Career Notes
Two-year starter at Tennessee from the greater Atlanta area who decided to transfer to Georgia Tech for his final year of eligibility for family reasons … Immediately earned high regard from his teammates and was voted a team captain along with Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey despite having been on the team only a few months … Took on a high scoring and leadership role, playing both the point and the off-guard positions in his only season on the Flats … Enrolled at Tech for the fall semester of 2013, and became eligible to play the 2013-14 season after the NCAA granted him a waiver of the year-in-residency requirement … Played in 96 games, starting 58, during three seasons for the Volunteers (9.7 points, 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds, 39.7 percent from the floor, 32.7 percent from three-point range) … Finished his college career with 1,342 points … Wore No. 23 at Tech, the number he wore through prep and AAU ball (wore no. 11 at Tennessee because 23 wasn’t available).
2013-14 (at Georgia Tech) – Game-by-Game Statistics
Tech’s leading scorer at 13.3 ppg overall and 12.7 ppg in ACC games, and led the team in assists at 3.13 per game … Also hit 32.4 percent of his 3s overall, 33 percent in ACC games, and a team-best 78.3 percent from the free throw line … Made the ACC All-Academic team … Averaged 18.5 points in the ACC Tournament, including 14 points with six assists in Tech’s win over Boston College, 23 points against Clemson … Scored in double digits in six of his last seven games (17 vs. Clemson, 16 at Florida State, 16 at Syracuse, 14 vs. Virginia Tech at the end of the regular season), averaging 14.3 points, 3.3 assists … Dished 21 assists with only three turnovers in his last six games, including 11 assists and no turnovers in Tech’s two wins to close out the regular season … Played his first extended minutes against Clemson (2/22) since injuring a groin muscle on Jan. 29, scoring a game-high 17 points (6-13 FG, 4-9 on 3s) in 33 minutes … Averaged 34 minutes in the last seven games … Had played only 43 total minutes in the Jackets’ previous five games, missing Clemson on 2/4 and Boston College on 2/13 due to the groin injury suffered against North Carolina … Played 34 or more minutes in seven ACC games before his injury … Averaged 34.4 minutes and 16.9 points (5th in the ACC) per ACC game before his injury … Scored 20 or more points five times in a nine-game stretch (beginning with Charlotte on 12/29) before Wake, averaging 17.7 points and 2.8 assists over that span … Established a season high for an ACC game when he scored 24 at Boston College (1/21), nine over the final 2:18 after Tech’s 18-point second-half lead dwindled to one … Hit a layup and a 3-pointer to extend Tech’s lead to six, then went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final minute … Hit a 3-point FG to put Tech ahead to stay in the final moments of the Jackets’ 74-69 win against Notre Dame on 1/11 … Went 8-for-11 from the floor with four assists … Followed that with 22 (6-16 FG, 4-10 on 3s) against Pitt … Scored a game-high 24 points, and 10 of Tech’s last 11, including what proved to be the game-winning three-point basket in the Yellow Jackets’ 58-55 win at Charlotte on Dec. 29 … Went to the free throw line a team-high 152 times (63 more than Tech’s leader the previous season) … Went 8-for-8 at Syracuse, hitting six in the final minute to seal the win, and 24-for-28 in his last five games … Scored in double digits in 23 games, and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career against NC A&T (finished with 1,342).
2012-13 (at Tennessee) – Game-by-Game Statistics
Appeared in 31 games (missed two games with a strained right hamstring), with 24 starts … Finished the season as Tennessee’s team leader in assists (3.9 apg, third in the SEC) and free throws made (126) while ranking third in scoring (12.1 ppg) and minutes played (30.3 mpg) … Led the Vols in assists 20 times and scoring nine times … Scored in double-figures 19 times and had six games with at least 20 points … Owned a 1.92 assist-to-turnover ratio … Ranked third on the team with 14 “and-1” plays … In SEC play, he averaged 12.4 points (third on the team) and a team-best 4.0 assists in 30.1 minutes per game … Led the Vols with 20 points against Mercer in the first round of the NIT (3/20/13) … Had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in UT’s SEC Tournament win over Mississippi State (3/14/13) … Scored 15 of his career-high 32 points in UT’s four-overtime win at Texas A&M after regulation (2/23/13); Played 56 minutes in the victory and also had six rebounds and four assists while going 11-for-12 at the free-throw line and earning SEC Player of the Week honors … Scored 24 points and dished eight assists with no turnovers as UT beat No. 25 Kentucky by 30 points (2/16/13) … Became the 13th Vol ever to log 300 career assists … Missed two and a half SEC games after suffering a strained right hamstring against Vanderbilt (1/29/13) … Scored 25 points (13-of-16 at the foul line) to power the Vols to a win over previously unbeaten and 23rd-ranked Wichita State (12/13/12) and earn SEC Player of the Week acclaim … Underwent arthroscopic surgery on May 15, 2012, to address a meniscus injury in his left knee.
2011-12 (at Tennessee) – Game-by-Game Statistics
Started 33 of Tennessee’s 34 games and led the Vols in scoring (13.6 ppg), assists (4.5 apg; fourth in the SEC), free-throw percentage (.828) and minutes played (32.0 mpg) … Owned a 1.90 assist/turnover ratio in Tennessee’s wins … Recorded at least five assists in 17 of UT’s 34 games … Made 27 consecutive free-throw attempts from Feb. 25 through March 9 (spanning four games) … Was named the SEC’s Most Improved Player by ESPN.com’s Jason King … In UT’s second-round NIT game vs. Middle Tennessee (3/19/12), he totaled 14 points with eight assists and no turnovers … Scored 21 points in the win at South Carolina (2/25/12) … Led the Vols with 17 points and seven assists as Tennessee toppled eighth-ranked Florida in Gainesville (2/11/12) … Scored a team-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting at 20th-ranked Mississippi State (1/12/12) … Had 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds in UT’s win over No. 13 Florida (1/7/12) … Tallied a team-high 22 points at Memphis while going 3-of-5 from 3-point range (1/4/12) … Three days after undergoing surgery for a broken nose, he scored a career-high-tying 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting in Tennessee’s triumph over Chattanooga (1/2/12) … Averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in Tennessee’s three games at the Maui Invitational and shot 4-of-4 from 3-point range in the win over Chaminade on the event’s final day … Logged his first career double-double in the win over ULM (11/16/11), posting 17 points and 11 assists … Earned the season’s first SEC Player of the Week award (Nov. 14) after totaling 29 points, six rebounds and nine assists in UT’s season-opening rout of UNC Greensboro (11/11/11).
2010-11 (at Tennessee) True freshman served as Tennessee’s backup point guard, appearing in 31 games with one start … Averaged 3.0 points and 2.2 assists in 13.3 minutes per game … Shot .825 (33-of-40) from the free-throw line and had a 2.16 assist/turnover ratio … Saw action in 14 SEC games, averaging 1.7 points and 1.6 assists … Was the first Vol off the bench 10 times … Led the team in assists nine times and steals four times … Scored six straight points in the Vols’ NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan (3/18/11) and also added two assists and a steal in 14 strong minutes … Posted season-highs with eight points and eight assists (just one turnover) off the bench during the win over No. 21 Memphis (1/5/11); was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line … Missed the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game with a flu-like illness but led the Vols with seven assists in the NIT Season Tip-Off win over VCU (11/24/10) in Madison Square Garden … Made his first career start in the win over Missouri State (11/17/10) and totaled eight points, two rebounds and two assists (just one turnover) in 28 minutes.
High School
Graduated from McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga., where he was coached by Mike Thompson … Rated by Rivals.com as a four-star prospect and the nation’s 55th-best player in the class of 2010 … Was named Georgia’s Mr. Basketball for all classifications and earned GSWA first-team All-State honors while averaging 29.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game as a senior in 2009-10 … The Indians finished the 2009-10 season with a 25-5 record and advanced to the Georgia Class AAAAA.
Was the first player in school history to score 2,000 career points … Was a two-time first-team selection to the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s 2010 Class AAAAA All-State Team and also made the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s 2010 Jackie Bradford Boys’ All-Metro Team … Was a 2010 McDonald’s All-American nominee … Scored 21 points in the 2010 Derby Festival Basketball Classic in Louisville, Ky. … Traveled to France in the summer of 2009 as a member of the 2K Sports Preseason All-America Team.
Other notable McEachern alums include former Atlanta Hawks star Josh Smith and 2007 Utah Jazz first-round draft pick Morris Almond (Golden’s first cousin), who played collegiately at Rice.
Personal
Full name is Robert Wilson Golden III … Born Oct. 5, 1991, in Atlanta, Ga. … Parents are Robert and Carolyn Golden … Older sister, Ryan Golden, graduated from Georgia Tech in 2008 … Studied Sports Management at Tennessee; enrolled in Science, Technology and Culture at Tech.
Career Statistics |
Minutes | Total | 3-Point | F-Throws | Rebounds | ||||||||||||||||||||
Year | gp-gs | min | avg | fg | fga | pct | fg | fga | pct | ft | fta | pct | off | def | tot | avg | pf | fo | ast | t/o | blk | stl | pts | avg |
2013-14 | 31-28 | 944 | 30.5 | 123 | 310 | .397 | 46 | 142 | .324 | 119 | 152 | .783 | 14 | 66 | 80 | 2.6 | 60 | 0 | 97 | 62 | 2 | 14 | 411 | 13.3 |
TOTAL | 31-28 | 944 | 30.5 | 123 | 310 | .397 | 46 | 142 | .324 | 119 | 152 | .783 | 14 | 66 | 80 | 2.6 | 60 | 0 | 97 | 62 | 2 | 14 | 411 | 13.3 |