Basketball eligibility up? Looking for another extracurricular, but think joining the Mathletes might be too much of a time commitment? How about trying out for football?
That's what Tennessee point guard Melvin Goins is doing this spring as he works out with the Vols gridiron gang, though if you ask his new coach, the chances of him continuing his collegiate career as a cornerback are pretty slim.
Goins said Dooley has sparsely talked to him since he joined the squad for spring ball a month ago, but that's not deterring him from trying to make an impression.
"I see him as a point guard right now," Tennessee coach Derek Dooley told media when asked if he saw Goins as a safety or cornerback. "I can tell you, when we play three-on-three, he's on my team. We're going to be good when we get into the offseason three-on-three hoops tournament."
OK, so Goins experience is not exactly like Greg Paulus, who became the starting quarterback at Syracuse after spending four years as Duke's point guard, but at least he's giving it his best shot.
Goins hasn't played football since the eighth grade because his high school, Christian Life Center Academy in Humble, Texas, didn't encourage kids to play more than one sport. But he's slowly but surely coming along and if anything he's staying in shape for when he ultimately wants to play basketball in Europe.
If Goins has one thing going for him it's that he has a nose for the ball. During his 33 games with the Vols basketball team this season, he led the team with 57 steals. That — theoretically — should serve him well while tracking the football, but he also has a much larger surface to patrol.
Even if Goins were to grow into a football sensation during the next couple months, he'd need a waiver from the NCAA to participate this season. Players have four years of eligibility in one sport, but can gain an extra year if they switch sports and enroll in grad school.
Goins is on pace to graduate this the summer with a degree in sociology.
"I haven't played in so long. It's all coming back slowly," Goins said. "It's all mental right now. I'm used to basketball where you know the plays, you know where you're supposed to go so you react off instinct. Now I'm thinking a lot, and that's not really good. You want to be able to get the plays down and know your zones and know where you're supposed to be at on the field.
"It's just real, real difficult, but I'm catching up, though."
Shiri Appleby Kelly Hu Michelle Rodriguez Mena Suvari Georgina Grenville
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