Sunday Sitdown: After four college stops, New Bedford’s Brycen Goodine offers unique insight on the transfer portal

A New Bedford native, Goodine spent two years at Stang before transferring to St. Andrew’s in Barrington, R.I., where he was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year. In 2017, after heavy recruiting from Gerry McNamara, he committed to Syracuse, his late grandmother Grace’s favorite school.

He played in 23 games as a freshman at Syracuse, but averaged less than nine minutes per game. After transferring to Providence in 2020, he played in 37 games over two seasons, but averaged just 7.0 minutes. He was on the move again, to Fairfield, where he began earning more playing time before a torn meniscus ended his 2022-23 season after just four games, leading to a medical redshirt, which coupled with his extra Covid year, meant he had six years of eligibility.

Finally, in 2023-24, he got the playing time he’d been searching for, averaging 13.9 points in 25.9 minutes per game for Fairfield. In his final season he started 19 games and averaged 8.0 points in 22.6 minutes for the Sooners as a graduate student.

We sat down with Goodine, now 25, at a New Bedford taqueria this week to discuss his journey, the transfer portal, and the current state of college sports.

When you were signing with Syracuse, I’m sure you never imagined it would be four stops in six years?

It was my first time looking for a school and you don’t know what it’s like being a student-athlete in college. You don’t know what you’re looking for. The things I was looking for — I’m not saying it was a poor decision — but I didn’t know my focal points. It was fairly close to home and I wanted to play at the top, top level.

When you got there, was it different than your expectations?

It was. A lot. I thought I was ready, but you’re not until you get there and see the stuff the coaches are looking for and how consistent they want you to be every single day. I was young and you’re also learning how to be a student at the same time. Then Covid happened and I wanted to be closer to my family.

So you went in the portal for the first time?

When I made my move, I thought that was going to be it. I wasn’t trying to go to more than one school. I wanted my story to be one school.

Did you enjoy your time at Providence?

I learned a lot. It was a different perspective of coaching. It was more plays than Syracuse had. It was a very different style of basketball. Coach [Jim] Boeheim was more fast-paced, we were always pressing and trying to play through the game without calling many plays. Whereas coach [Ed] Cooley liked to slow it down, play hard-nosed man-to-man defense . . . I came in and I was a year behind on man concepts. All the little things about man-to-man defense I was being taught like I was a freshman.

You thought Providence was going to be your last stop. What made you look for a different opportunity?

I thought I played pretty well toward the end of my first year at Providence, but they recruited over me and I didn’t want to see if they were going to do it again.

How did Fairfield get on your radar?

I decided I was going to figure out the best decision for myself this time. I made that decision completely on my own for the first time. It didn’t have to do with anyone else.

I probably had my most fun at Fairfield. I developed the most because the coaches were patient. That was true at Oklahoma, too. At Fairfield, I was able to get the game reps I wasn’t getting. You can only get so much opportunity in practice.

Looking back, would it have been wise to start at a mid-major school like that?

I’ve thought that. But there also could have been a better high-major situation for me somewhere. Oklahoma was an example of a good fit for me.

Do you wish you had been able to spend more time at Oklahoma?

I did, because of the support system they had. That’s why I chose the school. I remember having a conversation with coach [Porter] Moser and at that point I wasn’t even going to go back to college. I thought I was done playing or I thought I would go play in Europe. But I had one more year of eligibility so I figured I might as well use it and start grad school.

What’s the transfer portal like? You put your name in and then what happens?

It’s a frustrating and stressful time. Everyone is asking you what you’re going to do or where you’re about to go and you don’t know yet. You don’t even know if you can trust what the coaches are telling you. That’s why I said ‘Alright, I need to make this decision myself because I’m going to be mad at you if you tell me to go somewhere and I don’t like it.’

Are you waiting to see who is going to contact you or do you already have an idea where you’re going?

There’s different situations. There’s kids who move because their coaches tell them it’s not going to work out and you have to go somewhere else and transfer. Some of the coaches abuse the transfer portal, too. Then there’s kids who are playing really well at their school and it’s a smaller school and they want to make a leap to a bigger school to get more exposure or more NIL. Or maybe they’re at a school that doesn’t have NIL and they deserve it. I feel like there’s no problem transferring up. The ones that kind of confuse me — I guess it’s not confusing if it’s for money — but there are kids at Duke and they’re playing well, and then they transfer to, like, UNC. Maybe that’s for a paycheck. Of course, coaches do the same thing.

Do you hear from hundreds of coaches or is it a select few?

It depends on how you’re transferring . . . After your first offer in the portal, usually you get similar offers. You’ll get Fairfield, and then Siena, Manhattan, and Marist will call you. But then if St. John’s calls you, then Georgetown or Butler might call. When I was in the portal last year, I got reached out to by New Mexico, then UNLV reached out, a similar school.

Is this system good for college basketball?

I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s still early in it. A lot of people don’t like it. It helped me, although it took longer to graduate. You go to one school and the credits don’t always transfer. I should have been finished in four years and already have my master’s.

Are you done with basketball? Maybe international ball?

I don’t know. I’m still training as if I’m playing, but I don’t know. I don’t want to end up somewhere random. I want to be in a good situation.

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Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.