Lincoln is known primarily as the home of the annual Arkansas Apple Festival, which is held on the town square each year in October.
My wife bought a handmade broom there one year while I buried my face in a bowl of apple dumplings with two scoops, not one, of vanilla ice cream.
There was another gathering in Lincoln on Saturday, although on a much smaller scale. "Biggie" is back, and he's headed to Little Rock to play for the Trojans.
"Biggie" is the nickname for Shandon Goldman, a 6-foot-9 forward who made eight 3-pointers in a regional tournament game against Subiaco Academy his junior year. He committed to Arkansas-Little Rock on May 23 then made it official Saturday when he signed as an incoming freshman with the Trojans.
Goldman went to high school at Lincoln and grew up in Evansville, a community of about 70 near the Oklahoma border. He is certainly the first player from Evansville to sign a Division I basketball scholarship and at least the first one from Lincoln to do so since the 1960s.
A crowd of about 60 family and friends stood on the court and snapped pictures Saturday while Goldman signed with UALR. People took turns sitting at a table with "Biggie," including former teammates of Goldman such as Ossi Escareno and Payton Hulse. Both attend Arkansas and are huge Razorback fans.
"I'm happy for him," Escareno said. "He's going to get a chance to show what he can do at the DI level, and I expect him to do very well."
Goldman's journey from Lincoln to Little Rock was unconventional and far from direct. Instead of heading to college after high school, Goldman reclassified to the class of 2016 and enrolled at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Wisconsin. He spent a semester there before transferring to Tennessee Prep Academy in Memphis, where he averaged 13.6 points and eight rebounds per game.
"I wanted to get more exposure coming out of high school, and I needed to bulk up," said Goldman, who has added 20 pounds to his frame. "Going to prep school helped me develop my game more against some top competition."
Lincoln often struggles in athletics, but the Wolves went 22-6 in Goldman's junior year and won a conference championship in basketball for the first time since 1986. Goldman averaged 17 points and nine rebounds per game for his high school career and shot 40 percent from 3-point range.
"I hope his success will encourage other players to put in the extra work to become the best they can be," Lincoln coach Tim Rich said. "The entire community of Lincoln will be proud to watch a former member of the Wolfpack play in March Madness."
Goldman is joining an Arkansas-Little Rock team that set a school record with 30 victories last season. The Trojans rallied to beat Purdue in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Iowa State in the second round.
There is still plenty of momentum involving the Trojans despite the loss of head coach Chris Beard, who left for UNLV then ended up as head coach at Texas Tech. UALR is excited about Wes Flanigan, the former Parkview star who was promoted from assistant to head coach of the Trojans on March 31.
"They didn't have any scholarships available at the time, but one freed up and they offered me a couple of weeks later," said Goldman, who was recruited by 10 Division I schools, including Boston College, Utah State and Florida International. "This program is coming off a great year, and I'm excited as an Arkansas kid to do something to help the state."
So, it was a rare sight indeed Saturday to watch a player from Lincoln sign a Division I scholarship and possibly get a chance to play on the big stage that is the NCAA Tournament. He is an inspiration not only to the people who live in the communities of Lincoln and Evansville, but to anyone from small towns who dare to dream big like "Biggie."
Sports on 06/05/2016