SPORTS EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of an on-going series highlighting top sports stories for the 2010-2019 decade pertaining to Lincoln High School and its alumni.
LINCOLN -- Songs have been sung about a road being long with many a winding turn that leads to a destination, one that might include European basketball.
Today global opportunities exist that weren't available to past generations.
They could have been singing about former Razorbacks' men's basketball coach John Pelphrey or former Lincoln High School basketball star Shandon "Biggie" Goldman.
Both men have needed strength and support from family to arrive where their parallel lives will soon intersect at the hub of Tennessee Tech University's 2020-2021 men's basketball program.
Named Mr. Basketball in Kentucky in 1987, Pelphrey played four seasons for the Kentucky Wildcats remaining loyal to the program in the midst of scandal and sanctions and was the defender guarding Duke's Christian Laettner when he hit a turnaround free-throw-line jumper after catching a three-quarter court in-bounds pass that gave the Blue Devils a last second 104-103 win over Kentucky in the NCAA East Regional final.
He's also known tragedy with the passing of infant son, John Patrick, in the summer of 2003 and the chagrin of being fired as Arkansas coach March 13, 2011, despite signing a highly regarded recruiting class.
Goldman, too, ventured forth not always finding his basketball talents utilized as he had been promised. Tennessee Tech will be the fifth institution Goldman has attended since graduating from Lincoln in 2015 including a year at Tennessee Preparatory Academy in Memphis, Tenn., one season at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a season at Panola, a junior college at Carthage, Texas, and the last two at Northern Iowa while redshirting for 2019-2020.
Goldman was just beginning to make an impact at Northern Iowa highlighted by a 16 point, 11 rebound performance against North Dakota on Dec. 22, 2018, when he sustained a season-ending leg injury in early 2019.
He healed and returned to action touring Italy with Northern Iowa playing exhibition games last summer. The tour provided opportunity to showcase his talents. Goldman scored 17 points in an Aug. 4, 101-64 rout of the Vicenza All-Stars.
Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson changed philosophies over the off-season and went to a smaller lineup. Goldman sensed he didn't fit into the new scheme and asked to redshirt while continuing to work out and practice with the Panthers. Jacobson granted his request in November knowing Goldman planned to utilize the graduate-transfer rule once he earned his degree from Northern Iowa, which will be complete in May.
"It's no secret I've had like a pretty rough path the last couple of years in college coming from junior college to Northern Iowa," Goldman said. "It was a great program and I got a couple of chances to shine my junior year and I was playing real well until I saw that season-ending injury to my leg and then they changed the system coming up for this year so the were going to use more smaller four men and that kind of put me out of the piece so I decided to move on."
Pelphrey reached out to Goldman and the two built a relationship leading to Goldman's opportunity to play for Tennessee Tech, a campus he visited while attending prep school.
"There were my offers but it was a different staff. I've seen all the facilities and the town and it's beautiful. They got a really nice setup for a team in their conference. Their gym's beautiful and it should be a good opportunity. I know it a little bit," Goldman said.
The long-term prospect of playing foreign professional basketball factored heavily into Goldman's transfer to Tennessee Tech. Once his collegiate career was over Pelphrey played professional basketball in France and Spain before embarking on a coaching career which began as part of Eddie Sutton's staff at Oklahoma State in 1993-94.
"That's one thing that me and Coach Pelphrey really jelled on was he's played overseas professionally and that's one of my goals if not play professionally here and wherever I can keep playing after college," Goldman said. "One thing he established right off the bat with me is I'm the only kind of a player he's recruiting at my position and he believes in me. He wants a guy with my skill-set and with my height and he said I'll be an intricate part of their offense. They're going to run some stuff through me and let me be me this last year and have a huge impact on the team."
Goldman continues to fight through adversity in much the same way Pelphrey has stuck with basketball through ups and downs.
"Throughout this whole process I think it's just the love of the game that's kept me going and I've been discouraged and everything," Goldman said. "But I just keep my faith and keep working towards the dream."
Sports on 04/01/2020