Defend the Block 388 - Oscar Goodman Transcript
6/16/2026 9:32:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
Brian Boesch • 00:00
The 2025-26 Michigan Wolverines did so much right, obviously, but one of the lasting characteristics will be how much they supported one another legitimately. Two of the biggest bench reactions in a national championship season came when Howard Eisley Jr. canned a three against La Salle in December and Charlie May did the same in the Elite Eight against Tennessee. A comparable reaction took place late in Michigan's middle victory out in Las Vegas at the Players Era event. Oscar Goodman took flight, driving in from the left corner to throw down an emphatic jam. Now walk-ons like Eisley and May, they know what they're signing up for when they join a team like Michigan as a walk-on, they are almost always going to be giving to the team in a way where there is no guarantee or likelihood of a role when the game is on the line.
Brian Boesch • 00:51
Goodman is a scholarship player. He's competed in some massive games for his native New Zealand in his age groups dating all the way back to 2022 and an under fifteen FIBA tournament. Ask anybody in the program. Last season there was a strong belief that Oscar Goodman brought enough to the table to be a rotation player in college basketball in high major college basketball in an NCAA tournament qualifying team in high major college basketball. But as we all know, Michigan built a juggernaut. Goodman improved because of his competition against, come next week, three NBA first-round picks. But that competition meant that Goodman wasn't able to crack the rotation of a national champions as fortunately Michigan's front line stayed healthy. In watching some workouts dating all the way back to last summer, I heard from multiple observers in different categories, local high school or even local college coaches, former Wolverines who were passing through town, other groups, they commented that Goodman was making winning plays.
Brian Boesch • 01:54
By the time the season opener arrives in early November, Goodman will have been in Ann Arbor for 22 months. He's working his tail off to showcase those winning plays, those winning abilities in winning time. We're back after a brief hiatus and Oscar Goodman is our guest as we kick off yet another fantastic edition of Defend the Block.
Jeff Laurence • 02:16
We're talking Michigan basketball. Welcome to Defend the Block, where we'll take you inside the basketball programs with interviews, analysis and so much more. Now here's your host, Brian Boesch.
Brian Boesch • 02:29
Always fun visiting with Oscar Goodman here on Defend the Block. Let's look back, your favorite memories, when you think back to last season's run to the title.
Oscar Goodman • 02:40
It definitely like right at the start of the season, that Vegas trip, it was just seeing what we could do and just seeing the talent that we had was Just seeing it all unfold was really unreal.
Brian Boesch • 02:52
What was it about that week that kind of sparked what became a national championship contender? And how did you guys bottle that up enough? It wasn't every game. You weren't going to win every game. Thirty or forty points, but. But how are you able to maintain that?
Oscar Goodman • 03:04
I think just seeing or just knowing that what we could achieve if we kept that playstyle going and everyone was sticking to being unselfish. And I think, yeah, there was obviously, like, ups and downs through the season, but when it would get down, we'd just always, like, come back to that Vegas trip, like, this is what we can do. This is where we should be. And I think that really helped us throughout the rest of the season.
Brian Boesch • 03:31
Everybody I talked to said you were ready. If anything happened to whether it was Yax or Will or Morez or Aday, you would have slotted in, been ready to go. How did you stay ready? And did you feel like you were ready to be not just on a team, but really be a part of it if needed?
Oscar Goodman • 03:49
Yeah, definitely. I think just through practice, like, having to guard multiple NBA lottery picks helps with the confidence. And then I think just my circle, they were really helpful telling me, like, if you were anywhere else, it would be a whole different story kind of thing. And ultimately I chose to do this because I wanted to win, and that's probably the most important thing to me. And I think just, yeah, my circle telling me, like, just giving me positive vibes and that.
Brian Boesch • 04:20
Was that ever difficult? Did you have times of stress or doubt?
Oscar Goodman • 04:24
Yeah, definitely. It's like, it was a long season and there were times, like, in practice where I was like, really, like, I could just feel myself getting better and, like, really performing. But just knowing that I was a younger dude who had some older guys who were really good, it was obviously tough, but at the same time, I knew I could play. Like, I was good enough. I was going at them every day kind of thing.
Brian Boesch • 04:47
So, yeah, Dusty's mentioned the value of playing international basketball, and you've done that through the FIBA obviously had big roles, important roles. How much has that been able to help you be ready for what everyone expects here for this year, for you to not just be ready, but to be able to get out there and play.
Oscar Goodman • 05:07
Yeah, I think FIBA kind of helps you in that, like, one-game scenario. Like, if you only play a team once, because through pool play, you might just scout for a team one day and then you won't see them again. So I think really just knowing personnel and then like, obviously all the international stuff and like being around pros, they all pick up on things really quick. And I think that helped me a lot with like just scout and then knowing what to do in certain situations.
Brian Boesch • 05:33
When you got here around the holidays the previous season, it was always a plan. You were just going to redshirt that semester and get acclimated and get used to living in the United States, all of it. You did get plenty of playing time, albeit in times where the game wasn't really in doubt. What value did that have for you? What did you take from those experiences?
Oscar Goodman • 05:53
I think just getting used to, like, the pace and the style of college basketball. I think that really helped me a lot. Just in the sense for the season coming, obviously hoping to have a bigger role and then knowing that I can perform at that level. Just having that is going to be really helpful going into this year.
Brian Boesch • 06:10
The pace thing is also probably because of the pace Dusty wants to play. Forget college basketball. That has to be an adjustment too, isn't it?
Oscar Goodman • 06:16
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I think it was. It wasn't a big change for me because all of my age group teams that we played with, it was always get the ball and go. So I kind of was attracted to that when I was getting recruited.
Brian Boesch • 06:28
So your acclimation to the United States, you had a chance to go back home for a little while over the spring, but how have you learned to live in a different country that's so far away from what you've known?
Oscar Goodman • 06:41
Really just relying on people to be there for you. I think just trying to keep yourself distracted when you have opportunities is really helpful and just get. Finding a routine to stick to. I think that was really helpful for me in times. And then just calling home, just talking to my family.
Brian Boesch • 07:05
It's been special watching you do it because the sacrifices go well beyond just the basketball side of things. But for that to be something you're willing to endure, it has to be worth it. Why for you is it worth it to stick it out, to be here, not just stateside, but also in this program?
Oscar Goodman • 07:27
I think for me, being the oldest, just showing my brothers that it is possible to follow your dreams. And then for New Zealand as well, like, I wasn't supposed to get out of my hometown, like no one does, and to prove that if you really love something, you can do it. I think that I carry that with me a lot.
Brian Boesch • 07:52
That being said, you got a chance to go home. I can't imagine the pride you had to go home as a national champion. Was there a moment or two that stuck with you in that time back, that made it feel. It always, I'm sure, felt worth it because you stuck it out, but maybe more so because of the influence you had on others, whether it's family or people you didn't know personally.
Oscar Goodman • 08:16
Yeah, I think when I was home, like, just with my brother's team, like, I could kind of tell that people were like, holy hell, like, it's Oscar and stuff. And I was like, just me. Like, I don't like to, like, acknowledge that sort of thing. I just, like, think of myself as a regular dude who's pretty good at basketball. But I think, like, just being a bit more known nationally is pretty cool to think about. But, yeah, those are probably the main two.
Brian Boesch • 08:43
All right, we're going to do a palate cleanser here before I get into your growth as a player. And that's the natural segue of. And several teammates played some spirited games of Settlers of Catan during last year.
Oscar Goodman • 08:58
Yeah.
Brian Boesch • 09:00
And it was really one of the few times I was like, boy, I don't know if the camaraderie of this team can overcome some of the controversy here, but it was. It was a lot of times you, Charlie, Harrison and Will. And this was a new game for you, correct? Yeah, I love the game. I think it's a great time. How did you guys endure that and still maintain your friendships? Because it got feisty at times.
Oscar Goodman • 09:21
Yeah, I actually just. I took that game home and taught my family, so I'm sure I'll be getting a few stories about that. But, yeah, honestly, I don't know. There were even at the house, like, we'd play some nights and like, we'd just, like, all just walk off, like, because people didn't want to say something too far or something like that. But I don't know. I think it just shows, like, that we're true friends. Like, I think if you're. If it's your real friend, you can rip into one another and then be fine within twenty minutes or so. But, yeah, it's a great question. I have no idea.
Brian Boesch • 09:57
Yeah. So anybody else other than that four on the team that played?
Oscar Goodman • 10:01
We played with Dusty.
Brian Boesch • 10:02
Okay. How good is Dusty?
Oscar Goodman • 10:04
He's pretty good.
Brian Boesch • 10:05
Yeah. Shocking.
Oscar Goodman • 10:06
Yeah. Him like, the May family, they all, like. Charlie has his own board and they've played for a while and stuff. So they all know. They all have a good idea of what they're doing. But no, there wasn't. There wasn't really anyone else that jumped in on. Jumped in on it.
Brian Boesch • 10:21
Who is the best?
Oscar Goodman • 10:23
Okay. Me and Harrison are out of that.
Brian Boesch • 10:25
Yeah.
Oscar Goodman • 10:25
Like, just because we were both new to it. Yeah. Will and Chuck are like, they're like neck and neck. Okay. Because Charlie kind of like is either like really like active, like vocal, or he's really quiet. And when he's quiet, it's kind of like you got to make sure like you know what's going on with him because he can just whip something out really quick and like the game will be over. But Will's kind of like tries to manipulate people into like trading with certain people and like putting the robber some places. But yeah, Will's a lot more like of a mental, like approach to it.
Brian Boesch • 11:03
Yeah.
Oscar Goodman • 11:03
And Chuck's kind of like can go both ways about it.
Brian Boesch • 11:07
All right, I'm giving you a chance. You have. This has to be a one-word answer. Who's better, Will or Charlie? No explanation. You have to pick one. I'm putting the pressure on you here
Oscar Goodman • 11:17
or just from the times, the amount of times we played, I'm gonna have to go Charlie.
Brian Boesch • 11:21
Your game. Tell us about the growth. Tell us where you feel like now you've made the most strides even from times we saw you last year on the court just here over the course of last season and into this summer work.
Oscar Goodman • 11:35
I think a big thing for me is gonna be just my shot. Like just being a consistent shooter and like a threat where people have to close out so I can get into, I'd like to say like the better part of my game of getting downhill and making reads and whatnot. So I think just over the summer, just getting in the gym a lot and just getting shots up. I worked on that a lot back home and I think just sticking with that is going to be the biggest thing for me.
Brian Boesch • 12:02
You mentioned how much the experience of going up in practice against guys like Yax, Morez and Aday. Did what about their games helped you or did you try to take? Obviously you guys are all different bodies, skill sets, all of it. But was there anything you took from any of those guys?
Oscar Goodman • 12:18
Yeah, I took something from each of them. With Yax, kind of just his versatility, how I like to, in a way kind of think we play similar just because we can kind of do a bit of everything. And then Rez, just how hard he plays, the way. The way he rebounds. And then I stole a lot of like post-op stuff from a die just because I'm a bigger wing but a smaller big. So just knowing that if I have a mismatch just learning some of the dice post moves and that talked about
Brian Boesch • 12:47
Will, the Catan player, Will the person and the player in this program. I've heard some people surmise, hey, a lot of folks, and I'm guilty of it too, Will say, I wonder how a team will fill the Will Cheddar role, the Roddy Gale role. What from Will as a player and as a person, can you try to, I guess, replace or fill because he had such a unique imprint on this program.
Oscar Goodman • 13:11
I think this is energy, like the energy and his leadership. Obviously, Will's one of a kind and it's kind of hard to match his energy at times, but I think really just giving that my best shot and then stepping into like a bit of a leader role as well, kind of just make my voice heard, I think is something I can definitely take away from him.
Brian Boesch • 13:29
Yeah. I mean, you are one of the elder statesmen that in this program, which is crazy. I think what LJ is the only one who's been here longer and it's only by a handful of months. Are you comfortable with that leadership role and if so, how can you apply it?
Oscar Goodman • 13:42
I think it's really just going to be testing it out this summer just to see if, like, people are actually going to listen kind of thing, and then I'll know, like, how to approach different people kind of thing. Like, I don't want to go too hard on someone or like, I just want to try to get that point across in the right way for each person.
Brian Boesch • 14:01
You've always struck me as somebody who certainly can lead through example with the work you put in, the dedication you have. Has that always been how you've tried to do it in past settings? Does the FIBA work at all help with something like this?
Oscar Goodman • 14:12
Yeah, I definitely think when I was at the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, I really picked up that habit of just the work you put in when no one's watching is going to be seen is going to come out eventually. And that was like a big saying there. Like, for example, like Dyson Daniels, Josh Giddey, all those guys, like the head coach Marty would say that they were always in the gym, like day and night. So I think just being as consistent as you can and all that is really kind of just speaks volume as well.
Brian Boesch • 14:43
What do the returns of Elliot and Trey do for this team do for you individually as two guys who can really have the ability to help others around them?
Oscar Goodman • 14:53
I think it's massive that we've got those two back, especially Trey. Like, the season he had was Pretty, like, remarkable in a way. Really impressive as well. And then Elliot, just as well, like, his experience with college basketball and then being the most outstanding player, I think is massive. Just because he's going to come in and he just makes everyone better. Like, he knows when he needs to score and when he doesn't need to. Like, if someone's hot, he's going to find them. If we need a bucket, he can go get one.
Brian Boesch • 15:23
The importance of these next eight weeks leading up to and including the trip to Lithuania and Croatia, just from a team-building, a camaraderie standpoint, you saw it last year. You weren't obviously here the previous year, but what kind of impact did the work you guys did last summer help when you're getting into some of those battles, February into March into April, when
Oscar Goodman • 15:45
everything's on the line, I think it's kind of just like the intensity that we need to bring every day will kind of make the games a bit easier in a way, like, if we're just going at each other, you know. But yeah, I think just this off season is gonna. It really does tell how your team's gonna go just by going back and watching film and all that sort of thing. So I think this summer will be. And then obviously going to Lithuania will tell us a lot. So, yeah, I think that build up will be really important and that European trip will be good as well for you individually.
Brian Boesch • 16:20
Items on your personal to do list between now and the start of the year. Just seeing you for the first time in a couple of months, it's clear that the work has continued, you've continued to add to your body. But from an on-court standpoint, what do you hope to improve upon between now and then?
Oscar Goodman • 16:36
I'd definitely just say my shot again, like, just that's probably the biggest thing for me. And then continue to get better in, like, my dribbling kind of thing, my handle, and then just making reads. Just kind of learn from Elliot a bit in that sense of, like, what reads to make and when to make them. But yeah, those probably the biggest two.
Brian Boesch • 16:55
When you work on your shot. Like, what's a daily routine look like for you from a shooting standpoint?
Oscar Goodman • 17:00
So a big focus for me has been my arc, like just getting under the ball, getting it higher. So it's like starting in close, getting under the ball, and then just taking steps back and making sure it's like still getting up just to give it a chance to go through. So I think just. Yeah, I've been shooting a lot the past few weeks, especially when I was home with my old, one of my old coaches, I was getting up maybe six hundred shots a day kind of thing, like in a workout.
Brian Boesch • 17:25
So lastly, if you could carve out the role, and I'm not saying, hey, I'd like to average thirty points a game, be the national player of the year and go undefeated, but in terms of all right, I, I know I can provide this for this team. How would you answer that question?
Oscar Goodman • 17:42
I'd say I'm just going to play as hard as I can, do a bunch of things that won't show on the stat sheet, like just getting loose balls, you know, and then I'd probably say just being the best rebounder I can be as well. Like, I'm not too worried about scoring in that sense. Just letting that come to me, that, that part of the game will come to me. But I think just defensively, just playing as hard as I can down that end.
Brian Boesch • 18:08
No doubt. Oscar, appreciate your time, your vulnerability. Looking forward to seeing the growth here this summer, my friend.
Oscar Goodman • 18:13
Thank you.
Brian Boesch • 18:22
One comment to highlight there from Oscar Goodman was his note about Trey McKenney and what he did last season. If you think back and the YouTube video still exists, the defend the block from the Nebraska game postgame. Also if you go way back in the feed, Mike Boynton junior Michigan assistant, talked about Trey McKenney when, remember, McKenney came up with the game-winning, bucket driving, barreling over Sam Hoiberg. Nebraska fans thought it was a foul that was never whistled. But Boynton said after that game that Trey McKenney was ready to be a really key player and he would have been for almost any team in the country. But that Michigan team needed him, required him to be patient, and that patience paid off in the ultimate way. He has the biggest shot, you could argue, in the history of Michigan men's basketball. And certainly if it's not number one, it's in the top tier.
Brian Boesch • 19:17
And he stayed patient in a year with so many great freshmen in college basketball, McKenney, he was the one who had one of those last moments and the indelible moment of hitting that three, putting Michigan up by nine with about two minutes to play in the national championship game. There's no guarantee that's going to happen for Oscar Goodman or for anybody in Michigan history again, because it is so hard to get to that moment and then deliver like Trey did. But I do think that's a great example of Trey being patient, not maximizing what could have been from his game, but still being able to have so much success and Trey has a chance at a breakout season. Oscar Goodman has been more than patient and done it and obviously a challenging spot. Incredibly far away from his family, having almost two years now of sweat equity built up by the time November rolls around.
Brian Boesch • 20:08
Again, thanks to Oscar for joining us. Next week we'll talk to a guy in a somewhat similar spot. He did what Oscar did for a full season. That's redshirt Ricky Liburd will be our guest next week on Defend the Block. Excited to share that conversation with you then. Good to be back. We take a week or two off later in the offseason, but for the most part we're back at it all the way up to the season for Michigan basketball. Can't wait for that. So for Oscar, I'm Brian. Thanks as always for listening and Go Blue.
Jeff Laurence • 20:36
Thanks for listening to today's edition of Defend the Block, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast network, MGoBlue Podcasts. The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
