Barry Goheen

Barry Goheen is a former American collegiate basketball player and present practicing attorney and partner at the Atlanta, Georgia law firm King & Spalding.

Goheen played guard for the Vanderbilt Commodores from 1985–1989 and is one of the most clutch college basketball players in NCAA history. He previously led a 1984 high school Marshall County basketball team to the state tournament.

He won a total of nine games during his career on last-second shots, often in some of the most important games of each season.

Originally from Marshall County, Kentucky, Goheen was an outstanding student in high school and college. Goheen was the 1984 and 1985 Purchase Player of the Year, as well as First-Team All-State in 1985. He led the 1984 Marshals to their first-ever appearance in the Kentucky Sweet Sixteen.^[1] He is now a successful attorney.

ESPN once created and aired a half-hour special documentary summarizing Goheen's last-second basketball game-winning heroics. This special documentary is believed to be the only ESPN special ever created about one specific college player's last-second game-winning shots.

Career highlights

Goheen was a solid all-around player and was a 3rd-team All-SEC Selection (AP and UPI) in his Senior season.

In his junior year, Vandy finished 20–11 and made it to the NCAA Sweet 16. One of his teammates was All-SEC star and future NBA player Will Perdue, who won three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and another with the San Antonio Spurs.

In his senior year, Vandy finished 19-14 and finished tied for 2nd in the SEC.

Clutch performances

One of his greatest performances was in the 1988 NCAA Tournament Round of 32, when Vandy played heavily favored Pittsburgh. Goheen hit two three-point shots in the last 10 seconds to tie the game in regulation and send it to overtime. Vandy won the game 80-74.^[2]

In his senior year, in the fourth game of the season, Goheen hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to beat Louisville 65-62.

Also in his senior year, Goheen hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to beat Georgia 76-75.

In his freshman year, Goheen accomplished one of his most amazing feats, a foreshadowing of his future game-winning heroics at Vanderbilt. Against Vanderbilt's arch-rival Tennessee at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Vanderbilt trailed 58-50 with only 48 seconds left in the game. Goheen individually scored 7 points in the last 30 seconds of the game, including the game-tying shot and go-ahead free throw in the waning seconds, to beat Tennessee 60-59. Goheen was carried off the court by elated fans.

References

External links

• King & Spalding Law Firm Profile
• Article Detailing Barry's Collegiate Exploits
• Description of some of Barry's game-winning shots.