Goins gets tough

By Mike Griffith
Published Saturday, November 7, 2009

Tennessee junior college transfer Melvin Goins not only goes with the flow, he likes to add to it, too.

Goins' personality is befitting of a point guard, to be sure.

"I'm a mellow type of person, so all of this suits me,'' said Goins, who along with senior Bobby Maze will be charged with regulating a talented, veteran basketball team this season.

Goins arrived in Knoxville in August a power pack, chiseled, quick and with a skill to advance the ball upcourt like few others.

A true point guard, his coaches like to say.

And a competitor.

Goins was in the throws of a healthy battle for the starting point guard duties when he was forced to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery a month ago.

The prognosis was that it was the type of injury that could keep Goins out five weeks.

Goins was back in less than three weeks, jumping into the fray just as the Vols hit their most difficult stretch of preseason work - four consecutive days of what coach Bruce Pearl calls "contact" practices.

"Look at that guy,'' Pearl said at practice. "Melvin is tough. How many other guys would even be out here?''

Goins was on the sidecourt watching a UT practice two hours after undergoing the surgery. So much for the doctor's parting orders at the hospital for him to go home and get some rest . . .

"I've got to be here with my team,'' said Goins, still groggy from the pain medicine.

It hasn't been an easy road for Goins, from the time he moved from San Diego to Texas to finish his high school years, to his freshman Mid-American Conference season at Ball State and then back to California for a year of junior college where he earned his conference's player of the year honor.

"This is business for me,'' Goins said. "But I like it here in Knoxville, a lot.''

Pearl said Goins is one of the more reserved players he has run across, but he has been worth getting to know.

"Melvin is quiet,'' Pearl said. "But when he's around people he's comfortable with, he can be the funniest guy in the room.''

Q: The teammate who makes you laugh most is ... ?

A: "Gotta be Brian Williams. He's a character, and he always has a joke for every situation.''

Q: What opponent do you look forward to playing the most this season?

A: "Kansas. Sherron Collins is a special point guard.''

Q: What road trip are you looking forward to the most?

A: "St. Thomas. I've been there before, and it's beautiful.''

Q: Do you have a hidden talent?

A: "Football. I led San Diego County in rushing yards as a freshman.''

Q: Favorite food?

A: "Crab legs. We'd get fresh ones when I was growing up in San Diego.''

Q: Worst sports memory?

A: "My freshman year of college (at Ball State), all if it. It was a losing season, and I hate to lose. The coach I signed with had left, and it was all downhill from there.''

Q: What do you plan to do after your basketball career is over?

A: "I'd like to be an entrepreneur of some kind, maybe a travel agent. I love to travel."

Q: My game is like . . . whose?

A: "I watch a lot of basketball. My favorite player is Baron Davis. But yeah, I play like Byron Eaton. When I was a freshman in high school, he was a junior, and I played up an age group and played under him. I practiced with him a lot.''