The Dexterous Vincent “Two-Two” Golson: A portrait of the 5’8 point guard

by Shaleisa Daniel  

Sports Editor

Rams’ sophomore point guard Vincent “Two- Two” Golson has drawn a lot of attention this past season.

Golson joined the City College team  in 2013 after being recruited by Rams’ former player Ike Count.

That year he played close to only ten minutes a game. After spending hours practicing in various gyms around the Bay Area in the offseason, his game had evolved tremendously.

When he stepped on the court at the beginning of the 2014 season, his ball handling skills, quickness and ability to shoot deep three-pointers effortlessly made him difficult for opponents to slow down, and even more difficult to predict.

“He couldn’t do most of that last year,” said Assistant Coach Adam D’Acquisto.  “His entire game went from average to above average. And that’s just from all the practice he did. He’s probably the hardest working player we’ve ever had.”

When the team won the Coast Conference North Division title this year, every member of the coaching staff was in agreement that it was largely due to their dynamic point guard. He was their saving grace.

“He put us on his back for all of our big wins,” Head Coach Labagh said. “He shows up consistently and plays big. There are no excuses he just kind of does everything.”

Golson first started playing basketball in the summer of 2008 after watching an Amateur Athletic Union  team practice at Tassafaronga Recreational Center in Oakland, CA. The following summer he worked with the coach, Gemeny Givens, until he was finally able to play along with them.

After a year at Oakland High School, he transferred to Skyline High School and continued to play basketball under Head Coach Terrance Ransom and later Max Langaard. He finished his high school basketball career averaging 13.1 points a game and four and a half assists.

He then was off to Jackson State University on an academic scholarship, with no plans to pursue basketball, but after just one semester at Jackson State, he had a change of heart.

“I left because I wanted to play [basketball] somewhere,” he said.

Golson has been described by coaches as being the “first and last person in the gym.” And he is the only player from last season who continues to work out with the team in the offseason, which has provided a great deal of support to the teammates that he will be leaving in the fall.

“[I] got smarter over time,“ he said. “My attention level went up a lot because they focus on little things like where you shoot from [and] how much time you put in besides practice.”

When asked about where he draws his passion from, the primary thing that fuels him to play and train at such a high level became very clear.

“It’s just something about height and sports now,” he said. “It really irks me when people don’t take into account the heart and intensity level and what you can do.

“Everyone doubts the guy that’s shorter and everyone [usually] wants to draft the guy that’s taller.”

But after the phenomenal season he just had with the Rams, who was doubting him now? Nobody.

Perhaps one of the biggest testaments to his maturity as a player is an occurrence that took place right after the Rams had been beaten by Merritt College in the postseason.

Golson had left the gym visibly upset after the 101-77 loss. D’Acquisto’s godfather, who had frequently attended their games but had not met Golson, approached him to congratulate him on a great season.

“This was after a loss and we were all pretty down,” D’Acquisto said. “And he just turned to him with a great smile and said ‘thanks a lot I appreciate it.’ And he didn’t know who the guy was. It was just some fan coming up to him five minutes after his [junior college] career was over, and he went from being totally down to that. Because he knows how to put it all into perspective. He just gets it.”

Golson has received  several basketball offers from various schools such as Marist College, Texas State University and CSU Bakersfield. He has not yet decided where he would like to go.

He would ultimately like to play overseas after playing at a four-year college. His coaches feel he has a chance in the NBA if he continues to elevate his game as he previously demonstrated.

The sky is really the limit for him. Just ask around.