Long before he represented corporate clients in class actions, Barry Goheen earned a reputation for making clutch shots for his Vanderbilt University basketball team.

Goheen, now a litigator at FisherBroyles after years at King & Spalding, made seven late-game scores that either tied the game or won it outright between 1986 and 1989. They include a last-second shot against Pittsburgh during the 1988 NCAA Tournament that has been listed among some of the event's top moments.

He recalled those games, among many others, in a recently published memoir, "Buzzer Beaters and Memorial Magic," referring to the Commodores home arena.

The book focuses on game action, but Goheen goes outside the lines occasionally, such as to explain the evolution of the 3-point shot, which was just adopted by the NCAA when he started playing for Vanderbilt.

He takes readers on a tour of some of college basketball's best teams of the era. Under Coach C.M. Newton, Goheen and his teammates encountered Indiana, North Carolina and Louisville, among others, in addition to Kentucky, Florida, Georgia and the rest of the Southeastern Conference.

Goheen humbly notes that one reason he ended up with the ball late in the game was that one of his teammates, Barry Booker, was the best 3-point shooter on the team. "If your opponent needs a 3 to win or tie, who should you focus on defending first?" Goheen asks. "The 50% 3-point shooter, of course."

Goheen's description of his last-second heave against Pittsburgh—which sent a second-round NCAA game into overtime, from which Vanderbilt would vault into the Sweet 16—evokes the kind of concentration required for such a feat. "While the shot was in midair, the clock turned to all zeroes and the buzzer sounded. But I didn't hear any of that; I remember nothing but total silence as I went up for the shot; it was like an out-of-body experience."

Goheen provided answers to the following questions about college basketball, its relationship (or lack thereof) to practicing law and the NCAA.

Q: You write that in a home game against North Carolina, the legendary coach Dean Smith summoned your coach to complain about comments from the Vandy fans. "That struck me as silly and an exercise in gamesmanship … trying anything to obtain, or maintain, even slightest (largely psychological) edge over an opponent." Do you see that kind of gamesmanship in litigation, and did your experience playing before hostile crowds help you manage it in your law practice?

Goheen: I think there is a fine line between strategy and gamesmanship in any context, whether it be basketball or in litigation. There is nothing wrong with trying to obtain every edge possible, within the proper bounds. Occasionally, those bounds might be crossed but not very often in my experience. Most litigators know the boundaries; they play fairly but aggressively and let the judge call balls and strikes from there.

Q: You note that every game has bad calls by referees, but it's rare that an entire game is so bad "that one must question the officials' integrity and impartiality." How'd you handle those times on the court—and how you handle them (if ever) in court?

Goheen: Coach Newton often would say, "Play through the distractions," and questionable officiating is one of the examples he would use to make that point. That is one of those things that, as a player, you can't really control, so you need to focus on playing and executing your best—that's all you can ask for. And that advice would apply to litigation. I don't think I've ever had a case where I questioned a decision-maker's integrity; in any sport, not every call will go your side's way, just as not every ruling will go your client's way in a litigation matter or a trial. Every judge I've appeared before has made a decision based on what (s)he thought was right, given the law and facts before the judge; there may be room for disagreement or honest debate about the decision but not about the judge's integrity in reaching that decision.

Q: You had to watch old videos of some games to write this book. Did your memories of the games differ much from what you saw in the recordings? Did that experience compare to any moments you've had in litigation, in which witnesses' memories can conflict with more-objective records?

Goheen: Those are two very good questions. The first question is easily answered—yes! There were a couple of occasions where my memory had been one thing for 30+ years, only to have either a game video or a contemporaneous newspaper article prove me wrong. And that demonstrates your second point—memories are fallible, imperfect and subject to imprecision as time passes. And that holds true in litigation—a witness' memory may be hazy or imprecise, and often objective documents can be better proof if a witness can't specifically recall important facts.

You write a lot about the introduction of the 3-point shot at the same time you started your college basketball career. Is there an innovation you'd like to see in college basketball today?

Goheen: I think the worst part of college basketball are the free throw rules, which were adjusted some years ago (but after I graduated) to eliminate the "1-and-1" beginning with the 10th foul of each half. That rule has lengthened games and also robbed the game of real drama at the end—there may be no more pressurized moment in team sports than a player facing a 1-and-1 with his team ahead by one or two points in the waning seconds of the game. We don't see that much anymore—only if, by a fluke, the team playing catch-up has six, seven or eight team fouls in those waning seconds, requiring a 1-and-1 when it fouls the opponent. I would do away with the 10-foul/2-shot rule entirely in the first half and increase the number to at least 12 and maybe 15 fouls in the second half.

Q: How hard is hitting the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw?

Goheen: It's hard, as noted above. For the most part, it's the only situation where a team sport becomes an individual sport—only you are at the line, no one can coach you, help you, shoot it for you, etc.  It's just a matter of blocking out all the noise in the gym and lifting your concentration level to focus only on shooting at a goal 15 feet in front of you with no one guarding you. Theoretically, every one should be made—-hence "free" throw—but even the very greatest will miss free throws at inopportune times.

The NCAA is considering allowing college athletes to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness. What do you think of this proposal?

Goheen: It's about time! The NCAA has been profiting off its athletes for decades while many of those athletes, while receiving a scholarship, do not have any way of earning spending money for incidentals and such. The NCAA has begun to address that problem, and the ability to allow athletes to profit from their names and likenesses is a further step in the right direction.