Chevez Goodwin seeks a Hollywood ending to six-year college career

The forward, who has never missed an NCAA game, will be back in South Carolina, where the Trojans play Miami on Friday

Adam Grosbard (OC Register)  —  LOS ANGELES — As he reviewed the tape a day later, Andy Enfield marveled at Chevez Goodwin.

USC was playing Oregon in Eugene, and a defensive rebound turned into a fastbreak for the Trojans. Goodwin slipped through the transition defense and had a clear path to the rim. Guard Kobe Johnson found him and threw the ball ahead. Goodwin grabbed it and went up for the dunk, only to be shoved from behind by Oregon’s Franck Kepnang.

Goodwin’s left leg jammed into the base of the basket. As teammates rushed to the senior forward’s aid, Goodwin helped himself up gingerly, briefly putting his hands on his knees before limping off to the bench.

“When I watched it the next day, I couldn’t believe he got up and played the rest of the game. It was such a violent collision,” Enfield said. “He is one of the toughest basketball players I’ve ever seen.”

But, perhaps more remarkable, is Goodwin’s iron-man streak, having played in every game he’s been eligible for since his freshman season in 2016.

As he stands on the USC practice court, the 6-foot-9 Goodwin is reminded of this streak. He reflexively bends over and knocks on the hardwood.

“It’s been a blessing,” Goodwin says. “My dad told me when I was kid, ‘People don’t get paid for sitting at home, no matter what type of job you got.’ So you gotta go to work every day.”

A SHADOW

Goodwin and his father, Charles, always had a special connection. But it grew after Goodwin’s mother, Ronee, died when Goodwin was 3 years old.

Charles, a former South Carolina State football player, worked as a gym teacher and football coach in Charleston. He often brought his youngest son to work with him in the years following Ronee’s death.

“He became my shadow,” Charles recalled. “I couldn’t be somewhere with somebody else’s (children) and not be with mine. Who’s going to take care of yours like you will?”

Watching his father work, Goodwin gravitated to a variety of sports. He quickly abandoned baseball, but he rotated between basketball, football and soccer for several years. Soccer was an early favorite. As a forward, he could roam the field and enjoy the pace of the game.

But a growth spurt between eighth and ninth grade solidified Goodwin’s athletic future. Soccer coaches moved him to goalie, a position he found dull, so he soon gave up that sport and settled on basketball.

Around the same time, Goodwin and Charles began lifting weights together. Charles adjusted the regimen to make it specific to basketball, and they would spot each other as they worked out.

“It wasn’t unusual for us to be in the gym five times a week working out,” Charles said. “He took to it like a duck to water.”

Goodwin’s durability was on display throughout high school, not missing a game for Hammond High. Given his proclivity for fried chicken and a less-than-healthy diet, Goodwin credits his good fortune with health to his work in the weight room.

“Most basketball players, they run away from the weight room. They don’t want to lift weights because they feel like it’ll make them bigger and slower and sore,” Goodwin says. “I just feel better after I lift weights and I feel like my body is better conditioned to play longer after I lift.”

This season, Goodwin has averaged 11 points and 6.5 rebounds while starting every game. And he’s also left an impression on younger teammates with his constant presence in the gym.

“He’s always here,” guard Max Agbonkpolo said. “He’s not one of those guys that’s just going to sit out practice with a minor injury. He’ll play through anything.”

Not that it’s been painless. Through his college career, Goodwin has dealt with a variety of ailments: knee tendinitis, a tailbone injury as a sophomore that made it difficult to walk, a groin pull. This year, he’s had toe and back issues.

“Kinda take a Wolverine approach to it,” Goodwin said, alluding to the Marvel superhero with healing abilities. “As long as I get some time to recover, I’ll be good for the next game.”

HOMECOMING

No one was more excited than Goodwin when USC’s NCAA Tournament fate was announced. On Friday, the seventh-seeded Trojans (26-7) will face No. 10 Miami (23-10) in Greenville, South Carolina, a 96-minute drive along Interstate 26 from his home in Columbia.

As soon as the news broke, Goodwin’s phone began ringing with people buzzing about his homecoming, or seeking tickets.

He is excited for the chance at his Southern favorites, from Bojangles to Zaxby’s, but also to show his family and friends that his decision to uproot his life and move west paid off before his college career comes to an end.

“It gives me a chance to go back home and play in front of family and friends and prove to everyone that I went out to West Coast and this is what it’s like to play for a West Coast team,” said Goodwin, who plans to live in L.A. following his playing career. “I get to go play in front of my dad and my brother; I haven’t done that in years.”

Only a run to the national championship game and a first-round elimination for Bohannon and Iowa will allow Goodwin to share the title of most games played in a career. But regardless, his iron-man streak will leave its own legacy.

“The one thing that stuck with me the most that my dad told me is you can do something great one day and the next day you’ll be terrible,” Goodwin says. “Everyone remembers what you most recently did, so I try to make sure every time I go out here it’s the same thing every day.”

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Who: No. 7 seed USC vs. No. 10 seed Miami

When: Friday, 12:10 p.m.

Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina

TV: truTV

ocregister.com

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