Rudy Woods
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Born | Lancaster Lightning | October 12, 1959||||||||||||||
1985–1986 | AMG Sebastiani | ||||||||||||||
1986–1987 | Breogán | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Rudy Dewayne Woods (October 12, 1959 – January 28, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. A tall and strong center, he was one of the top prospects in the 1978 high school class. He played 4 years of college basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies, and he was a 4th-round pick in the 1982 NBA draft; however, he never played in the NBA and he had a 5-year career playing professional basketball in Europe (Italy and Spain) and in the CBA.
High school career
Woods started to play basketball at a young age, and as a sophomore in high school he was already 6 ft 10 in tall and a key member of the varsity team.[1][2] Coached by Bobby Joe Perry, Woods averaged 16.8 points and recorded 439 rebounds in his sophomore year[3] and he was named MVP of his district.[4] That year he scored 257 of his 451 field goal attempts (57%), and 58 of his 131 free throws (44.3%).[3]
In his junior year he averaged 20.5 points per game, and was already regarded as one of the top upcoming players in the nation.[5] Again, he was named the MVP of the high school tournament.[1] As a senior he averaged 22.8 points and 15.4 rebounds, he was an all-state selection[6] and the MVP of the tournament for the third year in a row.[1] Several college coaches regarded him the best big man in the nation,[7][8] and in his 3 years of varsity basketball at Bryan High School he won 3 championships in a row.[1]
His successful senior season earned him a selection as a
College career
Woods was heavily recruited during his high school career, and received interest from
Woods immediately made an impact at Texas A&M, and his freshman season was arguably his best one: he averaged 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds while playing 28.2 minutes per game, he shot .622 from the field (Texas A&M record for a single season at the time),
During his sophomore year at Texas A&M coach
Woods' junior year was his worst during his tenure at Texas A&M: he only played 13 games, averaging 21.9 minutes, 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds.[20] His eligibility was on the line due to poor academic performance and missed classes, and this ended his season early.[8] He had to attend a junior college for two semesters in order to improve his grades and be able to go back to Texas A&M.[21] Woods was eligible again for his senior year,[21] and he returned to be a key player for his team: he played 31 games and averaged 10.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and a team-high 1.5 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game.[22]
He finished his career as the Aggies all-time blocks leader with 192 (his record has since been surpassed by Winston Crite with 200), he was the holder of the best field goal percentage for a career with .584[23] (since surpassed by Tyler Davis and Kourtney Roberson), he is 16th all-time in scoring with 1,272 points and 5th in rebounding with 853.[15] During his time at Texas A&M he was part of "The Wall", a group of players noted for their defensive prowess, along with David Britton, Claude Riley, Vernon Smith and Rynn Wright.[2]
College statistics
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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1978–79 | Texas A&M | 33 | 28.2 | .622 | – | .598 | 8.7 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 13.9 | |
1979–80 | Texas A&M | 34 | 30.6 | .589 | – | .579 | 7.6 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 11.0 | |
1980–81 | Texas A&M | 13 | 21.9 | .565 | – | .455 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 8.2 | |
1981–82 | Texas A&M | 31 | 26.8 | .535 | – | .632 | 7.8 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 10.8 | |
Career | 111 | 27.8 | .584 | – | .595 | 7.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 11.5 |
Professional career
After his final college season, Woods was automatically eligible for the 1982 NBA draft: the Dallas Mavericks selected him with the 4th pick of the 4th round (73rd overall).[24] However, he did not make the final roster, and chose to sign for Italian team Napoli Basket (named Seleco Napoli for sponsorship reasons). In his first season he scored a total of 703 points and recorded 371 rebounds in 1164 minutes of playing time;[25] he also averaged 3.7 blocks per game.[26] His production decreased the following season, where he scored 511 points and grabbed 306 rebounds in 1063 minutes.[25]
In 1984, Woods came back to the United States and joined the
In 1985, Woods returned to Italy, and played 38 games for
Personal life
Rudy Woods was the fifth child of Lemon Woods, Sr. and his wife Ruthie: his parents had 8 children.[1] After his retirement from professional basketball, he worked as a truck driver, as a police officer in Denver, Colorado, and as a correctional officer in his native town of Bryan, Texas.[1] Rudy has a son, Rudy Woods, Jr. from a first marriage. In 1986, he married Vanita L. Williams, and they had one son, Samuel Alexander Woods (Aka: Samuel Warren). They divorced in 1991. He married Diane in December 1997, he was the father of 4 step-children.[1] During his career abroad, he learned five languages; he died of complications related to diabetes, an illness he had been fighting for several years.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Woods, Rudy Dewayne". theeagle.com. February 5, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ a b c Cessna, Robert (February 2, 2016). "Former A&M star Woods' passion for life shined through basketball". theeagle.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ a b "Bryan Vikings look for title". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. November 18, 1976. p. 23.
- ^ "3 Vikings Make All-District Squad". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. March 11, 1976. p. 11.
- ^ "Vikes shoot for state championship". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. November 18, 1977. p. 26.
- ^ a b Cessna, Robert (March 19, 1978). "5 Brazos Valley players make all-state". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. 15.
- ^ a b Cessna, Robert (February 19, 1978). "Woods come along once in lifetime". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. p. 16.
- ^ a b "Texas A&M to lose Woods?". El Paso Times. January 15, 1981. p. 47.
- ^ "The Next 48 are up" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 30, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2020. 1978 game and rosters at page 67.
- ^ "CAPITAL ALL-STARS 87, U.S. ALL-STARS 79 THE STREAK IS BROKEN JOHNSON, MORLEY SHINE AS LOCALS PULL OUT CLASSIC VICTORY". thecapitalclassic.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ Sherrington, Kevin (February 7, 2016). "Aggies opponents ran into ' The Wall'". The Dallas Morning Star.
- ^ "A&M Signs Woods, Texas Draws A Blank". El Paso Times. April 13, 1978. p. 59.
- ^ 2008-09 Texas A&M Men's Basketball Yearbook, 2008, p. 204.
- ^ "1978-79 Texas A&M Aggies Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ a b c "2018-19 TEXAS A&M MEN'S BASKETBALL" (PDF).
- ^ a b c 2008-09 Texas A&M Men's Basketball Yearbook, 2008, p. 202.
- ^ a b c 2008-09 Texas A&M Men's Basketball Yearbook, 2008, p. 203.
- ^ "USA BASKETBALL ALL-TIME MEN'S ROSTER". usab.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ "1979-80 Texas A&M Aggies Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ "1980-81 Texas A&M Aggies Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ The Galveston Daily News. December 2, 1981. p. 17.
- ^ "1981-82 Texas A&M Aggies Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ 2008-09 Texas A&M Men's Basketball Yearbook, 2008, p. 205.
- Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- ^ a b "Woods Rudy - Statistiche INDIVIDUALI" (in Italian). legabasket.it. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ Gandini, Fabio (December 10, 2016). "Un muro chiamato Norvel Pelle. In serie A mai nessuno come lui" (in Italian). Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ a b "Rudy Woods". StatsCrew.com.
External links
- Stats at Sports-Reference.com
- Euro Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
- (in Italian) Italian league stats
- (in Spanish) Spanish league stats