James Howard Wood (born May 20, 1959) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player born in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

. A 6'7" 235 lb

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

, Wood played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and played one season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) with the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

. Howard Wood, a graduate of

East Hampton High School East Hampton High School is a high school in East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the east end of Long Island, the school is the easternmost high school in New York State. It is part of the East Hampton Union Free S ...

, led the team to a state H.S. basketball championship in 1977. During his years at Tennessee, he teamed future NBA players Reggie Johnson and Dale Ellis, and as a senior was a key player on the team's first ever NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1981, where they lost to top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers. Wood was named second team All-America in 1981 by Converse, and earned first team All-SEC honors as a senior in 1981. He was named the MVP of the 1980 Sugar Bowl Classic and the 1979 Volunteer Classic. He finished his career at Tennessee with 1,201 career points and 595 rebounds. Wood was selected by the

with the 4th pick in the 2nd round of the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network. In this draft, 23 NBA te ...

. He averaged 3.4 points per game in 42 games for them in 1981-82 — his only NBA season, after which he played several years in Spain's premier leagues.

References

External links

NBA stats
@ basketballreference.com * https://web.archive.org/web/20150331181037/http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/all-americans.html * http://easthamptonstar.com/?q=Sports/2012530/High-School%E2%80%99s-Inaugural-Hall-Fame-Class 1959 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Billings Volcanos players Cantabria Baloncesto players Club Ourense Baloncesto players Liga ACB players People from East Hampton (town), New York People from Southampton (town), New York Power forwards (basketball) Basketball players from Suffolk County, New York Tennessee Volunteers basketball players Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players Valencia Basket players Wisconsin Flyers players East Hampton High School alumni {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub