Nolan Good has been on the sidelines for far too long.
The Avon junior was having a fantastic season as the Eagles’ quarterback before breaking his collarbone in a Division II regional semifinal win over Olmsted Falls.
Good was forced to the bench as his teammates tried to make a run without him. Avon’s basketball team is pretty good, too. He gives the Eagles a new dimension as a fourth double-digit scorer.
On Jan. 9, he made his long-awaited return to the court on the road at Berea-Midpark. He couldn’t be happier to be back.
“It feels good,” Good said. “Nobody wants to be injured, getting injured sucks. Watching your guys succeed, I get a joy out of that. Watching my teammates and best friends experience some of the things that I got to experience in football. But to be back out on the court in a different sport and new season, it feels great. It’s been almost a year since I played basketball.”
Injury aside, it felt like a gut-punch for Good. At that point, Avon was undefeated on the gridiron and was on its way to a dream season. The Eagles finished off the Olmsted Falls game with a win and took home the regional title with a victory the following week over Medina Highland. Their season ended in a 17-14 state semifinal loss to eventual runner-up Hoban.
Good worked as hard as he could to get back and to support his teammates. It’s not an easy ask for a high school student-athlete to have a football season stripped away from him and then give his full support. But through the rest of Avon’s postseason run, that’s exactly what Good did. In those moments, he learned a lot about himself as a leader.
“I learned that a lot more people looked up to me and I had a bigger impact than I originally thought,” Good said. “When guys have questions, I always wanted them to feel like they could come up and ask me. Having guys look up to me as a leader means a lot to me.”
Good was injured on Nov. 10. The expectation then was that he would return in January, and he was back on the floor in less than two months. Good said that his father and some of his friends, along with support from the city, helped him quickly find a surgeon. That sped up the recovery process, and he had weeks of physical therapy on top of that. This helped him return even faster than originally thought.
He was cleared for basketball drills two weeks ago and was full go this past week. He warmed up with the team for both of Avon’s games last week against Westlake and Olmsted Falls. Against Berea-Midpark, he suited up for the third straight game, but this time was different.
“It’s pretty awesome. I’m happy for him,” Avon coach Mike Fitch said. “He missed the end of the football season, which sucks. They probably would’ve won the state championship. He was down, but he said he couldn’t wait to get back for hoops. Every single day, he’s been in that gym. You wouldn’t know that he wasn’t practicing or playing if you walked in.”
Not only did Good get to play, but he dropped 16 points in his return. That’s what he is capable of in any given game. He has put the football world on notice with his terrific play under center, but his basketball capabilities have already been on display over the years.
Like any player who has missed time, there’s some rust to shake off. The Eagles had an offseason and eight games without Good. It’s going to take time to get him up to speed and for his teammates to get acclimated to playing with him once again.
“He just needs to get back into that basketball mindset again,” Fitch said. “The competitiveness is ready. It’s hard when he hasn’t gone live against guys, but he’s a leader and will be ready to go. He’s a captain for a reason.”
Avon’s basketball team had high expectations this year returning all five starters. With Good out, they were down one, but they have started 6-3. Now as Good comes back, the Eagles are without another starter as Nate Farley will miss some time. They’re excited to get all five starters on the court at some point this season.
As thrilled as he is to be back, Good and his teammates now have goals to accomplish.
“We had a goal set before the season even started,” Good said of Avon’s SWC aspirations. “Coming back was great, but we just lost another starter. Once we get him back and we’re at 100%, I think we’re going to be really scary out there.”
