Nate Pickens had high hopes for last season.
Upon transferring to BYU from UC Riverside, the senior guard envisioned himself playing a key role for the Cougars in their most highly-anticipated campaign in school history. Being part of a deep NCAA tournament run was his prime focus. It would be the perfect conclusion to his college career.
But Pickens’ season was over before it even began.
During summer practices a year ago, Pickens suffered what he believed to be a minor ankle injury. He took it easy for a few weeks, but when he got back on the court, he further aggravated the ankle to the point of torn cartilage, requiring season-ending surgery in early November.
Thus, Pickens watched from the sidelines as other injuries to his teammates and defensive struggles caused the Cougars to underachieve relative to their preseason hype. He often couldn’t help but feel like BYU’s fortunes would be better if he was available.
But rather than breed bitterness, such hypotheticals lit a fire under Pickens, and he vowed to turn the first major health setback of his life into fuel for his future return.
“It was definitely tough, especially mentally, having never gone through something like that,” Pickens told the Deseret News of his injury. “It was supposed to be my last year. I was a senior and I had a lot of goals for myself. I knew I wanted to have a really good year, and with the team we had, I wanted to make a good impact on BYU and help us have a better year than (going to the Sweet 16 in 2025).
“I was kind of bummed out, but going through the year, I just took it as a learning experience and just sat back to see how much I could take in from being at this level in the Big 12 and around all these good players, like AJ (Dybantsa), Rob (Wright III) and Richie (Saunders). So honestly, it was a blessing in disguise.”
Pickens, who is now a full participant in BYU’s summer practices, may not have expected to still be playing college basketball at this point, but he’s grateful to be in Provo and has no regrets about his transfer decision from May of 2025.
Furthermore, Pickens says he never once considered leaving BYU during the offseason, remaining committed to someday donning a Cougars jersey once his health permitted.
“I knew I wanted to play this level and I had no reason to go anywhere else, I just wanted to be here,” Pickens said. “The love (the fans) showed me, and with (Kevin Young) and the whole staff and just the belief they have in me, it just felt like it was the right place to be.”
As a junior at UC Riverside in 2024-25, Pickens averaged 9.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting just shy of 40% from 3-point range, even pouring in 18 points against his future school in December 2024 at the Marriott Center.
“He’s a tenacious defender, he can guard with the best of them and guard in a lot of different ways,” said Wright of Pickens. “He’s super athletic, and he’s starting to get that athleticism back.
“It’s just great to see because he’s a great guy. He can shoot the ball well, really well off the dribble and catch-and-shoot. I think Cougar Nation is going to get a big surprise when he gets on the court.”
Since joining the Cougars, the 6-foot-3 Pickens has worked to make quicker decisions as a ball-handler and become a more aggressive rebounder. Given BYU’s weaknesses last year, however, his “3-and-D” skillset will perhaps prove most valuable as a bench weapon for Young, especially considering the immense pride Pickens takes in his defense.
“I just feel like ever since I was young, my mindset was just wanting to stop whoever the best player is, wanting to guard him and just not letting people score on me,” he said.
“It’s always been a mindset of mine, and as the years have gone by that’s always been my role to go guard the (opponent’s) best player, and that jump starts my game.”
Pickens says he looks up to NBA veteran Jrue Holiday, a two-time All-Star guard who has made six All-Defense teams and is among the premier and most versatile “3-and-D” players of his era.
In the past five years, Holiday has been the final ingredient for championship squads in Milwaukee and Boston, and Pickens loves the idea of becoming a similar winning-obsessed glue guy for BYU.
“(I want to be) someone who can do all the little things, like guard the best player defensively, use physicality and definitely shoot it,” Pickens said.
“I just want to be a player who coaches can trust to make the right plays, count on to lead on and off the court, and just bring guys up and keep the team together.”
Being that type of player will require constant effort and intention as a leader — something the self-described “quiet” Pickens is working to accomplish after seeing where he could have done more in the past.
“I think I can really connect with players, but just being a vocal leader more on the court is probably where I just want to step up, just being more vocal and just keeping the guys together, especially when we’re going through adversity,” Pickens said.
“... It was just hard to bring the guys together when we were going through adversity (last year), when we were just getting down. I feel like we’ve just got to keep bringing each other up, especially when we’re going through hard things, so I’ll just be more vocal on that.
“... I just want to win as a team, and have a better year than we did last year. I think this team can go really far, and I can impact the winning.”
As for his individual goals, Pickens is looking to be one of the Big 12’s best bench players and potentially earn conference Sixth Man of the Year recognition, but everything is secondary to his main driving motivation — winning at BYU.
“Last year we didn’t have that much depth after all the injuries, and I feel like we could use some guys that can come in and make an impact right away off the bench ... if that’s my role, I’ll just embrace it and be one of the best six or seven players that coach needs.
“... We have some good team chemistry already, and I’m just excited to give everything I’ve got and just be the player that the coaches and my teammates need me to be and just impact winning any way I can.”
