Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Florida Gulf Coast JR PG Brandon Goodwin

Now that teams have started to claim auto-bids we kick off our “Tourney Talk” series of interviews with players who you will see on TV next week.  On Sunday FGCU beat North Florida 77-61 in the Atlantic Sun title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Eagles made it the NCAA tourney last March before losing to North Carolina but are back this year for the 3rd time in 5 years.  1 of the keys to their success this year has been JR PG Brandon Goodwin, who was named conference tourney MVP.  Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Brandon about transferring to FGCU and what it feels like to use mean tweets as motivation.

You began your career at UCF where you led the team with 1.2 SPG as a sophomore: what is your secret for playing defense? Just reading the passer’s eyes whether I am on the ball or off the ball. You can tell when a big guy is going to try and put the ball down on the floor: you just have to make a quick read.

On January 6, 2015 you scored a career-high 30 PTS in a 79-78 OT win at Houston, including the final 13 PTS of the game that saw you make a 30-footer with 2 seconds left in regulation and the game-winning step-back 3-PT shot with 1.1 seconds left in OT: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Yes: I had a really good warmup session and was feeling very good before the game. I remember telling my teammates that I liked the rims/lighting in that arena. I was feeling really confident throughout the game and my teammates basically put the game in my hands to win and told me to try and score.

That summer you decided to transfer: why did you choose to leave, and what made you pick FGCU? My coach called me in and said that it was best if we parted ways, but never gave me a specific reason. I was fine with it and chose FGCU because they had recruited me out of high school. When my recruitment opened back up the 1st person to hit me up was assistant coach Michael Fly, and I knew that this was the place where I wanted to be.

You play for Coach Joe Dooley: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He is a tough coach but knows what he is talking about. He is a hard worker and wants the best for his players. We are similar in that we do not take no for an answer so we are very compatible. He has a lot of experience so I definitely listen to everything he says.

You had a brutal schedule to start the year with 4 games against possible tourney teams (Florida/Texas-Arlington/Baylor/Michigan State): which of these teams impressed you the most? I would say Baylor: they were just an all-around good team with good size and a really good PG in Manu Lecomte. Johnathan Motley is a long wingman who just makes a lot of plays and will be a pro.

After sitting out last year you led the team this year with 18.2 PPG (which set the school’s single-season record)/4 APG this year: how are you able to balance your scoring with your passing? You just have to let the game come to you. If I can get in the lane and have a wide-open teammate I will kick it to them, but if the defense does not collapse then I will shoot it.

Your team leads the nation in points in the paint, which you helped add to by shooting 52.1 FG%: what kind of defense does your team play it best against, and how will you keep scoring inside next week if you face a team that has a 7’ shot-blocker? I think we play our best against a man-to-man defense because our guards can penetrate and get into the lane: we do not shoot a ton of threes. If we have to face a 7-footer that will be to our advantage because we can get him in high ball screens.

In the Atlantic Sun title game on Sunday you scored a team-high 19 PTS to help beat North Florida 77-61 and clinch an automatic bid: what did it mean to you to be named conference tourney MVP, and how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? It means a lot to me…but the most important thing was winning the championship. I actually thought that I played poorly in the 1st half due to missing a lot of shots, but my teammates got me pumped up in the 2nd half and I played really well, just like I knew that I could.

You mentioned on Twitter last weekend that your had a tweet as your wallpaper which said, “Brandon Goodwin and Daiquan Walker might be the WORST guards to EVER play for @UCF_MBB!! Can’t wait until they are out of the rotation!”: how were you able to use such a mean-spirited attack as motivation without letting it get you down? I grew up with people saying crazy things to me, even in joking ways during AAU ball where guys would just try to make me mad, but I never let it get to me. When I saw that specific tweet I just decided to show the guy that I was not the worst guard on the team. I did not talk about it a lot with people but did tell my mom that I would try to use it to my advantage. I know there are trolls out there on the Internet but it is up to you about how you make use of it.

What kind of seed do you think that you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think that you are going to get? I think we deserve a 12 or 13 seed. We did not play to our full capability during the year but have finally started to turn things up and I think that we can match up with anyone in the country.