Robert Anthony Woodard II (born September 22, 1999) is an American 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 for the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He 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 ...

for

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

, and has appeared in 25

NBA 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 St ...

games for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

Early life and high school career

Woodard grew up playing

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

but narrowed his focus to basketball by the time he started high school, in part due to his exceptional height. He was already receiving Division I college attention in eighth grade. He played basketball for Columbus High School in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterwa ...

. As a sophomore, Woodard led Columbus to its first Mississippi Class 6A state title after averaging 20.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and four assists per game. In his junior season, he averaged 25.2 points, 13.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and three blocks per game and was named Mississippi

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

. As a senior, Woodard won his second Class 6A state championship and repeated as Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year. A four-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and the highest-rated prospect in his state, he committed to play

for

over offers from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and Ole Miss, among others.

College career

As a freshman, Woodard averaged 5.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in 17.4 minutes per game. He started one contest and shot 46 percent on field goals. He spent the following summer working on his shooting and lifting weights. On November 17, 2019, Woodard set career highs with 21 points and 16 rebounds in a 82–59 win over

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. As a sophomore, Woodard averaged 11.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Following the season, Woodard declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

, with the intention of remaining in the draft. He had career totals of 539 points, 53 steals, 49 blocks, 65 assists and 342 rebounds.

Professional career

Sacramento Kings (2020–2022)

Woodard was selected by the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

with the 40th pick in the

. He was subsequently traded alongside a 2022 second-round draft selection to the

in exchange for

Xavier Tillman Xavier Justis Tillman Sr. (born January 12, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans. Early life In ...

. On December 1, 2020, Woodard was signed by the Kings. On February 1, 2021, it was announced Woodard would had his first assignment at the

for the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the postseason in 8 ...

. On January 5, 2022, Woodard was assigned to the Stockton Kings after suffering an undisclosed illness. On February 10, he was waived by the Kings.

Oklahoma City Blue (2022–present)

On February 19, 2022, Woodard was acquired via waivers by the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

. Two days later, Woodard was traded to the

in exchange for Melvin Frazier. On March 4, 2022, Woodard signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. On October 4, 2022, Woodard signed with the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

. On October 7, Woodard was waived after appearing in one pre season game. On November 3, 2022, Woodard was named to the opening night roster for the

National team career

Woodard won a gold medal with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the 2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship in

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 3 ...

, Argentina. He played in all five games and averaged 5.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 13 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , .400 , , .167 , , .375 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .0 , , .2 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 12 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , .125 , , .250 , , 1.000 , , .9 , , .3 , , .1 , , .1 , , .6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 25 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , .278 , , .200 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , .0 , , .2 , , 1.1

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 1 , , 17.5 , , .468 , , .273 , , .580 , , 4.1 , , .7 , , .5 , , .5 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 33.1 , , .495 , , .429 , , .641 , , 6.5 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 11.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 65 , , 32 , , 24.9 , , .485 , , .368 , , .617 , , 5.3 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , .8 , , 8.3

Personal life

Woodard's father, also named Robert Woodard, left high school as the Mississippi all-time leading scorer in boys basketball, with 4,274 points, before playing for Mississippi State at the collegiate level.

References

External links

Mississippi State Bulldogs bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodard, Robert II 1999 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Austin Spurs players Basketball players from Mississippi Memphis Grizzlies draft picks Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players Oklahoma City Blue players Sacramento Kings players Small forwards Sportspeople from Starkville, Mississippi Stockton Kings players United States men's national basketball team players