Sliky Smooth Archie Goodwin

ICUPLAY BOLG
  
The first time, I saw and met Archie Goodwin from Sylvan Hill HS which is not fall from Little Rock, Arkansas, was on a cold February afternoon at his HS during basketball practice. After five minutes of watching him go up and down the court through offensive plays and defensive drills, I knew without a doubt he was a special talent. After seeing Archie practice and talking with his HS Coach Kevin Davis after practice to get his comments on his talented sophomore. I was hoping to see him play in a game while there, but luck was not with me. They had an off week and I did not see him and his team play.

I was not able to see Archie play in a HS game but I was able to see him practices. I saw enough of Archie in practice and came away saying, I can’t believe how skilled and talented he is. He reminds me of a mini Kevin Durant with his style of play. I asked Archie were did he learn how to play like that? He said, from his dad. I said your dad must be a very good ball player and teacher, because he did a good job developing your skill level.

I went to see Archie play and considered him to be invited to the Nike Hoop Jamboree Camp. My mission was complete. Before, I left Little Rock, I was invited to Arkansas Wings Directors Ron Crawford’s house to talk about the five players I saw play from his Wings program. Ron and I have known each other for over twenty years. He asked what I thought of the players I saw. 

I told Ron, out of all the players I saw over the weekend the one player that impressed me the most was Archie Goodwin, I said, Ron, he’s a special player! He is so skilled and talented. He is by far, one of the best young players I have seen with skills like that in a while. Right away, he wanted to know if he could play with his 17U team. I said yes, if you really need him.

His coach told me no one had heard of Archie that he knew of. I really don’t think college coaches know about him or have seen him play. You’re the only scout that’s been here to see him and our team at practices. I told his coach don’t worry about that. Once, I put the word out there about him you will have a host of college coaches’ ringing your phone off the hook and knocking your door down to see him play. You will also have every Top HS Tournament Director calling you about playing in their events during the holidays.

Archie had a pretty good sophomore seasons. His team did well but not well enough for Archie. Archie told me that he wanted to be one of the best players in the nation by the end of his junior year. Teams like Arkansas, Memphis, Kentucky and Missouri started observing his play more. During the summer his stock started to climb and so did his confidents. I told more schools to go and watch the Wings 16U team play and let me know what they thought of number 10.

More and more schools started hearing about Archie and went to see him play.  Archie is a gym rat. He likes to work out to better his game. He and I talk on the phone and text just to stay in touch with each other. I stayed in touch with Archie during his junior year. I was scheduled to go and see him play two times but due to my busy schedule and the weather I did not see him play a HS school game. He would text me his game stats and tell me how well he played after games.

When he injured his wrist at the pango’s basketball camp out in L.A. he text me to tell me the news and how long he would be out of action. The week after he played extremely well at the Nike Global Challenge and in an event in NYC, we talked about his recruitment and what he and his family were planning to do in September as far as in-home, unofficial, and official visits.

Archie told me that he was invited to The Boots Mobile Elite 24 ESPNUHS event but due to Arkansas HS rules he will not be able to attend. He said, I have around 8 schools on my list. They are Arkansas, Kentucky, Baylor, Memphis, Uconn, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas. I’m setting up visits now for September. I plan in September to visit Arkansas and Memphis, but I’m not for sure. All 8 schools have been recruiting me hard all summer long. This is my senior season and I want to prove all of the doubters wrong. I want to be a McDonald’s All-American and play in the Jordan Brand All-Star game too.

Right now, I’m ready to get my senior year started and have a good year this basketball season. Will I sign early or late? I’ll say right now late. There you have it my blog on Archie Goodwin. How I met him and what he had to tell me about his recruitment. Last year Archie averaged a smoking 28.0 ppg. He was named the Gatorade POY. He’s a gifted and skilled ball handler that penetrates to the basket well. He has major athletic hops. This long armed Kevin Durant type player is a very good mid-range and three-point shooter. He's a crafty defensive player that rebounds well at both ends for his size. Archie is a team player and an ace student in the classroom. He has a super personality with success written all over him.