PICKETT PICKED Greenhills basketball is going in a new direction by hiring new Varsity Head coach Jason Pickett. With lots of prior experience, Greenhills looks forward to good seasons under his coaching and hope to keep the team talented. “He’s awesome, we are really thrilled to have him at Greenhills,” said Ward.

After a deflating loss for the boys basketball team in the district final last season, a decision was made to make a change on the sideline. Coach Jason Pickett has been hired as the new head coach of the team, bringing with him years of coaching experience.

The hire was made by Athletic Director Tom Ward. Ward said that Pickett stood out because of his prior basketball coaching experience.

“We interviewed several people and had very serious conversations with them,” said Ward. “But once we talked with Coach Pickett, we knew this was the guy we wanted. I’m so excited about him. After we got him, a number of people said ’You got Coach Pick?’ We were like, ‘Yes, we did.’” 

In replacing longtime head coach Andrew Wright, Pickett will have big shoes to fill in his first year coaching the varsity team.

“There is always a transition,” said Ward. “When you have a new coach come in, they are going to do things differently.”

Pickett said he is very excited about his new role at Greenhills and is also happy to be coaching here. He enters the role with a large amount of coaching experience and loves the game. Prior to helming the Gryphons basketball team, Pickett most recently coached at Ypsilanti High School. He also coached a Saline boys basketball program, the Saline girls varsity basketball team, the Farmington Harrison boys varsity basketball team, and the Saline boys junior varsity basketball team.

“It’s my 30th season coaching basketball, [and] I love doing it,” said Pickett. “Not counting coaching Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), I’ve coached some AAU basketball over the years [as well].”

Pickett has been around the game of basketball for as long as he can remember.

“I’ve played it [basketball] since I was a kid,” said Pickett. “It was the first team sport I ever played.” 

As a coach, Pickett has a team-first mentality. He focuses on letting the players bond and be able to work together on and off the court. 

“I want the players to steer their ship, whether they play 32 minutes or 0 minutes, I want them to have fun and get the work done,” said Pickett. “I’m looking forward to making a community where guys can come and be a part of.” 

Pickett does have some expectations for his players on his team and prefers certain types of players. He says he likes players who always hustle and put their bodies on the line for the game.

“[I look for] people that are willing and wanting to get better, and have a great attitude,” said Pickett. ”The biggest thing is I love a high motor. I always feel like the high motor gets the loose balls, [the] high motor gets those rebounds that nobody else gets to. Those high motors dive on the floor. They won’t be denied. So people with high motors are great.”

With Pickett’s hire, Sermon Grewal ‘25 has some uncertainty about the season, but is overall positive on how the team plans on moving forward.

“It’s a good fresh start for the team,” said Grewal. “[Pickett] is a good coach with a good vision, [but] he’s coming into a system that is rebuilding after losing nine players. It’s a big culture change.” 

The basketball team has a challenging schedule this season, with games against Loyola, Riverview Gabriel Richard, and two games against Lumen Christi.

“I think we are gonna face a lot of adversity this season, but it will help us grow,” said Grewal.

Coach Pickett has already begun organized practices for the team. In the summer, they had open gyms every day. 

“We have already been doing workouts, so lots of players have good relations with the coach,” said Grewal. “We are already adjusting pretty well.”
Another player and leader on the team is Noah Korley ‘26. He has been playing basketball with Greenhills since freshman year and is very confident about the new season. Korley believes they will be better this year than they were the last.

“We got a lot of new talent coming in from both the coaches and players positions,” said Korley. “We will be ready to go when the season starts.” 

Korley does admit that there will be a culture change and things will be different from last year especially with most of the team being inexperienced.

“We lost a lot of guys from last year, we [only] have 4 guys coming back,” said Korley. “For most of the guys, it will be their first varsity coach, so there will be an adjustment in that sense.” 

Korley has a very positive view of the new coach and is ready for the season to begin. 

“I think Coach Pickett has been a great coach. Helped us a lot. We’ve learned a lot through him and I’m excited for the season to start.”