Former Ashland University standout Kari Pickens (Daugherty) recently took over the reins of her alma mater as the new women's basketball coach during the 2018-19 season. Transferring to Ashland from Division I Dayton after her sophomore year in 2011, Pickens put together one of the best back-to-back seasons as a player in Division II women's basketball history after playing on two national championship games and becoming the Division II national player of the year two seasons in a row. 

After an impressive two year career at Ashland, Kari Pickens took her talents to Perth, Australia where she played two seasons professionally for the Lakeside Lighting and was the teams Most Valuable Player, averaging 21.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game (goashlandeagles.com). 2aDays sat down with Coach Pickens to get her perspective on the recruiting process as a former athlete, how she evolved her game to play professionally, qualities she looks for in a recruit and the best ways to get on a coach's radar.

Edited by Caroline Kurdej

* Originally published on November 18, 2019, by Karlee Pireu