Xavier coach Travis Steele was joined by juniors Quentin Goodin and Tyrique Jones at Big East Media Day on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 Adam Baum,


Quentin Goodin seems to carry two things with him everywhere he goes – a smile and a basketball. 

When one is present, the other's usually not far away from Xavier University's junior point guard.

It's Goodin's way, and it allows him to live a life he loves: playing basketball and extending kindness and respect to the people he shares the world with. 

Rural hoop dreams

It doesn't matter how small a town is – when a basketball star emerges, everyone notices. 

Campbellsville is a rural town in the center of Kentucky. Its population is estimated around 11,000 people, spread over roughly six square miles. 

"I call it like a village just cause everybody knows each other," Goodin said. "You just drive around town and you see somebody's car and you know exactly who it is. 

"There ain't no problems – you'll never hear any drama come out of Campbellsville – it's just a chill, country, laid-back type town." 

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There are two public high schools in town – Campbellsville and Taylor County. 

Goodin, before starring at Taylor County and long before he grew to be a 6-foot-4 athlete, was shy and had yet to figure out if he would play football or basketball. He happened to be born in a town whose inhabitants either stand for Kentucky or Louisville and where a passion for basketball burns brighter than daylight. 

"Kentucky loves basketball," said Quentin. "So playing and being around people who love basketball made it easy to fall in love with the game." 

The pint-sized basketball hoop that sat in the corner of his bedroom from the time he was 3 years old also helped push him onto his current path. 

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"When he was 3, he had a Nerf basketball goal in the corner of his room and he always had a basketball with him," Quentin's dad, Chris, said. "Of course, he would play and dunk the ball and knock the hoop up against the wall and fall down laughing. 

"He's loved basketball since he was a toddler." 

Quentin smiles as he remembers that hoop, and getting in trouble for making too much noise and putting holes in the wall. 

"I used to make a lot of noise dunking on that little hoop," he grinned, "imitating LeBron (James) and Allen Iverson ... that was just kind of my life." 

EXHIBITION: Xavier basketball rolls Kentucky Wesleyan in an exhibition opener

A shy start, but an outgoing finish

As he got older, Quentin's game progressed and eventually he was recruited onto the AAU circuit, but before that, he remembers how a shyness followed him.

"When I was little I used to be shy so I'd never talk to anybody," said Q, as he's affectionately known to his teammates. "I could literally see somebody and they'd say 'hi' to me and I'd keep walking." 

Goodin said his parents taught him and worked with him to engage and converse with people. 

"I got to like 8 or 9 years old and I was still doing it and I got in trouble for it ... my parents were forcing me to talk which ended up helping me because being a point guard, you gotta talk," Goodin said. "Forcing me to talk, now it's just a habit where I can see somebody I've never seen in my entire life and I just say 'hi' and have a conversation." 

Respect is important. That's a lesson Quentin remembers his dad and his mom, LaQuita, teaching him. 

It's created a young man who goes out of his way to be kind – something not normally associated with most star athletes. 

"I like being nice to people because I don't know who I'm gonna need down the road, so I just try to talk to everybody and build a good bridge," Goodin said, sincerely. "I want to make sure no one ever has a problem with me because I know I still got years to go in life and I still don't know what I'm gonna do when I put the basketball down ... I don't know who I'm gonna need. I feel like one of these people I go to school with I'm probably gonna need so I try to be nice to everybody." 

It's a unique perspective for a 21-year-old who's already made 53 starts for the Musketeers, and who just two years ago was the 2016 Kentucky Gatorade player of the year and the Associated Press Kentucky player of the year (but somehow he didn't win Mr. Basketball). 

"He was raised to be that way," said his dad, who was quick to point out: "I can't take all the credit. My wife ... she's the education piece and she's the love and heartbeat of our family. I can't say all these great things about Quentin without mentioning my wife." 

When his dad hears that Quentin's kindness is easy to see, he's overjoyed. A smile seems to somehow form over the phone. 

"Because the one thing that definitely carries you further than anything in life is your character and your ability to treat people the right way," said Chris. "People respect that and you only get one time to make a first impression. If you come off as an arrogant self-centered anything, any doors that would be open to you are close potentially forever." 

Running the show

Xavier head coach Travis Steele recruited Goodin to the Musketeers. 

"He was raised the right way," said Steele. "He's always been a great player but he's a better person. He has that ability to connect with people and he goes out of his way to do that. I think that shows you how genuine of a person that he is and I think our guys see that, too, and they realize, 'Hey, this guy's real, he's authentic.' 

"I think he truly cares about other people which for the point guard position you have to have. He cares about how his teammates are doing, not necessarily always himself." 

The first time Steele saw Goodin play it was exciting and memorable, like watching a rare comet streak across the endless ocean in the sky.

"I went down and saw him play an open gym in the fall of his sophomore year of high school," Steele said. "I'll never forget, I came back and told (former Xavier head coach Chris) Mack, 'This kid is ultra-talented.' Great size. Great athlete. I thought he could play the (point guard) position. I was like, 'Man, for his size and athleticism he could play anywhere in the country,' in my opinion. He stuck out like a sore thumb." 

Goodin, who's working his way back from a preseason shoulder injury, will have his most prominent role for the Musketeers this season. He spent the last two seasons facilitating for the other stars on the roster. Those guys are gone. Now he's running the show.

"I'm anxious and excited because it's a new role and it's a new opportunity to showcase what I can do," said Goodin. "The first two years I was here I didn't have to, scoring wasn't really a role for me, we had J.P. (Macura) and Tre (Trevon Bluiett) and they did all the scoring and I'm a winner, I'm not gonna mess up something that's already been working. I'm trying to get to that National Championship whether it's me scoring 20 points or me scoring zero. 

"Now it's just like I got a new role, a new challenge and I like challenges – I step up to them and I'm anxious to see how I do with this." 

All he has to do is play the game he loves. 

Quentin said, "I feel like basketball makes me feel like I'm young again, like a little kid when I used to shoot on the Nerf goal, so every time I get a chance to play basketball it's just fun. I never think of basketball like a business because I actually love it. Doing this is fun, it makes me happy."