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CORVALLIS – From a 25-win women’s college basketball season to a second-round appearance in the women’s NCAA tournament on Sunday, there are iconic moments.
For the state of Oregon, there is one that stands out above all. It’s Talia von Oelhoffen’s delayed action, where she jumps free behind the three-point line, receives a pass from Lily Hansford and hits a 22-footer at the buzzer to beat UCLA 79-77 on Feb. 16.
The work did not happen by chance. About a month before the game, first-year assistant coach Aleah Goodman called up the play after watching the video. She showed it to coach Scott Rueck. She liked what he saw and filed it away.
Trailing 77-76 with 1.4 seconds left against UCLA, Rueck turned to Goodman and said, let’s run that play.
“That’s one of my favorite parts of my job that I love,” Goodman said. “I think he’s probably upset with all the plays I give him.”
Rueck listened to her rookie coach, because the truth is, she saw a coach in Goodman long before her four-year playing career at Oregon State from 2017-2021.
Rueck attended the Oregon Class 5A high school state tournament in 2014. He sat a couple rows behind the La Salle bench at Gill Coliseum, where he watched Goodman, then a high school freshman, with some amazement.
“He went up to the head coach and said, ‘I think we have to manage this,’” Rueck said. “I’m thinking, man, I’ve got Sydney Wiese, her sophomore year in college, and she’s not suggesting plays to me yet. Here is Aleah as a freshman with that poise, that presence and that mind.”
Goodman, 25, said she always wanted to be a coach. So much so that, during the prime of her playing career, Goodman decided to quit and begin a path toward coaching.
Shortly after her Oregon State career ended with a 2021 NCAA Tournament appearance, Goodman was selected by the Connecticut Sun as the 30th overall pick in the WNBA draft. Opportunities to play abroad soon arose.
Goodman said her peak years as a player were coming up, but the idea of coaching grew bigger in her mind. Goodman’s father, Kevin, has long urged her to establish and maintain great relationships during her basketball journey. One that Goodman maintained was a relationship of hers with Kara Lawson, whom she met during a Team USA camp prior to her junior season at Oregon State.
After Goodman was released from the Sun after playing one game, she reached out to Lawson, now Duke’s women’s coach. She was looking for advice, not work. As her conversation with Lawson progressed, the Duke coach mentioned that she had an opening on her staff as director of recruiting and player personnel.
Goodman thought about work while vacationing with his family in Hawaii. Then the time came. Within two hours, Goodman was presented with a solid offer to play in Turkey, as well as a formal offer at Duke.
It didn’t take long to decide.
“I thought the best thing for my career was to get my foot in the door and move to the East Coast and learn from someone who has played at every level,” Goodman said.
Three years later, Goodman still finds it difficult to think about giving up his playing career. But she insists it was the right decision. In two years at Duke, she learned from and observed Lawson’s staff, and received a lot of hands-on training during the summer and during times when an assistant was off campus recruiting.
Toward the end of last season, Goodman began looking for a coaching job.
“It wasn’t that I was eager to leave and I knew I wouldn’t unless it was the right opportunity,” Goodman said.
The right opportunity came in a familiar place. Rueck had an opening shortly after the 2022-23 season ended. It didn’t take long to reach an agreement.
“Perfect person, perfect time,” Rueck said.
The person Rueck had known for four years as his coach. The timing was ideal as Rueck had two freshman point guards entering the program. Goodman was an all-conference point guard during her playing tenure.
“You end up speaking the same language, so cohesion is very valuable to us,” Rueck said. “The phrases, the terminology and the way his mind works with mine. “It’s just a really nice addition.”
Goodman feels she and Deven Hunter, another Beavers assistant who played at OSU, have a “great perspective.” Goodman feels she can relate to almost everyone on the roster. She barely played in her first year. She was the Pac-12’s sixth player of the year as a sophomore. Goodman later became a starter and star. So whether she’s onboarding newcomers or relating to a team captain, Goodman believes she has valuable knowledge and advice.
“I hope I’ve contributed in many ways, but I think the most important thing is to share little things, little tips that helped me during my career,” Goodman said.
Goodman said Rueck encourages his assistants to speak up and “I’m really not afraid in that sense. That’s part of my personality. “If I can help and I can talk, I will for sure.”
An interesting relationship for Goodman is that of von Oelhoffen, one of her former teammates. Goodman was a senior when von Oelhoffen graduated high school early and played the second half of Oregon State’s 2020-21 season. Goodman is now von Oelhoffen’s coach.
Both say not much has changed, as Goodman was considerably older than von Oelhoffen when they played. Big sister-little sister is how Goodman described it.
“It’s been great to have a coach who understands what you’re going through and can relate and has been in the same position and the same situations,” von Oelhoffen said. “It brings a whole different level of closeness to that relationship.”
As for Goodman’s penchant for playmaking, that will continue. But she’s not eager to try them out at the end of the games.
“I have fun thinking about game winners,” he said, “but I hope we don’t have to use too many because we’re so far ahead that we don’t need them.”
— Nick Daschel covers Oregon State athletics, particularly football and basketball, and can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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