'I think I've come a very long way' -by Dave Ford

With the atmosphere calm and the sweat now dry on the gym floor at Bearden High School, it will be difficult for fans to forget the many highlight-reel plays they were fortunate to witness throughout the fourth year of Pilot Rocky Top League play.

But there is one moment that will surely stand the test of time.

On June 30, during the closing seconds of First Tennessee's win over DeRoyal, rising University of Tennessee senior Melvin Goins put the dot on the exclamation point of what had been a furious sequence of events.

Having already seen Lincoln Memorial University's D'Mario Curry and UT freshman Jordan McRae each thrown down between the legs jams and a shocking lean-in windmill dunk by 5-foot-9 Central High player Dre Mattheiu, Goins looked at the clock, drove the lane, elevated and perfectly executed a 360-degree, between the legs dunk for the ages.

The response in the gym was chaos. As the final horn sounded and Goins joined the rest of the mortals on the ground, fans rushed the floor as if the Vols had just won the national championship.

Generously listed in the Tennessee media guide as 5-foot-11, Goins' Herculean dunk was something most everyone in attendance had no idea he could perform. But to him, it was nothing new.

"It's something I did in a dunk contest a couple times a few years back. It was real spontaneous, though (at the end of the game) — I kind of had to figure out what I was going to do in the air," said Goins. "That didn't leave me with too many options because they had already went between the legs, windmills and all that type stuff, so I had to pull something out of my hat. I know nobody was expecting me to do anything like that." The ripple effect from Goins' jam was so swift and far-reaching that it was posted on YouTube the next day.

But it's not his ridiculous handle on the ball or his gravity-defying leaping ability that defines Goins these days. According to him, he wants people to know how hard he's worked to get to this point.

"I've just been working hard," said Goins. "Last season was a real motivator, the Elite Eight. So I've been in the gym twice maybe three times a day working out and lifting weights. I've got more confidence in my game and I'm just more comfortable and I feel welcome into this Vol nation family now."

Feeling welcome wasn't something Goins felt right away as a junior transfer leading up to the 2009-10 season. And on New Year's Day he, along with Tyler Smith, Cameron Tatum and Brian Williams, were arrested and suspended indefinitely from the team by head coach Bruce Pearl.

After getting reinstated Jan. 16 having missed four games, Goins got a second chance but sought feeling welcome once again.

"I think I've come a very long way," said Goins. "I went through a lot last year just from transferring in being that new guy, then the situation that I went through. And then, coming back and being that new guy again."

Now, having survived wide-spread scrutiny not just locally but nationally, Goins said he's not going anywhere and that he wants to give Tennessee fans something to cheer for once again during the 2010-11 season.

"I think I've shown Vols fans that I can play basketball and that I'm a Tennessee Vol and I'm here to stay," said Goins.

"I just want to come back next year and just give them something to be proud of."

Based on the reception he received at Bearden High School, that's already been achieved.