On Wednesday evening behind the half-closed doors of North Star Charter’s gymnasium, former quarterback Cody Pickett stood near center court, coaching his boys basketball team.

The 31-year-old graduate of Caldwell High, the all-time leading passer at the University of Washington and a former player with the San Francisco 49ers, relayed important points to his team, then jumped in to play defense during a scrimmage.

“Cody is by far the best coach I’ve ever had in all sports, really,” North Star senior guard Anthony de Vera said. “He’s serious and he takes it seriously.

“I think it’s weird that he comes from playing in the NFL to coach North Star, but he loves the game and he cares about us.”

Pickett doesn’t have to be at the tiny 2A school off Linder Road in Eagle. He certainly doesn’t have to coach basketball, one of the four sports he excelled at in high school, including being voted the Idaho Statesman’s All-Idaho Player of the Year in 1999.

He could have returned for a fifth season in the Canadian Football League, where he had offers from several teams, he said.

But after marrying his wife, Carleigh, in May of 2010 and welcoming a baby boy, Cash, in May of 2011, Pickett decided he was done with football.

“I had some great offers, and just thought, ‘You know what, I’ve had enough,’ ’’ he said. “I want to be home. I’m so sick of being gone. Football is great. It’s been great to me. I have a lot of great relationships from it, but there is no stability.

“I could have got back up there and I could have got hurt. I could have been released. … Having some consistency in my life is awesome.”

The North Star basketball team is one of the biggest beneficiaries of Pickett’s life-changing decision. The Huskies are 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the 2A Western Idaho Conference after Thursday’s 44-37 victory over Marsing.

“I’ve played at all different levels from high school to college to the Rose Bowl,” said Pickett, the son of former Boise State quarterback and world champion and Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame cowboy Dee Pickett.

In addition to the bloodlines, the younger Pickett also played for coaches Rick Neuheisel and Keith Gilbertson at Washington, where he still holds school records for career passing yards (10,220), career touchdown passes (55), career completions (821), career attempts (1,429) and single-season passing yards (4,458).

In his first year with the 49ers, Pickett played for coach Dennis Erickson.

“I feel like I have so much knowledge, and I am as competitive as you can be,’’ Pickett said. “This is kind of my way to get my competitive drive, and I want to share my info with the kids.’’

Pickett began his basketball coaching career in the fall of 2007 when he signed up to coach Team 208, a local club program for girls and boys. For three more seasons, he juggled his winter coaching duties with life as a quarterback in the CFL.

The pull to stay closer to his Treasure Valley roots intensified over the summer of 2011 when Cash was born, and he landed the opportunity to partner in an insurance company.

Suddenly, the idea of staying in Idaho seemed right.

He coached several of North Star’s boys players through the Team 208 program, and was offered the varsity job at the nine-year-old charter school in June. He wasn’t daunted by the idea of taking on a team that was 6-14 the previous season and was in just its third year of existence.

In fact, he’s making it look easy.

With his wife and son in the stands, Pickett spent the majority of Thursday’s game on his feet, shouting out instructions and clapping or clenching his fist with excitement.

In timeouts, he was animated and encouraging.

“Sometimes they might look at me and say, ‘Why is he so hyped up? Why is he so crazy?’ ” Pickett said.

He says his enthusiasm comes from his own experiences as a high school athlete. He competed in football, basketball, golf and rodeo at Caldwell, where he graduated in 1999. His high school basketball coach, Ron Fortner, is now a volunteer assistant for Pickett at North Star.

“Truly, out of all my sports experience, I really enjoyed high school the best,” Pickett said. “When you get to college, it’s every week playing in the Pac-10. It’s like, ‘Wow, you’ve got USC this week.’ You finally beat USC, now you’ve got Oregon coming to town. There’s no break. You do good, well, you’re supposed to do good. …

“The pressures and the playing of it, it is completely different than high school. High school, to me, was just an all-around awesome experience so I am just trying to do the best I can to deliver that message.”

North Star players are beginning to believe they can be competitive in the 2A WIC, which is home to reigning 2A state champion Melba and runner-up New Plymouth.

“He says everyday at practice that he quit football because his true passion is basketball, and that’s why we are all here,” North Star senior post Teo Ledesma said.

“We are all here to get better. We are all here to make things count. We’re here to make noise. Our goal is to win the state championship, and with Cody here with us every night, Saturdays, two hours a day, it’s possible.”

With Thursday’s victory, the Huskies surpassed their combined win total from the first two years of the program.

And the offers are already coming in from other schools looking to land the rookie coach.

“I don’t know if I am going to be able to retain him for much longer,” North Star Athletic Director Dan Conti said.

For now, Pickett is content to coach basketball, sell insurance and change diapers.

“I don’t want to leave the Valley. This is home. I started my company and that is just getting better and better,’’ he said. “I want to be in the Valley and we’ll just see where it goes. I want to be a high school coach. …. Coaching at the college level is a grind and the NFL is even more. Those guys are 22 hours a day in the office working.

“High school basketball is really my passion. It’s really what I want to do. We’ll see, you know, we’ll see where it takes me.”

Rachel Roberts: 377-6422

CODY PICKETT PLAYING HISTORY

Caldwell High, graduated in 1999

Washington, Pac-10, 1999-2003

San Francisco 49ers, NFL (seventh-round draft pick in 2004), 2004-05

Houston Texans, NFL, released before the 2006 season

Rhein Fire, NFL Europa, 2007

Oakland Raiders, NFL, released before the 2007 season

Toronto Argonauts, CFL, 2007-09

Montreal Alouettes, CFL, released before the 2010 season

Calgary Stampeders, CFL, 2010