Welcome to A10 Talk’s Top 25 Player Countdown. Each day, we publish a new article counting down the 25 best players in the Atlantic 10 this past season, as voted by our staff. Today, we feature #15 Grant Golden of Richmond.
Grant Golden may have been one of the biggest stories of 2017-18 in the Atlantic 10, as the freshman became a stud under Chris Mooney. Golden collapsed on the floor last season, and he’d end up redshirting for the season to deal with his health, but he’s come a long way since. The redshirt freshman averaged 15.6 points and 6.7 rebounds, helping UR finish 7th in the league and almost take down the Bonnies in the A-10 Tournament.
Best Performances
Golden had quite a few, but none may have been bigger than 24 points in a road win over Davidson, Richmond’s biggest win of the year. Golden also dropped 26 points twice, once on UAB and once on Massachusetts later in the season. Golden was a volume scorer all season long, connecting on 6.5 made field goals per game; his career-high was 12 in one game, and he hit double digit made field goals 3 times this past season.
Key Stats
56.9%. Grant Golden shot 56.9% from 2 point range during conference play. As one of the most efficient players inside the arc, Golden certainly got his fair share of shots.
4.0%. Grant Golden had a 4.0% block percentage in conference play and swatted 1.2 shots per contest last season. He developed on the defensive end as well as the offensive end as a redshirt freshman.
Team Effort
Grant Golden is the best remaining player on this Richmond roster, and there would have been a case to say the same thing even before Fore and Buckingham packed their bags. The future of the UR program is in the hands of rising sophomores Golden and Gilyard, and these two are going to be very good for years to come. Next year will feature a very young roster, but Grant Golden is going to be at the center of everything.
Previously: #16 Pookie Powell
