Through a very circuitous route, shooting guard Tim Pickett made his way to Florida State. Little was known about the transfer from Indian River

Community College via South Carolina. But, apparently Leonard Hamilton knew about this shooter who is originally from Daytona Mainland High School.

Pickett burst onto Florida State's court and almost immediately became a fan favorite, not only because of his explosive offensive skills but for his defense as well. Pickett finished the season leading the Seminoles in four separate

categories; scoring average (17.1 ppg), rebounds (5.7 rpg), free throw average (86.5%) and steals (2.8 per game), which led the ACC and was second in the

nation.

Coach Hamilton obviously found a diamond in the rough, as Pickett was a desperately needed element for a squad that lost virtually all of the previous year's scoring. With everything Pickett he to the table, it's not hard to see why he is the unquestioned leader. But, it's that constant smile and his

easygoing charismatic manner, not to mention being the team prankster, that make him a natural for that role.

So, let's take a look a little different at the numbers Pickett generated this past season. Perhaps that will give us a hint at next year. Here's a table of selected statistics from this past season.

Games 1 thru 10 37.0 82.9 30.0 6.8 2.6 3.8 17.3

Games 11 thru 20 36.6 85.0 33.0 6.8 2.6 3.2 17.9

Games 21 thru 29 35.1 84.4 30.8 7.3 2.3 3.3 18.9

Away games 41.2 78.6 33.7 4.8 2.0 2.6 17.3

Home games 35.9 90.9 31.5 6.4 2.2 2.9 16.9

Out of conference games 36.4 84.6 32.7 6.4 2.7 3.6

18.5

ACC games 39.6 88.5 33.3 5.3 1.7 2.3 16.2

Taking a look at the field goal and three-point percentages, the perception is that Tim takes a lot of shots. That perception is pretty much accurate. Among ACC players only North Carolina's Rashad McCants took more shots with 438 to Pickett's 437. But, no one took more three-point shots than Pickett.

JJ Redick of Duke with 238 attempts was second to Pickett's 259.

Pickett takes a lot of shots, no doubt about it. He is fearless about taking them from anywhere on the court. If he didn't make any it would be a different story, but he makes quite a few. His 17.1 ppg average was good enough for sixth in the ACC. And Pickett finished eleventh in the ACC in three-point percentage. As Hamilton said a few times during the season, you take the bad with the

good when it comes to Pickett's shot selection.

Interestingly, Pickett appears to enjoy the road. His best percentages in overall shooting and three-pointers were away from Tallahassee and

especially in ACC games for that matter. That's good because FSU needs to win a league game on the road sometime and his confidence away from the Leon County Civic Center needs to spread to the rest of the team.

A 32-point outing at a neutral site game versus Davidson and 27 points in a losing effort at Wake Forest were the highlights of Pickett's road play.

But, on an overall basis Pickett was very consistent all season long in his shooting. And generally was until the final ten games of the season. In that stretch, he had three games with single digit scoring. The reason? Foul trouble. He fouled out in both the North Carolina and Clemson games, both losses, and scored just eight and seven points respectively. In the Georgia Tech home game he scored only eight points, but thanks to Anthony Richardson's 18 points, that turned into a FSU victory.

Speculation was that fatigue set in and certainly Pickett was a marked man. But, when FSU really needed him late in the season, he turned in solid performances. There was the brilliant 32-point outing in a pasting of Virginia and 22 in the tournament win over Clemson. He followed that Clemson performance, about 12 hours later, with 17 in the tournament loss to the Deacons. That showed that Pickett could overcome the rigors of college basketball and step up to the physical play in the ACC.

In addition to giving FSU a much needed scoring punch, Pickett more than held his own on the board. On a team that desperately needed rebounding, he had his best games down the stretch. Tim collected 11 in the Virginia game previously mentioned, and topped that with 12 in the play-in tournament game.

This is a do-everything kind of player.

Pickett's thievery was as noteworthy as his scoring and rebounding abilities. The second team All-ACC guard was the main reason FSU averaged 9.4 steals per game and finished 16th nationally in this category (2nd in the ACC). It was the second highest average in school history behind the 1977-78 squad led by Tony

Jackson's 2.5 average. Pickett did a little better with a 2.9 per game average.

Lastly, what can you say about Pickett's free throw shooting. He finished second in the ACC with an 86.5% average going 77 of 89 from the line. Now if only a few

more calls would have gone the Seminoles way - unlike the travesty of a call involving Pickett late in the final game of the season.

It is apparent that Pickett feeds off the home crowd shooting an eye-popping 90.9% from the charity stripe in the LCCC. On the road is a different story, but he is still more than adequate with a free throw average of 78.6%.

Can Tim Pickett duplicate or even improve over last year's performance? Well, his shooting could stand some improvement and he will be a marked man. Everyone

in the ACC has heard of him, but with a little better depth thanks to three heralded recruits, and possibly more, Pickett could benefit from more scoring options being on the court with him at the same time. Defensively, he

just anticipates so well, it just doesn't seem possible that much, if any, drop-off will occur. No question Florida State fans are anxious to see Pickett and his teammates return to the court next season.