.
Pickett was voted Coach of the Year honors 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 brink of a Women’s College World Series berth.
At Chattanooga State, Pickett was part of a staff that led the team to three top-five finishes in the NJCAA along with three regional and conference championships.
Working for five seasons under coach Frank Reed at Chattnooga, Pickett helped the Mocs advance within one win of the World Series. The Mocs had an overall 210-126 record while picking up three Southern Conference championships before Pickett joined coach Wendy Thees at Memphis following the first year of softball for the Tigers.
Also serving as assistant to Reed at Chattanooga State CC for three seasons, Pickett helped post a 151-27 record, including a 62-3 mark in 2001. A year earlier, Pickett was part of the National Fastpitch Coaching Staff of the Year, and in 2002, Pickett was part of the 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.
In Pickett’s first season as assistant coach, the 2001 Lady Mocs opened the season with back-to-back no-hitters and knocked off top-25 teams in Ohio State and Baylor, rolling to a 44-15 record while never dropping more than two games in a row. The Lady Mocs posted two upset wins over top-seeded and No. 12 ranked Florida Atlantic in the NCAA Regionals. UTC then just missed capturing a berth in the World Series after narrow losses to Georgia Tech and Florida State.
Donald is married to Paige Pickett. Daughter Ainsley and son Jacob were both born in Natchitoches.
