After recently committing to a new prep program, now Dream City Christian Prep's 6-foot-4 senior combo-guard Nate Pickens has committed to a college program as well. While gearing up for a nice senior season on a very loaded ball club at Dream City, Pickens can now rest assure after giving a verbal pledge on Thursday evening to UC-Riverside Head Coach Mike Magpayo and his men's basketball coaching staff.
After receiving numerous scholarship offers for himself early in the recruiting process as a sophomore, and not seeing much playing time during his junior season at top-rated AZ Compass Prep, it has all worked out nicely for Pickens. After a good summer showing while playing for the heavily Adidas-sponsored Team Harden club program, Pickens revived his college recruitment and now has found a nice college home for himself.
Pickens previously held scholarship offers from such programs as Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, UC-Santa Barbara, Southern Utah and Robert Morris - all offers he received before his junior season.
Pickens formerly attended Paradise Honors High School for his first two years of high school in the AIA, before changing schools and going to AZ Compass Prep, for the opportunity to improve as a player and play on a national schedule. While AZ Compass would become the #1 overall ranked high school program in the country during the season, and finish among the top #3 programs in America, Pickens would not see much playing time for the team.
Pickens is an athletic guard prospect who can impact the game in a variety of ways. He can score from all three levels and might be one of the best pure scorers in Arizona's 2022 Class of players. He can score in a variety of ways on or off the ball, as he can shoot it at a high level, can create off the bounce and he can finish at the rim. He is crafty and plays with good pace. He makes others better with his ability to make plays off the pass. He has a good IQ as well. Nate is also a good defender, as he uses his speed and agility well. Pickens is a very intriguing college prospect for the future with upside. An excellent sleeper guard prospect.
Congratulations to Pickens and his family, as well as his father Freddie Pickens, and the Dream City Christian Prep basketball program on this amazing accomplishment and his future.
