by Ben Doody
He isn’t the one being interviewed by Sports Illustrated, he isn’t bringing NBA scouts to every Fairfield game, and he isn’t in the midst of a record-shattering season. But he is something that his teammates find just as important.
Five-foot-five-inch senior Tyquawn Goode is the heart and soul of the team.
Growing up in the Springfield Gardens section of Brooklyn, he heard all the talk about how he was too small to succeed on the court. That is, of course, until he got to Grady High School and began to dribble circles around his bigger opponents.
“Here was a five-foot-five kid, playing in one of the toughest parts, not only of New York City, but of the world, and succeeding,” said Coach Tim O’Toole.
O’Toole knew then what Goode could do with the basketball – the And-1 mix tape quality ball-handling and the tenacious defense that his teammates say is unparalleled in college basketball – but he also saw in him the leadership qualities that have made this his team, whether or not he wants to admit it. (He insists that this is “everyone’s team, or if anything, the coaches’ team.)
“This is definitely Ty’s team,” said sophomore guard Michael van Schaick. “Everyone looks up to him. He’s always teaching, always helping someone.”
“It certainly carries the most weight when he says something,” said junior forward DeWitt Maxwell.
By the time he leaves Fairfield in May, the small kid from the Big Apple will have a MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award (he won it last year), more than 430 career assists (423 at week’s end, fifth best in Stags history), and a degree in business that could launch a career as a stock broker if basketball doesn’t work out.
He’d also love to coach a high school or college team and could even find himself on the bench at Fairfield, where he already acts as an assistant coach when he’s not on the floor, shouting out instructions and encouragement to his teammates.
But that’s not to say his playing career is over by any stretch of the imagination. Goode’s quickness with the ball, and perhaps more importantly, his quickness defending it, make him a unique physical specimen for reasons other than his lack of height.
“In terms of defensive pressure, he’s like no other,” Maxwell said. “When we played Duke he gave [current Chicago Bulls guard] Chris Duhon fits.”
“He is one of the best I’ve coached in the past 18 years,” said O’Toole. “At Syracuse, Duke and Seton Hall we had some great guards, and Ty is right up there with them.”
Goode could call it a career right now and be, in O’Toole’s opinion, the best point guard in Fairfield history. But with the MAAC race wide open as the conference tournament approaches, Goode is itching to play in his first NCAA tournament before he leaves Fairfield and his teammates behind.
“The reason you come is to play in March in front of a national audience,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s anything he can’t do once he puts his mind to something,” said O’Toole.
If O’Toole’s comments apply to Goode’s will to play in March, Goode could polish off his storybook career with a storybook ending.
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