Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin is reunited with parents from Russia, hopes to show them NCAA Tournament run
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin, holding a bouquet of flowers, stood alongside his fiancé at Detroit Metropolitan Airport as he waited a little longer for a moment he had been looking forward to for five years.
Goldin reunited with his parents, whom he left in Russia to pursue his dreams, and hugged them in a breathtaking moment.
“When the door opened and I saw them walking to me, it was like I lost all the oxygen in my lungs,” he said.
Goldin’s mother and father could not believe what his life is like at Michigan.
“Everything is like a dream to them,” he said.
His parents watched Goldin wrap up the regular season with the Wolverines before returning home to Russia. The 7-foot-1 center hopes to give them another run to watch in the NCAA Tournament.
Fifth-seeded and Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan will play 12th-seeded UC San Diego in Denver.
Two years ago, Goldin was a key player on Florida Atlantic’s Final Four team.
When Michigan fired coach Juwan Howard and hired Dusty May away from FAU last year, the new coach knew he wanted his old center to join him.
May had 11 newcomers on his team this season, including Goldin, a three-year player under him with the Owls.
“I’m extremely grateful that he joined us here,” May said. “This will be his fourth year playing March Madness and the way he’s performed lately, he’s obviously not taking it for granted. He’s motivated to finish strong and see how far this team can go.
“Every year, he gets a little bit better and he really does game by game. It’s really rewarding to see him continue to improve and he’s taken on a bigger leadership role with our team lately. He’s kind of came out of his shell because of his determination to win.”
Goldin started his journey in the United States at a prep school in Connecticut.
He played on Texas Tech’s NCAA Tournament team as a seldom-used freshman and transferred to FAU, where he became a three-year starter and declared for the NBA draft.
Goldin decided to stay in school and transferred to Michigan, where he averaged a team-high 16.7 points while earning All-Big Ten and conference tournament MVP honors. He scored a career-high 36 points at UCLA and had more than 20 points in 11 games.
After playing for three colleges, getting engaged and briefly reuniting with his parents, it would be easy to be awestruck.
Goldin tries to push aside those big-picture thoughts.
“I don’t want to lose the ground under me,” he said. “If I start thinking about this, I might get too emotional.”
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