The odd odyssey of Oklahoma State's Loryn Goodwin

[Plebe]

Selected as espnW's player of the week, Goodwin has posted:

• 29 points and 5 assists against Tennessee;
• 35 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals against Mississippi State; and
  
• 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals against UCLA.

Oklahoma State's Goodwin is espnW's player of the week

Oklahoma State is the fourth college that Goodwin has played for, but that's not because she's restless. Instead, to a large degree she has been a victim of circumstance.

She was not heavily recruited out of Cypress Falls High in Texas, but Karen Aston, who was then at North Texas, was interested. Goodwin signed there, but by the time she started the 2012-13 season, Aston had left for Texas.

Goodwin played that season for North Texas, then decided she wanted to go elsewhere. She picked Butler in Indianapolis, and sat out the 2013-14 season. But then Butler coach Beth Couture was fired in May 2014. So for the second time, Goodwin wasn't going to get to play for the coach she had chosen.

Still, she spent a year (2014-15) competing for the Bulldogs before deciding she'd prefer to play closer to family and friends back home in Texas. So she transferred to UT San Antonio, sat out 2015-16, and then was Conference USA's newcomer of the year last season.

As a graduate student, Goodwin still had a year of eligibility left. But at this point, she said, she was looking for the best place to continue her education; she's getting a master's degree in entrepreneurship. That's when she chose Oklahoma State.​

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Thanks for posting this. There was an Oklahoma State game (against Mississippi State maybe) where they addressed this and how everywhere she went the coaching staff changed. I love the resilience of this young woman. She can play too.

 

[iri10]

Most of the time when you hear about a player who has played for four schools, the question marks and alarm bells start coming out. Gotta admit that there are some pretty decent reasons (and bad luck) this time. Plus, I'm impressed by the way that her game seems to be adequate to the task even against the escalating levels of competition she's faced. Plus she's clearly intelligent and dedicated to her education:



So this is a player who I think will go from relative obscurity and irrelevance to getting a chance to play in the WNBA - and who knows, maybe she'll be good enough to stick around there, too. A worthy example of self-improvement.

On a related note, LOL. Check out the OSU fan reaction when they beat UCLA: Oklahoma State on Twitter

 

[Plebe]

Most of the time when you hear about a player who has played for four schools, the question marks and alarm bells start coming out. Gotta admit that there are some pretty decent reasons (and bad luck) this time. Plus, I'm impressed by the way that her game seems to be adequate to the task even against the escalating levels of competition she's faced. Plus she's clearly intelligent and dedicated to her education:



So this is a player who I think will go from relative obscurity and irrelevance to getting a chance to play in the WNBA - and who knows, maybe she'll be good enough to stick around there, too. A worthy example of self-improvement.

On a related note, LOL. Check out the OSU fan reaction when they beat UCLA: Oklahoma State on Twitter

Thank you for posting that short video about Loryn's story. She's as impressive in an interview as she has been on the basketball court this season. If she continues this level of play and if OkSt can make it to the NCAA tournament, she'll be a strong candidate for All-American this year.

Nice to see that fan reaction at Gallagher-Iba Arena as well. It's pretty rare to see a court-storming in WCBB.

 

[eebmg]

Easy to see why she's getting a master's degree in entrepreneurship. She looks/sounds like Fortune 500 material.

 

[Bigboote]

. . . As a graduate student, Goodwin still had a year of eligibility left. But at this point, she said, she was looking for the best place to continue her education; she's getting a master's degree in entrepreneurship. That's when she chose Oklahoma State.​

The NCAA generally allows only five years of eligibility, but this is Goodwin's sixth year since high school. Is she presumably granted a waiver? If she was going to be granted a waiver, I would have thought it would have been one of the times she transferred because of the situation at her school.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Selected as espnW's player of the week, Goodwin has posted:

• 29 points and 5 assists against Tennessee;
• 35 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals against Mississippi State; and
  
• 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals against UCLA.

Oklahoma State's Goodwin is espnW's player of the week

Oklahoma State is the fourth college that Goodwin has played for, but that's not because she's restless. Instead, to a large degree she has been a victim of circumstance.

She was not heavily recruited out of Cypress Falls High in Texas, but Karen Aston, who was then at North Texas, was interested. Goodwin signed there, but by the time she started the 2012-13 season, Aston had left for Texas.

Goodwin played that season for North Texas, then decided she wanted to go elsewhere. She picked Butler in Indianapolis, and sat out the 2013-14 season. But then Butler coach Beth Couture was fired in May 2014. So for the second time, Goodwin wasn't going to get to play for the coach she had chosen.

Still, she spent a year (2014-15) competing for the Bulldogs before deciding she'd prefer to play closer to family and friends back home in Texas. So she transferred to UT San Antonio, sat out 2015-16, and then was Conference USA's newcomer of the year last season.

As a graduate student, Goodwin still had a year of eligibility left. But at this point, she said, she was looking for the best place to continue her education; she's getting a master's degree in entrepreneurship. That's when she chose Oklahoma State.​

Thanks guy, love this: I'm an Orange and Black, Cowgirl fan (anything OKLA) but I didn't know all this. Fantastic.
Thanks.

 

[pacific 44]

If you think the goodwin story is something how about Nelson of Notre Dame and Taya Reimer of Michigan St. It seems to me that they both have played for almost ten years.Aren't they close to being in their 30's?

 

[Plebe]

More interesting background info on Loryn:

She mentions in the video that her father is a football coach. It turns out that Trampas Goodwin is from Tulia, Texas, a small town between Amarillo and Lubbock that achieved international notoriety due to a 1999 sting operation that led to the wrongful conviction and incarceration of more than 10% of the town's black population.

In 2003, Trampas Goodwin returned to coach at his alma mater for three years:
Commentary: Tulia native hopes football can ease sting's racial tension | Amarillo.com | Amarillo Globe-News

 

[Plebe]

The NCAA generally allows only five years of eligibility, but this is Goodwin's sixth year since high school. Is she presumably granted a waiver? If she was going to be granted a waiver, I would have thought it would have been one of the times she transferred because of the situation at her school.

This is a really good question. I did some Internet digging and I found this explanation in a posting on the North Texas board:

FYI - she got a year granted back by the NCAA after Butler due to some of the treatment she received. Also, she always had a dream to play in the Big 12. When Karen Aston left, it broke her heart to not be taken with her to UT. She has worked hard to get to her goal and we applaud her tenacity - she has withstood 3 conferences and come out with honors at each one of them no matter how bad the situation may have been (or good for that matter). She has truly followed her dream and set goals that she has achieved.
​

I can't help but wonder, how much is Karen Aston kicking herself for not taking Goodwin with her to UT? Now she has to compete against her.