02-29-2004, 02:07 PM
Duke vs. FSU tonight in Tallahassee
Quote:Pickett's Passion Has Inspired Seminoles
By DOUG CARLSON
Tampa Tribune
Published: Feb 29, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - In two seasons at Florida State, senior guard Tim Pickett might have logged twice the mileage of any four-year basketball player ever to compete for the Seminoles.
Like a tailback who runs 20 yards to gain 5, Pickett has been all over the court for the Seminoles since he arrived from Indian River Community College as one of the first two players Leonard Hamilton recruited when he accepted the FSU job.
The short-but-sweet journey nears its end tonight, when Pickett plays his final home game at FSU, leading the 'Noles against fifth-ranked Duke at the sold-out Leon County Civic Center.
``It's bad that you feel you started something and you're getting everybody's love, and now it's going to be over. I feel like I just got here,'' Pickett said.
``I was just getting to where I felt like I fit in, and I was making this my home. Time flew.''
Time wasn't alone.
Virginia coach Pete Gillen recently compared Pickett to Batman after watching him soar around the civic center in a victory against the Cavaliers that kept alive FSU's hopes for its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998.
It wasn't the first time one of Pickett's performances caused the losing coach to gush over him. What made Gillen's remarks remarkable is that Pickett scored only nine points that night, yet somehow exerted more influence on the game's outcome than any player on the court, through determination and hustle at both ends.
In the FSU student section, they routinely bow to Pickett, or hold signs proclaiming, ``Pickett is Messiah.'' And that was before he scored 30 points in an overtime victory against seventh-ranked North Carolina on Jan. 22 to fully inflate hopes around campus that basketball might become more than a temporary distraction between bowl games and National Signing Day.
Those most enamored, however, are the FSU teammates who learned to forget everything they thought they knew about passion for the game.
``I believe it resurrected something inside of me that I once had,'' FSU senior Michael Joiner said of exposure to Pickett.
``It was actually fun, because looking at him, just doing the things he [does], I felt like, `Man, I used to do the same thing.' ''
Joiner had forgotten while he suffered, along with FSU fans, through two dismal seasons under former coach Steve Robinson. Then Pickett arrived, like a live current, and Joiner started to feel electricity in the air.
``When he first got here he wanted to play basketball, like, right when he pulled in the driveway,'' Joiner said. ``That's something I probably wasn't used to seeing in a while.
``He brings a lot of energy and passion to the game, and it really just inspires his team ... to play as hard as he's playing.''
Unfortunately for Hamilton and the Seminoles, Pickett's influence might not be able to withstand his absence.
``We never had the same kind of energy after he left,'' Indian River coach Mike Leatherwood said. ``When he was here he lifted everybody around him. When he was gone, I found myself constantly using him as an example of how I wanted them to play and practice.
``It's one thing to try and get players to listen. When Tim was out there, they were caught up in how hard he worked, emulating him without realizing it, and that was true in practice as much as it was in games.''
``I'd say the closest to him was LeBron James, because he never gets tired, either,'' FSU freshman Von Wafer said, searching for a former teammate who might have had the same sort of influence on his team as Pickett does. Wafer was James' teammate in two high school all-star games last summer.
Pickett, the first FSU player to lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in steals since Charlie Ward in 1994, originally signed with South Carolina after spending one season at Daytona Beach Community College.
The Southeastern Conference voided the signature because Pickett didn't meet a league rule requiring him to have three consecutive semesters at the junior college before transferring.
Gamecocks coach Dave Odom, a longtime friend, recommended that Hamilton take a look at Pickett.
``I think we have been a good match for each other,'' Hamilton said. ``He needed to be somewhere that needed his ability, and we were fortunate to have a guy that has been able to come in and set a standard of effort and intensity and hard work and confidence that he has brought to our program.''
Pickett leads the ACC in 3- point field goals (3.21 a game), is second in steals (2.46) and is sixth in scoring (16.2).
The two seasons in Tallahassee might have flown by, but he leaves feeling pretty good about what he gave to Hamilton's young program and to Florida State.
``I just gave them my all from Day One,'' he said. ``I told coach I was going to give my all, with a full heart, and that's what I want to be remembered for, just coming out and giving everything I have every time I step between the lines.''