Player Information
Full Name: Andrew Melvin Gooden
Major: Sport Management
Parents: Andrew And Adrienne Gooden And Ulla And Jim Lear
Birthdate: September 24, 1981
Birthplace: Oakland, Calif.
High School: El Cerrito HS
High School Coach: Chris Huber

Career Highs
Points: 20, Three Times
Rebounds: 13 vs. Missouri (3-5-00)
Field Goals: 9 vs. Georgia Tech (11-27-99)
Field Goal Attempts: 16 vs. Illinois (12-18-99)
Three-Point Field Goals: 4 vs. Oklahoma State (3-10-00)
Three-Point Field Goal Attempts: 7 vs. Oklahoma State (3-10-00)
Free Throws: 4, Six Times
Free Throw Attempts: 10 vs. Nebraska (1-15-00)
Assists: 5 vs. Xavier (11-26-99)
Steals: 3 vs. Oklahoma State (3-10-00)
Blocked Shots: 3 vs. Oklahoma State (3-10-00)
Minutes Played: 32 vs. DePaul (3-17-00)

Career Honors
2000 First Team Freshman All-America (CBS Sportsline)

2000 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (AP)

2000 Big 12 All-Freshmen Team

2000 Big 12 All-Bench Team

2000 Great Alaska Shootout Most Outstanding Player

2000 Bill Bridges Rebounding Award

A Closer Look
Favorite Food: Buffalo Wings
Favorite Book: Charlotte's Web
Favorite TV Show: Martin
Favorite Musical Group: Hot Boyz
If I Had Just One CD To Listen To It Would Be: Tupac -- All Eyes On Me
In The Movie Of My Life The Following Actor Would Play Me: Shaquille O'Neal
My Greatest Moment In Sports So Far: Playing In The NCAA Tournament
My Advice To Youngsters Is: Keep Your Head Up
The Thing I Like Most About KU's Basketball Tradition Is: The Fans
After A Game I Unwind By: Lying Down
If I Could Live Anywhere In The World It Would Be: Miami, Fla.
Favorite NBA Player: Kevin Garnett
Favorite NBA Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Favorite Non-Basketball Professional Athlete: Mark McGwire
Favorite Non-Basketball Professional Team: Oakland A's
Favorite Movie: The Green Mile
Favorite Cartoon Character: He-Man
Best Player I've Ever Faced: Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Scouting Report: After turning down the riches of the NBA in the off-season, Gooden is back for his Junior year. Clearly the most physically gifted member of the Jayhawks, one gets the feeling that Gooden can be as good as he wants to be. It is unclear at times if he is a selfish player or if he simply tries to put the team on his back when they are struggling. Look for Drew's role on the team to evolve this season as he will step out on the perimeter more and give the Hawks another threat from beyond the arc, where Gooden made 40% of his shots last season.

Gooden is a relentless rebounder, particularly on the offensive end

Works primarily in the paint where his most potent weapon is a jump hook

Has shown a soft touch from the perimeter, and will take the three-pointer if left open

Tabbed a "monster" on the offensive glass by KU coach Roy Williams

Has also displayed an impressive knack for distributing the ball, especially on the interior

A mobile big man whose versatility creates matchup problems for opposing defenses

Has potential to be a solid shot-blocker, though still steadily improving on the defensive end of the floor

Gooden's size and versatility have led to comparisons with former Jayhawk standout Danny Manning.

Summer, 2000
Played for the 12-man 2000 USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team, which went 4-1 in a tournament in Brazil... Averaged 8.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while averaging 17.0 minutes in the five contests... Coached on that squad by Syracuse's Jim Boeheim.

Freshman Season (1999·00)
Played in 33 games, starting eight... Ranked second on the team in scoring with 10.6 points per game and led the 'Hawks in rebounding with 7.5 boards per contest... Shot 45 percent from the field and 66 percent from the line... Also nailed five three-pointers... Dropped 36 assists, swatted 25 shots and tallied 24 steals... Led the team with nine double-doubles -- the most ever by a Kansas freshman, breaking Danny Manning's mark of eight established in 1984-85... His nine double-doubles also rank in a tie for the seventh most by any Jayhawk in a single-season... Gooden's rebound total (248) and average (7.5) were the second-highest ever by a KU freshman... Led all Big 12 freshmen in rebounding... Named honorable mention All-Big 12 by the Associated Press... Tabbed first team Freshman All-America by CBS Sportsline... Named to the Big 12's All-Freshmen and All-Bench teams... Earned Most Outstanding Player accolades at the Great Alaska Shootout... Won the Bill Bridges Team Rebounding Award... Gooden's career debut came in the Jayhawks' season-opener against Fairfield, in which he came off the bench to score 11 points, grab five boards, dish out two assists and swat two shots... Showed his versatility in KU's third game of the year, as he scored nine points, hauled in 11 rebounds and dished out a career-high five assists against Xavier on Nov. 26... His first double-double of the season came in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout against Georgia Tech, when he poured in 20 points to go with 11 rebounds, one block and one steal against Yellow Jacket big men Jason Collier and Alvin Jones... Tied a career-high with 20 points to go with nine rebounds in a home win over Penn... Scored 11 points, snatched 12 rebounds and blocked two shots against All-American Marcus Fizer and Iowa State at home on Feb. 16... Tied a career-high with 20 points and set a new career-best with 13 rebounds in a Senior Day win over Missouri on March 5... In Kansas' second round Big 12 Tournament loss to Oklahoma State, Gooden paced the team with 17 points, while hitting a career-high four three-point field goals and tallying career-highs in both blocks (3) and steals (3)... Scored in double-figures 21 times... Racked up 10 double-digit rebound games... Led KU in scoring six times and in rebounding 13 times... Averaged 20.8 minutes per game.

Summer, 1999
In May, Gooden joined the Athletes United for Peace at Peacebuilders 2000 &emdash; an international conference in The Hague, Netherlands... Averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds per game against college and pro competition in the Bay Area Pro-Am League at Kezar Pavilion on the campus of the University of San Francisco.

High School
El Cerrito High, 1999... Averaged 18.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots per game as a senior... Led El Cerrito to a 31-5 record and a second-place finish in the state tournament... Scored 33 points and pulled down a tournament-record 22 rebounds against Vallejo in the DeLaSalle Tournament... His single-game career highs were 34 points, 27 rebounds, seven blocks and nine assists... Named third team Parade All-American and first team all-state... Attended the 1998 ABCD camp in New Jersey where he made the all-star team and began to attract the attention of coaches from all over the nation... Named ESPN Scholastic Sports America's Honor Roll Student-Athlete of the Week.

Personal
Nickname is "The Truth"... Gooden was born in Oakland and lived there until sixth grade before moving to Richmond, Calif.... Gooden's mother and stepfather live in Fayetteville, Ark., which is just over a four-hour drive to Lawrence... Coached on his AAU team by Calvin Andrews... Quoting Gooden: "When you are really tall, a lot of people look at you as if you are a freak of nature."