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.