By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
HOT SPRINGS — It may have been hard for Archie Goodwin to see next year through the tears on Friday, but he does have a next year.
So do just about all of Goodwin’s teammates.
But the fact the Bears were mostly juniors was little tonic for the pain of their 80-64 defeat at the hands of Alma in the 5A state championship at Summit Arena.
Goodwin, the Bears’ five-star recruit, scored 29 points, 17 on free throws, and tied a championship game record with 22 free-throw attempts. But the number that mattered to Goodwin most Friday was the final score.
“Individually I think I could have done better,” Goodwin said. “It just wasn’t my night. I had a pretty decent night on free throws but field goal percentage, I didn’t have a good night for the team.”
In contrast to the Bears, the Airedales had three senior starters, including game MVP Isaac McCoy, who scored 39 points and had 20 rebounds.
“I think it was partially their defense and the other part was just me not playing up to me abilities,” Goodwin said. “They had a good defense and they got back and got a lot in transition and they contested a couple shots.
“But I think I still could have gotten those plays that would have helped us win.”
Goodwin has seen a parade of major college recruiters and coaches come through the Sylvan Hills gym, and many other places where he has played this season.
John Calipari, of Kentucky, Bill Self of Kansas, Roy Williams, of North Carolina, Bill Anderson, of Missouri, a representative from Georgetown and, of course, Arkansas’ embattled coach John Pelphrey, have all traveled to see Goodwin play.
Goodwin has also made unofficial visits to several of those schools.
Goodwin was also peripherally pulled into Pelphrey’s ongoing problems when a photo surfaced of Pelphrey with Goodwin and Bears teammate Trey Smith during the Wampus Cat Invitational at Conway in December.
The photo stands as evidence of a secondary, NCAA recruiting violation by Pelphrey for inappropriate contact, further complicating life for the coach, who is already on the hot seat after the Hogs wrapped up another sub-par season by bowing out of the SEC Tournament in the first round.
Goodwin is blameless in posing for the photo, but the issue goes to show the kind of spotlight under which a modern-day recruit must operate.
Goodwin admitted the recruiting questions have been a distraction, but he has had plenty of time to get used to it and learn how to separate the attention from what he does on the floor.
“I got a handle on that from Day One, just because it was happening in AAU and all through the summer,” Goodwin said. “A lot of coaches came to watch us play and I got used to it so I don’t think it was a distraction at all.”
Goodwin couldn’t escape the recruiting questions on Friday either, and now he will focus on narrowing down his numerous college options before making his final choice sometime his senior season.
And yes, he will have a senior season. “I think it’s going to motivate us a lot,” Goodwin said of Friday’s loss. “I think we’re going to go into the summer and the rest of the school year and the offseason working really hard and being more focus on what we should do to get back here next time.”
In his junior year, Goodwin helped Sylvan Hills to a perfect record in the 5A-Southeast Conference and a 3-0 run through the state tournament.
While Goodwin will have to decide where to play basketball someday McCoy is already headed for Oklahoma State to play football as a defensive back.
