College basketball: FGCU's Brandon Goodwin had a scorching NBA Summer League run

There's a good amount of NBA experience on the Florida Gulf Coast University men's basketball staff, and the belief that former Eagles guard Brandon Goodwin actually has a legitimate shot at the top professional level picked up loads of steam in Summer League play.

First-year coach Michael Fly began his for-pay career as the video coordinator for Charlotte when he served in that role in 2006-07 for then-Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

"He got comfortable, and the more comfortable you get, the longer the leash becomes," said Fly of Goodwin, who played in all 10 televised games this month for Memphis -- which is, not coincidentally coached by J.B. Bickerstaff, Bernie's son who was an assistant when Fly was at Charlotte -- in the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues. "And then he started to look like he did in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

"He looked like one of the best players on the court."

FGCU assistant Joey Cantens was on San Antonio's Summer League staff. After the first time he saw Goodwin play in person, Cantens called his new boss.

"Man, Brandon belongs on that court, Fly," Cantens said.

The muscled-up Goodwin, the reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year who is listed at 6-foot-2 although 6-0 seems a stretch, sure did. Playing point guard and coming off the bench, Goodwin poured in an average of 12.0 points (second to only Wayne Selden's 18.5 among the Grizzlies) in 21.6 minutes. He shot 37.5 percent from the field, but made 38.5 percent of his 26 3-point attempts and 77.8 percent of his 18 free-throw tries.

None of that exactly floored Fly.

"I'm not surprised because I know what a competitor he is and I know what a good player he is," said Fly, who also worked at Florida State and said Goodwin compares favorably with any guard he's been around. "I'm just glad the situation presented itself because there are a lot of guys who are really good and you wonder why that guy didn't make it. A lot of times it wasn't the right fit or he didn't get the right opportunity. So I'm happy for Brandon that he got an opportunity to excel and show what he's capable of doing."

The time of his life: FGCU's Brandon Goodwin

The Daily News has not been able to reach Goodwin since he left FGCU, but his tweets have consistently shown bravado. After his Las Vegas run, he tweeted: "First summer league action complete... great experience looking forward to the future!!"

The Norcross, Georgia, native who played two seasons at Central Florida before transferring to FGCU also averaged 2.6 assists -- against 2.1 turnovers -- and 2.6 rebounds. He had eight steals.

"He fits the NBA style," Cantens said. "He really was running the Grizzlies' offense. He was running the team and it looked like he fit in at that level. He was a facilitator. He was getting around guys and getting other people shots. And he looked very comfortable as a creating point guard.

Basketball: FGCU's Goodwin in NBA Summer League

"He was positive. He was high-energy. He was playing hard. I was super-impressed. I watched him last year with FGCU and he looked more like a scorer and a guy trying to get his. And with the Grizzlies he looked like a point guard that can make an open shot."

Goodwin went off in his last two games. During the Summer League quarterfinals, Goodwin had team-high 21 points -- 8 of 16 from the field, 3 of 6 from behind the 3-point line, 2 of 2 free throws -- in an 82-73 win against Philadelphia last Sunday.

In a semifinal loss against Portland the next night on ESPN2, Goodwin torched the Trail Blazers for a game-high 27 points in 28 minutes. He made 9 of 20 from the field and had three assists. He made back-to-back 3-pointers to cut a big deficit to four points with 20 seconds left.

"I think he was really smart in that he didn't come out of the gate trying to score 20 a night," Fly said. "He fit in. He got the ball to the open guys. He made the right plays in pick and roll. A huge key was he didn't turn the ball over."

Goodwin, who easily holds FGCU's career scoring average at 18.5 points per game and had tryouts with Memphis and Atlanta before Summer League play tipped, put his name into the NBA draft then pulled it out before his senior season. He attended the Portsmouth Invitational NBA pre-draft camp in April. He wasn't drafted, but he had been realistic about that heading in.

"Probably won’t get drafted tonight but everybody’s path is different. I know I’m made for it, I’ll get there‼️" Goodwin tweeted.

Goodwin, who no longer is under contract with Memphis, has three possible quick paths to the NBA, which will employ 60 more players next season. He most likely will at the very least get a training camp invitation. Anything could happen there. And it's hard to imagine him not becoming the second Eagle (Sherwood Brown was the first) to score a G League (former NBA Development League) contract if it comes to that.

Basketball: FGCU guards drawing rave reviews

He also could score an important two-way contract for those who will take up the 16th and 17th spots on NBA teams. Those players can spend up to 45 days with their NBA team while bouncing back and forth to the G League affiliate. No other team can touch those players while they are under the two-way contact that will pay $75,000 as opposed to a one-way G League salary of just $26,000. Because the time spent with an NBA team is based on the minimum salary, a two-way player who spends 45 days with an NBA team could make upwards of $300,000 next season.

Fly believes Goodwin has a legitimate chance at a two-way deal.

"He's proved that he's good enough to do that," Fly said. "Now it's just got to be the right fit, the right opportunity."
 
After Goodwin lit up Portland, he got a fair amount of Twitter play.

"I'm a Brandon Goodwin fan. At the very least, he's earned a training camp invite and a ticket to Southaven (Mississippi, where the Memphis G League affiliate Hustle are based) in my book," tweeted Peter Edmiston, a Memphis sports talk radio host who also writes about the Grizzlies for the Commercial Appeal.

Someone with the Beale Street Bears fan site devoted to the Grizzles tweeted: "So, we all agree that Brandon Goodwin should get a Memphis Grizzly two way contract?"

Despite the big lack of height, Goodwin seems perfect for the more free-wheeling NBA game. As Fly pointed out, he thrives in the often wide-open spaces.

"In college, they can sit on what we call the midline or the helpline, and if you beat your first defender, the secondary defender is standing right there in the paint," Fly said. "Well, in the NBA there's defensive three seconds, so they can't do that. In college, when Brandon beat somebody there was somebody sitting there waiting on him. Now he's either got a layup or a wide-open kick-out for a jump shot.

"And college basketball is very system-oriented. In the NBA, a lot of it is one or two quick hits into some type of pick and roll. And obviously Brandon excels in the pick and roll as a passer, a ball-handler and scorer."