Mike Goin

As you look through the hall of fame inductees, you will notice only one individual has been been selected to be enshrined as an athlete and later as a coach, that being Mike Goin

Goin was elevated to the varsity as a sophomore, by Hall of Fame coach Pete Bryant, who was in the process of rebuilding the Astoria program. In just his third appearance with the purple and gold, Goin poured in 15 points to help Astoria edge Ft. Vancouver 64-62.

Bryant had the Fishermen up and running in 1966 with a 19-6 overall record and a Metro League title. Leading the way was Goin with 418 points and All-Metro acclaim. His best offensive night in that junior season was a 30 point outing in an 84-59 win over Metro League for Sunset High School. He was selected Honorable Mention All-State. Goin was also recognized by a national sports publication (Sport Magazine) as one of the top 100 prospects in the nation.

Goin’s final season (as an athlete) resulted in a repeat performance on the First Team All-Metro squad and All-State honors. His 364 points led the Fisherman to a 16-8 finish. In Goin’s final two years, Astoria faithful who filed into Fishermen Gym would see the local cager win 21 consecutive home court victories, before losing their final game to Metro League champion and eventual state champion, David Douglas 53-52 in overtime. Goin led the Fishermen, as he usually did, with 21 scores. At the time of Goin’s Hall of Fame induction, he still claimed the eight spot on the Astoria High School all-time career scoring list with his 872 career tallies.

He would find distance running to his liking. On the track, his time of 10:22.7 in the two-mile run would stand as a school record for a number of seasons. As a junior, he would co-chair a fund raising effort to give Astoria High School what was believed to be the first all-weather track at the high school level in Oregon. Off the athletic scene, he would serve as junior class president and treasurer of the Boys’ Federation.

Following graduation from AHS, Goin went on to play at Washington State University on the Freshman team, which was coached by Jud Heathcoat, who later went on to coach at Michigan State University where he won a national championship along with his star Magic Johnson. After Goin’s Freshmen year he transferred to Pacific Lutheran University and received a teaching degree in Business Education.

The numbers are staggering. Overall, in 25 years (counting one at Creswell High School) as a head basketball coach, Mike Goin’s teams won 441 games while losing only 187 for a 70.4 winning percentage. During his 24 years leading the Astoria Fishermen, the record was 423 vs. 178 for a 70.4 winning percentage. As a coach Mike demonstrated two important intangibles that were key to success. He created an atmosphere that “kids” wanted to be part of, and his teams consistently improved as league play and the season went on.

In 1996 Mike was named Oregon boy’s basketball Coach of the Year. He was then nominated boy’s basketball Coach of the Year for region seven (seven northwest states) by the National High School Coaches’ Association.

In 24 years as Astoria’s head coach, his teams made the playoffs 21 times. In 22 years in the Cowapa League he was the Coach or Co-Coach of the Year 11 times. He guided the Fishermen to 12 league championships and five second place finishes, and never finished lower than fourth. Four times the Fishermen were undefeated in league play, and five times they had just one loss. From 1994-1998 Astoria’s league record was an astounding 65-3. Consistency was a hallmark of his program. In Cowapa League play his teams were 232-52 for a remarkable 81.7 winning percentage.

Mike was the head coach when Astoria became only the second high school west of the Rocky Mountains to win 1,500 games, with number 800 at home coming on the same night.

Mike’s Fishermen made it to the state tournament 17 times, and true to consistency, played 3.65 games per tournament. The Fishermen were 35-27 (56.5 %) in State Tournament play, and brought home eight trophies.

1998 was exceptional as Mike led the Fishermen to the Oregon state 3-A High School Championship. He was selected as Boy’s 3-A Basketball Coach of the Year by the Oregon High School Coaches’ Association and by the Oregonian newspaper when it named the All-State teams. Two of Mike’s assistants, Loren Bruner (junior varsity) and Todd Barnes (eighth grade) were named Assistant Coach and Junior High Coaches of the Year and in 2002, Bob Landwehr was named Assistant Coach of the Year. Mike was then selected as 3-A Coach of the Year for all sports by the Oregon High School Coaches’ Association. This was followed by his being named 3-A Co-Athletic Director of the Year.