Rhodes College Director of Athletics Matt Dean has announced the hiring of Steven “Zo” Goodson as head men’s basketball coach, effective March 16th. Goodson is the eighth men’s basketball coach at Rhodes since World War II.
Goodson comes back to Memphis after spending a year at High Point University as the director of player development. The University of Kentucky graduate and Tell City, Ind. native has worked with Hall of Fame coach Tubby Smith since being a student-manager from 2001-05. This will be Goodson’s first head coaching stint and first position at an NCAA Division III institution.
“I’m really excited to have Zo join the Rhodes Athletics family,” said Dean. “Spending 14 years working with legendary head coach Tubby Smith has prepared him for this opportunity. He will bring immediate energy to our men’s basketball program.”
Before HPU, Goodson was at the University of Memphis under Smith as director of operations for two years where the Tigers went 40-26 and prior to that, Texas Tech. While at Memphis, the Tigers won their first 20+ win season in four years, advancing to the American Athletic Conference semifinals.
“I am extremely excited to be named the new head men’s basketball coach at Rhodes College,” said Goodson. “This institution has a great track record of academic excellence and I’m excited to instill that same tradition into the basketball program. We have a great group of young men and I am looking forward to bringing in a culture built around love, family, and discipline.”
Goodson served on Smith’s staff at Texas Tech for three years, where he was involved with all facets of the program. He spent the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons as the assistant director of operations and director of player development and the 2015-16 season as director of operations. He oversaw player personnel and player development, coordinated team travel, and served as the program’s liaison to various areas within the athletics department. While at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders advanced to the NCAA Tournament during Goodson’s third year on staff. He organized the team’s 2015 foreign tour to Canada, where Texas Tech played four games during a five-day stretch with stops in Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa. During his time in Lubbock, two Red Raiders were named pre-season All-Big 12 with two projected NBA draft picks.
“I wanted to congratulate Zo on being named head coach at Rhodes,” said Smith. “The Lynx are getting an outstanding leader and coach. Zo has been a major part of the success our teams have had over the years and I’m so excited for him and Kelly. I look forward to following him and the Lynx in their new journey together.”
Prior to Texas Tech, Goodson served as special assistant to the head coach for six seasons on Smith’s staff at the University of Minnesota accumulating a 122-78 record. Minnesota went from an eight-win season to 20 wins during Goodson’s first year with the Gophers. Minnesota’s five post-season appearances in Goodson’s six seasons on staff is still a Gopher record. Twelve Gophers during the six-year span went on to become professional players. He was also the graduate assistant to coach Smith at Kentucky in 2006-07 where he oversaw all aspects of video production and assisted with the operation of the Tubby Smith Basketball Camps.
Goodson began working with collegiate basketball as a student manager at Kentucky from 2001-05, and also worked as a floor coach for the Tubby Smith Basketball Camps. He gained additional experience as an operations intern for USA Basketball each summer from 2002-06 and assisted the Team USA coaching staff that won the gold medal in Turkey at the 2005 World University Games.
“We plan to bring a winning culture here, but as anything great that you want to last, we must first build that solid foundation to grow upon,” added Goodson. “My initial goals are to truly develop these young men on the court as well as off and instill a sense of community around Rhodes Basketball.”
Goodson graduated with a degree in communications from Kentucky in 2005 and is married to the former Kelly Gerleve of Maple Grove, Minnesota.
