On the court, Hofstra University women’s basketball point guard Alarice Gooden commands the offense. Off the court, she breaks down plays behind a microphone. On the airwaves or on the court, the Brampton, Ontario, native has made the most of her four years in college. However, her collegiate career was not as she anticipated just years before stepping onto Hofstra’s campus.
Growing up, Gooden played competitive soccer and basketball. For a while, she believed that she would play soccer at the collegiate level. She decided to pursue basketball at a higher level after playing Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball during high school. Hofstra then began the recruiting process with Gooden after seeing her performance in the Nike Circuit Nationals in Chicago, Illinois, during AAU ball.
While deciding where her athletic career would take her, she was also up in the air about what to major in.
“I really didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Gooden said. “I was just going to go into business, that’s what I always told myself.”
During the pandemic, Gooden started to explore different career paths, realizing her true potential and passion.
“I was always just watching basketball and old games, when there weren’t any sports to watch,” Gooden said. “I didn’t even know that sports broadcasting was really even a career. So, I kind of discovered that. Then, my sister ended up helping me find a major that was suitable for me. I was never really an analytical person. My sister knows me well; she knows I wouldn’t succeed in business, and I always succeeded in the arts and English in high school as well, so she helped me get all of that together. During the recruitment process, she told me that Hofstra would be the best option for me because it’s so close to New York City and they have such a good school of communication.”
Upon arriving at Hofstra, Gooden jumped into exploring what the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication had to offer. She joined WRHU 88.7 FM and the Hofstra Entertainment Access Television Network’s “Sports Beat” to get reps in sports broadcasting.
“It’s really hands-on, which I really appreciate. I remember my first broadcast last year was so bad in the first half of the men’s game. But just the opportunity to make mistakes, that’s what I’m so grateful for,” Gooden said. “With doing these games and all the other radio stuff, I was able to make mistakes and meet a lot of people, and a lot of people have reached out to me and told me that they heard the broadcast, and they heard the improvement of how I analyzed the game. It’s opened a lot of doors for me.”
This year, Gooden got the opportunity to serve as a color analyst for the men’s basketball team on MSG Network, thanks to Assistant Director of Athletics for Broadcast Kevin Dexter who runs Hofstra Sports Media broadcasts.
“I was happy with [the MSG game] because I know that the goals I am setting for myself, they’re really achievable, so Hofstra has made it really accessible for me and possible for me to see that I can achieve my dream of becoming a sports analyst, sports broadcaster,” Gooden said.
While trying to achieve this dream, Gooden is balancing broadcasting with Division I basketball.
“It’s really hard because I don’t get a lot of reps in that I should be getting in, especially in undergrad, because basketball takes up so much of my time,” Gooden said. “The coaching staff here at Hofstra have been supportive of me, and they would adjust individual workout times [because] they know [I’m] doing this. And when I was doing the games, they would come and support me. If I need help with anything, they would be there to help me, so I wasn’t alone in the process with balancing it, but it was hard some days.”
While working on-air, Gooden was making a name for herself on the court. Gooden has made over 100 career appearances. In the 2024-25 season, Gooden started two games. This season, she has started 26 games and played in every game, taking on a leadership role in her fourth season.
“I’ve seen peers [take on leadership roles] before, so I try not to put too much pressure on myself,” Gooden said. “It’s been fun, I’ve been enjoying that upperclassmen role and meeting those expectations. I’ve seen the rewards of meeting those expectations every day.”
This season, Gooden has not only been a strong leader, but a valuable scorer, averaging 7.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Gooden has historically shone when it matters most in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament, which the Pride are slated to play in during mid-March. In the 2023-24 CAA Tournament, Gooden scored 37 points across three games, scoring a career-best 19 points in game one against Hampton University. Last season, Gooden notched 18 points in the loss to the eventual CAA Tournament Champions, College of William & Mary.
“It’s just every game could be your last game [of the season], so I’m kind of leaving it out there on the court, and the stakes are just really high,” Gooden said.
The Pride have won four of their last six, and three straight, after an eight-game skid. Gooden is happy with how the team is shaping up for the tournament.
“Historically we’ve always done really well in the tournament. We’ve added a lot of new offensive sets, so I’m excited to see how that works,” Gooden said. “I’m excited [about] how the team is looking right now.”
Gooden is also happy with the team’s culture. She lives with her teammates, which makes playing together mean more.
“Those are my sisters,” Gooden said. “I enjoy playing with them. On and off the court, I love living with them and being with them every day.”
Gooden sees the correlation between playing basketball and sports broadcasting, taking the skill set she learned on the court and applying it to her career.
“I feel like I have an advantage because basketball is a life skill, so I communicate with my teammates, and we’re adjusting on the fly, especially in-game. If a team runs a play that we never went over in scout, we have to adjust in-game, and I can take that skill and put it back into reporting,” Gooden said. “If something happens on the fly in the reporting world and it was last minute, I can adjust. It’s given me the ability to think faster on my feet.”
As Gooden’s collegiate career comes to an end, she is grateful for all the experiences and relationships that she has created through Hofstra.
“It wasn’t an easy four years,” Gooden said. “Basketball has taught me a lot about myself, but Hofstra has just given me a lot of opportunities that I never saw coming, some friends that I know that I’m going to have for a very long time, so I’m just grateful for the opportunity to find what I love and do what I love.”
