Tamir Goodman

PHILADELPHIA -- This guy can play. That's what basketball experts around the country are saying about the "Jewish Jordan," Tamir Goodman, an observant Orthodox Jew who made his college basketball debut for Towson University on Saturday. Mr. Goodman, who averaged 25 points and nine assists per game for Takoma Academy in his senior year, was named second team All-Beltway and honorable mention All-Metro and was selected co-Most Valuable Player for the Capital All-Stars in the Capital Classic.

Tamir Goodman does not see his basketball career as a cautionary tale. There was a purpose, he believes, to the way it all unfolded. The suffocating hype that mushroomed shortly after Sports Illustrated dubbed Goodman "The Jewish Jordan" while he was still attending Baltimore Talmudical Academy in 1999 certainly created unrealistic expectations for his career. Goodman — who initially committed to attend the University of Maryland, but instead ended playing briefly at Towson University and then overseas — never achieved the level of stardom many predicted.

FOR A boy growing up in New York in the 1960s, several players on the Mets were worthy of adoration: Tom Seaver, the pitcher destined for baseball's Hall of Fame; the fleet-footed outfielder Tommie Agee or even Ron Swoboda, a Dundalk native who stole the hearts of Orioles' fans with his diving catch in the 1969 World Series.A Jewish youth then, however, also had to reserve a corner of his heart for Art Shamsky, a fringe player and a rare Jew in the major leagues. Hebrew school lessons about the importance of religious custom were driven home by the fact that Mr. Shamsky wouldn't play on the Jewish High Holy Days.

Once heralded as "The Jewish Jordan," Tamir Goodman never lived up to the hype. A national celebrity at 17 as a junior at the Talmudical Academy in Pikesville, Goodman faded out of the spotlight by the time he turned 20. Without his disappointments in basketball, Goodman said in an interview this week, he would not be as prepared for the end of his professional playing career in Israel and the beginning of a new one. He will announce his retirement at...

BALTIMORE's "Tamir craze" was short-lived -- a little over a year, with crowds cramming gymnasiums to watch 17-year-old basketball sensation Tamir Goodman perform for the Talmudical Academy. Now he is off to the Washington suburbs and a much larger arena at the Takoma Academy.Tamir will be close to an even bigger arena at the University of Maryland, College Park, where a four-year scholarship awaits in the fall of 2000. His stopover in Takoma Park lets him him hone his talent against more skilled teams.

Tamir Goodman does not see his basketball career as a cautionary tale. There was a purpose, he believes, to the way it all unfolded. The suffocating hype that mushroomed shortly after Sports Illustrated dubbed Goodman "The Jewish Jordan" while he was still attending Baltimore Talmudical Academy in 1999 certainly created unrealistic expectations for his career. Goodman — who initially committed to attend the University of Maryland, but instead ended playing briefly at Towson University and then overseas — never achieved the level of stardom many predicted.

It's happened to many, even before they took center court. And the abuse from the crowd, jammed three deep outside the chain-link fence, can happen for simple stuff: Maybe they didn't like your gear. The lines in your haircut. Maybe even the way you walked.It's life at "the Dome," Baltimore's hot spot for basketball. Smack dab in "the 'hood" on Baltimore's east side. A place where only the strong -- and thick-skinned -- survive.And that's where the legendary court figured to claim another victim last summer when this lanky, pale white kid from Pikesville, an Orthodox Jew -- complete with yarmulke pinned to his hair, mind you -- came to play.

Lev Hasharon, Israel-- --Tamir Goodman recites his evening prayers, secures his yarmulke on his head with two hairclips and a ball of tape and jogs onto the court for pre-game drills. Tzitzit dangle from the corners of the spidery guard's blue and yellow No. 12 jersey as he grabs a ball and starts hitting three-point shots as easily as if he were pushing quarters into a vending machine. You might remember Goodman. "The Jewish Jordan." The Orthodox Jewish teenager from Pikesville, whose 35-point games at Talmudical Academy filled high school gyms in 1999.

Tamir Goodman is out to prove a couple of things this summer.For one, Goodman, 17, hopes to justify the attention that came to him last winter as the stringy, yarmulke-wearing guard who got a basketball scholarship from the University of Maryland.For another, Goodman wants to show he is more than the gunner who averaged 35.4 points as a junior while carrying the attack at Talmudical Academy, a 62-boy Orthodox Jewish school in Pikesville."This is my stretch, the most important stretch in my life and I've got to take advantage of it," he said.

When his mother visited Israel in November, Tamir Goodman asked her to bring him back one thing: a sky-blue yarmulke. The color would match his basketball uniform at the Talmudical Academy in Pikesville."

Lev Hasharon, Israel-- --Tamir Goodman recites his evening prayers, secures his yarmulke on his head with two hairclips and a ball of tape and jogs onto the court for pre-game drills. Tzitzit dangle from the corners of the spidery guard's blue and yellow No. 12 jersey as he grabs a ball and starts hitting three-point shots as easily as if he were pushing quarters into a vending machine. You might remember Goodman. "The Jewish Jordan." The Orthodox Jewish teenager from Pikesville, whose 35-point games at Talmudical Academy filled high school gyms in 1999.

The player who first received national attention while at Talmudical Academy, was a consideration of Maryland and most recently left Towson University in controversy might soon be finding a new basketball home. It appears Tamir Goodman might go pro - in Israel. "Two of the top professional teams have expressed an interest in talking with Tamir and, in fact, are in the process of possibly making proposals for him to play professional basketball," a source close to Goodman said. "They have shown an interest and have indicated offers would be made."

The Towson University athletic department concluded its internal review regarding the complaint filed by sophomore guard Tamir Goodman against coach Michael Hunt and decided no disciplinary action needed to take place on the first-year coach. The school also announced it would honor Goodman's scholarship through the end of the school year despite the fact he has stated he would not play for Towson with Hunt as coach. "Following a thorough review of the University police department's report and the meetings with Mr. Goodman and Mr. Hunt," the report said, "the university concluded that Mr. Hunt's actions on the night of Dec. 8, 2001 do not warrant suspension or termination."

Towson University guard Tamir Goodman apparently won't play again for the Tigers unless there is a coaching change. According to Goodman's father, Karl, the sophomore met with Towson athletic director Dr. Wayne Edwards yesterday for two hours and told him "he wasn't quitting the team, but he's not going to play for [coach Michael] Hunt." "That's Tamir-talk for I'm not playing," Karl Goodman said. "He doesn't want to let his teammates down and he appreciates everything they've done for him."

The family of Towson University guard Tamir Goodman has dropped the criminal complaint that the player filed Saturday night against coach Michael Hunt, hoping the matter will be resolved through university channels. The complaint, alleging Hunt assaulted Goodman during a locker-room incident after a game, was dropped yesterday, according to Steve Bailey, deputy state's attorney for Baltimore County, and Karl Goodman, the player's father. "He [Karl Goodman] basically indicated that they weren't interested in seeing this become a criminal case," said Bailey.

Brian Barber's days as the focal point of the Towson men's basketball team's offense have been fewer this year, with the shots spread between Sam Sutton, Shaun Holtz and whoever else happened to get the hot hand. But yesterday's 69-64 win over Hartford brought back memories for the senior from Annapolis, who was the team's leading scorer the two previous years. Barber scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Tigers (11-15, 7-10 America East), who overcame a Hartford rally to end a five-game losing streak.

All Tamir Goodman wants at Towson University is to win - and fit in. "Out of the blue, Tamir called me a month before school started," Tigers coach Mike Jaskulski said. "He told me he wanted everything to be perfect. When school began, someone wanted to follow him around campus with a television camera. He said no, that, `I'm just starting to get to the point where people think I'm a regular person. I just want to be one of the guys.' "Two weeks into practice, he was really frustrated.

At Beth Abraham Synagogue in northwest Baltimore, a 16-year-old basketball player was the topic of conversation at Tuesday morning's services. At Beth Tfiloh in Pikesville, the youth figured into the rabbi's sermon Saturday.At midweek, two octogenarians shopping at nearby Seven Mile Market paused in the produce aisle to debate the athlete's play. And on Reisterstown Road at Tov Pizza, where Orthodox Jews gather not only to eat but also to pray, talk for days has centered on Tamir Goodman of the Talmudical Academy.

PHILADELPHIA -- This guy can play. That's what basketball experts around the country are saying about the "Jewish Jordan," Tamir Goodman, an observant Orthodox Jew who made his college basketball debut for Towson University on Saturday. Mr. Goodman, who averaged 25 points and nine assists per game for Takoma Academy in his senior year, was named second team All-Beltway and honorable mention All-Metro and was selected co-Most Valuable Player for the Capital All-Stars in the Capital Classic.

All Tamir Goodman wants at Towson University is to win - and fit in. "Out of the blue, Tamir called me a month before school started," Tigers coach Mike Jaskulski said. "He told me he wanted everything to be perfect. When school began, someone wanted to follow him around campus with a television camera. He said no, that, `I'm just starting to get to the point where people think I'm a regular person. I just want to be one of the guys.' "Two weeks into practice, he was really frustrated.