Seniors forward Janae Fulcher and guard Michaela Pickens take in their last game at Wells Fargo Arena on March 3. Both Fulcher and Pickens hope it was not their game of competitive basketball. (Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)The two seniors who have graduated from the ASU women’s basketball program aren’t ready to put down the rock quite yet.
Redshirt senior Janae Fulcher and senior Micaela Pickens dedicated their many days and long hours to practice and games.
But with the season over, both have found themselves with plenty of time for anything now.
That anything may just be basketball once again.
Fulcher and Pickens said Monday they are both planning on playing overseas after they graduate. The two players made it clear they don’t want to look back and think what could’ve been after college.
“I know that, even if it's something I’m not 100 percent sure about, it’s something I really do want to try,” Pickens said. “I don’t want to regret not making the right decision.”
Fulcher had the same mindset. Also, their coaches have continued to be a resource of teaching and advice.
“I’m definitely on the same boat," Fulcher said. "I don’t really want to have any regrets. We were talking to our coaches about it, and they said if there was a 10 percent chance that you wanted to play, then you should definitely do it. I’m just going to run with it and see where it goes.”
From here on, the two will be working on their individual skills as opportunities approach them.
Pickens, a transfer who spent two years at ASU, can’t help but keep carrying out the values of hard work and dedication in the gym.
“For me, it’s just like, because I’ve had so much free time, I’ve found myself in the gym more so than I’ve ever been,” Pickens said.
Toward the ending stretch of the season, Pickens was driving a lot more to the rim, and it didn’t go unnoticed.
“That’s definitely something we encourage her to do, to be aggressive, because she’s got that great first step,” coach Charli Turner Thorne said during an interview before ASU’s second meeting with UCLA.
Pickens knows it as well. But she also knows where she must develop. As was the case with most of the team, Pickens wants to improve her shooting.
“My strength is making good decisions when I attack the basket,” Pickens said. ”My biggest weakness is shooting right now, and I’d really like to improve on that in the next five months. Just trying to get my shot where I want it to be.”
She shot 31 percent from the three-point line this season.
Fulcher, who led the Sun Devils averaging 11.5 points per contest on 51 percent shooting, wants to polish her offensive game even more.
“I would definitely say working on my range. Just shooting wise,” Fulcher said. “Definitely ball handling and (using) my right hand more.”
Fulcher joked about improving her handles in case she was needed to play the point guard.
She also said her biggest strength is using her left hand.
A big transition for them will be going from mostly practicing with a team to a ton of individual work.
“You go from doing something every day to not doing it at all. It becomes more about yourself in a sense," Fulcher said. "You’re preparing for the bigger world with basketball. It’s not as much team-oriented."
Defending offenses and running plays now takes a backseat to fundamentals and refining individual skills.
“It’s just going to be really about working on your own. So it’s going to be about pushing ourselves,” Pickens said.
Fulcher said she would prefer to play in Greece, Spain or Australia, but she and Pickens said they wouldn’t be opposed to play anywhere else.
Both will be graduating with bachelor degrees in interdisciplinary studies. Even with years of basketball still to come, Fulcher and Pickens will be ready when their athletic careers come to an end.
“I do enjoy working with kids, so I would like to be a child counselor or anywhere in that career realm,” Pickens said.
Journalism may be in the future for Fulcher.
“I kind of want to go into broadcasting or a media relations type of thing,” Fulcher said.
Whatever path confronts these two, there’s no doubt they will take with them the values they have learned from the ASU basketball program.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
