The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527978
44 THE WOLVERINE ❱ NOVEMBER 2024 2024-25 BASKETBALL PREVIEW in Greece. That's when he first encoun- tered the idea of making the big jump — across the Atlantic Ocean. Goldin also didn't quite grasp what his basketball skills were getting him into this time. "I played for the national team, and some people asked me if I would like to try to play in America," he recalled. "I thought it was more like a joke than a serious question, so I said, 'Heck, yeah!' "Then two weeks later, they told me, 'So, you need this and this and this.' It was a little bit of a surprise for me. But I cannot turn it down, especially if it's something that can change my life in a completely different world. I just con- tinued to go." The going got easier as well, at least emotionally. "I left my family when I was 15 years old," he stressed. "That definitely helped me, because I knew what it felt like to be away from my family. My fam- ily stayed in Voronezh, and I went to Moscow. I played there for three and a half years . "It was very hard, leaving family the first time. But after that, I was prepared for the emotions you feel for a while." COMING TO AMERICA Stop one in the United States involved a year of prep school at Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Conn. His first brush with a new nation sat well with him, thanks to the kindness of those around him and cinematic preparation for the USA. "It definitely was one of the best ex- periences," Goldin said. "Everything was different. Everything happened so fast, all I could know about America is from the movies. I was very curious. Is it like we see it in the movies? There was a lot of similarity. "I was lucky. I had a very cool team. I like these guys. They were funny. I was surprised, because they accepted me, even if I didn't speak great English, if any. It was cool to see how guys treated me like they were treating anybody else." Armed with that introduction to America, Goldin made his next move to Texas Tech. Going to Lubbock featured advances in his growth, combined with significant adjustment challenges. Texas Tech proved a whole different world, and Goldin averaged a meager 4.7 minutes per game as a freshman. Communication with others remained a hangup. "It was different," he said. "Texas Tech is more like another country. It definitely gave me new experiences. It was a little bit harder. At this point, I didn't have anybody Russian-speaking on the team. So, I definitely felt a little bit lonely. But my freshman squad, they were pretty friendly." Goldin did take on a tutor at that point, which put him on the road to breakthroughs. He likened his experi- ence of learning English to the one play- ing out on the basketball court. "She helped me a lot," he said. "She gave me knowledge of how to speak proper English. But you have to fail so many times before you start speaking well. You might understand everybody. But if people don't understand you, they think you don't understand them as well, which is false. "It's like playing basketball. You have to fail so many times, before you start play- ing well. It's the same thing. You have to fail 1,000 times, before you start speaking well." Goldin's basketball journey has taken him from Moscow, to prep school in Connecticut, to Texas Tech, to Florida Atlantic, to Michigan. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS