30 | DECEMBER 15 • 2022 

SPORTS

H

oward Golding is eminently qual-
ified to talk about Ryan Turell the 
basketball player.
“I’ve never met Ryan, but I want him 
to do well, especially because of all the 
time he’s put in to get to this stage of his 
career. I know our Jewish community here 
is rooting for him,
” said Golding, a 2012 
Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation Pillars 
of Excellence award recipient because of his 
lengthy and distinguished career as an area 
basketball coach.
Turell, 23, is an Orthodox Jew. The 
6-foot-7, 190-pound forward from Yeshiva 
University plays for the Motor City Cruise, 
the Detroit Pistons’ NBA G League affiliate. 
He wears a Pistons yarmulke during games.
No Orthodox Jew has ever played in the 
NBA. Turell is one step away, albeit a huge 
step.
Golding saw Turell play Nov. 27 when 
the Cruise lost 103-102 to the Fort Wayne 
Mad Ants at the Wayne State Fieldhouse in 
Detroit.
Turell played nine minutes that afternoon. 
He scored two points, had two rebounds 
and one assist and didn’t commit a turnover. 
Through his first 11 games with the Cruise, 
Turell was averaging 2.9 points per game.
Also in attendance Nov. 27 were Turell’s 
parents, Brad and Laurel Turell, who made 
the trek from California to watch their son 
play.
Golding and Turell’s parents know each 
other. Here’s how that happened.
Greg Bernhardt, who played basketball for 
Golding at Clinton Middle School in Oak 
Park in the 1970s, lives in New York City 
and watched Ryan Turell play often there for 
Yeshiva, where he averaged a national colle-
giate best 27 points per game last season.
Bernhardt got to know Ryan Turell’s 
parents. He connected Brad Turell with 
Golding, who lives in West Bloomfield.
“I told Brad that if Ryan needed anything 
while he’s here, he can call me anytime,
” 
Golding said.

Golding met Ryan Turell’s parents in per-
son at the Nov. 27 game (he knew they were 
going to be there) and he hoped to meet 
Ryan. But Ryan was busy after the game 
signing autographs for fans, many from the 
Detroit area’s Orthodox community.
So what does Golding think of Ryan 
Turell as a basketball player from watching 
him play that afternoon?
“I think Ryan got some extra playing time 
in that game because his parents were there,
” 
Golding said.
“He’s a good shooter. His form is decent. 
He looks comfortable on the floor. He 
doesn’t look nervous.
“He has a high basketball IQ, he’s smart 
with the ball, and he’s a great team player. 
I’m sure he’s not used to being on the bench 
but whenever there was a timeout in the 
game I saw, he was the first one on the floor 
giving high-fives to his teammates. You can 
tell his teammates like him.
”
Ryan Turell’s biggest basketball challenges, 

Golding said, are getting used to the speed 
of professional basketball and going against 
many bigger, stronger, more skilled players 
who have faced much tougher competition 
than he has.
“I’m sure playing in the G League is a real 
eye opener for Ryan,
” Golding said. “He’ll 
get stronger, faster and more skilled. I hope 
they bring him along slowly, nurture him.
”
Golding, 78, was a basketball coach in the 
Detroit area for 28 years, winning 197 games 
as a high school coach.
One of his players at Oak Park High 
School was Marcus Iverson, who happened 
to be at the Nov. 27 game. Iverson was the 
first of eight All-State players coached by 
Golding.
Golding coached Detroit teams in the JCC 
Maccabi Games for 11 years. His Maccabi 
teams won a gold medal in 1991, bronze 
medal in 1995 and silver medal in 1997. 

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

MARCUS IVERSON

Longtime area basketball coach Howard Golding has made a connection 
with Orthodox Jewish player Ryan Turell’s parents 
‘He Can Call Me Anytime’

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Brad Turell, Howard 
Golding, Marcus Iverson 
and Maci Iverson gather 
for a photo at a Motor City 
Cruise basketball game.

