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You Can Still Tomahawk Slam Well Into Your Second Trimester

When I first heard that a Syracuse basketball player had recently given birth without telling the team they were pregnant, I thought that number one, Terrence Roberts has got some 'splainin' to do, and number two, maybe now his poor free throw percentage makes sense. I mean, how does one find a solid equilibrium at the foul line when you're getting consistently kicked in the stomach?

After I did a quick biology 101 refresher on Wikipedia, it dawned on me that perhaps it was not a man but a woman. And if so, that would mean this was about a women's basketball team member. The next question was obvious...we have a women's basketball team? Again, I had some learnin' to do.


Finally, I came to the understanding that Fantasia Goodwin, a junior and starter for the Orange, is the player in question who gave birth to a baby girl Thursday. Goodwin had known of her pregnancy throughout the season but didn't tell the team or coaches until February 25th, the day before a game against Cincinnati which she sat out at the behest of coach Quentin Hillsman.


When asked, she wouldn't say why she kept things a secret. But to be fair, it
doesn't seem to be all that uncommon or unusual to do such a thing, especially with a college scholarship on the line. Declaring her pregnancy early could have jeopardized her place on the team and the benefits that come with that. Balanced against the safety of the pregnancy and the baby, well, that's a helluva decision to have to make. But until a policy is in place that lets players like Goodwin trust that her scholarship is intact, the same way her job would be intact if she took a leave of absence from work, then that surely choice will have to considered again by someone else.

While Syracuse has no policy in place, I did enjoy DOCTOR Daryl Gross' teeth-gritting statement about the situation:


"Fantasia is a wonderful woman. Birth is a wonderful thing. We think she's a terrific, terrific human being, and we support her."


Birth is a wonderful thing indeed, baby. No word on if he plans to hold a baby shower for Fantasia, but if he does, we can only assume that it will be of the funkiest bridal shower in SU history.