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 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 the

Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Aggi ...

, 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. Coached by Bobby Joe Perry, Woods averaged 16.8 points and recorded 439 rebounds in his sophomore year and he was named MVP of his district. That year he scored 257 of his 451 field goal attempts (57%), and 58 of his 131 free throws (44.3%). 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. Again, he was named the MVP of the high school tournament. As a senior he averaged 22.8 points and 15.4 rebounds, he was an all-state selection and the MVP of the tournament for the third year in a row. Several college coaches regarded him the best big man in the nation, and in his 3 years of varsity basketball at Bryan High School he won 3 championships in a row. His successful senior season earned him a selection as a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

. In the 1978 McDonald's game, which was played in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he scored 13 points, shooting 5/15 from the field (3/5 from the free throw line), and recorded 16 rebounds in 23 minutes of play, being named the game MVP. 1978 game and rosters at page 67. He also played in another high school all-star game, the Capital Classic, where he scored 16 points (7/9 shooting, 2/3 on free throws).

College career

Woods was heavily recruited during his high school career, and received interest from

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

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USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

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and

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. He finally signed with Texas A&M in April 1978, choosing to wear number 23. 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), and led the team in rebounds and blocks (2.0). He recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against SMU on January 13, 1979. At the end of the season he was named in the All-SWC first team,''2008-09 Texas A&M Men's Basketball Yearbook'', 2008, p. 202. he was NABC All-District, All-Defense team,''2008-09 Texas A&M Men's Basketball Yearbook'', 2008, p. 203. and received the SWC Freshman of the Year award. That year he also played for

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the

1979 Summer Universiade The 1979 Summer Universiade, also known as the X Summer Universiade, took place in Mexico City, Mexico. Sports * * * * * * * * * * Medal table {{Universiade 1979 U U U Multi-sport events in Mexico Sports competitions in Me ...

, winning the gold medal. During his sophomore year at Texas A&M coach

Shelby Metcalf Shelby Metcalf (December 23, 1930 – February 8, 2007) was the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team for 27 seasons, from 1963 to 1990. He won more games than any other coach in the former Southwest Conference. Achieving success ...

increased his minutes, but Woods' averages slightly decreased to 11 points and 7.6 rebounds per game: he played 34 games that season, again leading the team in rebounding and blocked shots. He scored a career-high 31 points on January 28, 1980, against

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. He was named in the NABC All-District team and in the conference All-Defense team. Since Texas A&M won the SWC conference title, they participated in the NCAA Tournament, where they were eliminated by

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

in the Midwest Regional semifinals. 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. His eligibility was on the line due to poor academic performance and missed classes, and this ended his season early. He had to attend a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

for two semesters in order to improve his grades and be able to go back to Texas A&M. Woods was eligible again for his senior year, 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. He finished his career as the Aggies all-time blocks leader with 192 (his record has since been surpassed by

Winston Crite Winston Arnel Crite (born June 20, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who currently trains young players. After a very successful career at Texas A&M University, Crite was selected with 53rd overall (7th in third round) p ...

with 200), he was the holder of the best field goal percentage for a career with .584 (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. 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 David Britton (18 February 1945 – 29 December 2020) was a British author, artist, and publisher. In the 1970s he founded ''Weird Fantasy'' and ''Crucified Toad'', a series of small press magazines of the speculative fiction and horror genres. ...

Claude Riley Claude Edward Riley Jr (born September 8, 1960) is an American retired professional basketball player. College career Riley played in the NCAA, with the Texas A&M Aggies. Professional career Riley was drafted by the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, ...

, Vernon Smith and Rynn Wright.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 1978–79 , align="left" ,

, 33 , , , , 28.2 , , .622 , , – , , .598 , , 8.7 , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , 2.0 , , 13.9 , - , align="left" , 1979–80 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , , , 30.6 , , .589 , , – , , .579 , , 7.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.9 , , 2.0 , , 11.0 , - , align="left" , 1980–81 , align="left" ,

, 13 , , , , 21.9 , , .565 , , – , , .455 , , 5.2 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 8.2 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 31 , , , , 26.8 , , .535 , , – , , .632 , , 7.8 , , 0.7 , , 1.4 , , 1.5 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 111 , , , , 27.8 , , .584 , , – , , .595 , , 7.7 , , 0.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.7 , , 11.5 , -

Professional career

After his final college season McDowell was automatically eligible for the 1982 NBA draft: the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

selected him with the 4th pick of the 4th round (73rd overall). However, he did not make the final roster, and chose to sign for

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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; he also averaged 3.7 blocks per game. His production decreased the following season, where he scored 511 points and grabbed 306 rebounds in 1063 minutes. In 1984 he came back to the United States and joined the CBA. He initially signed with the

Wisconsin Flyers The Wisconsin Flyers were a professional basketball team based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. They were members of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1982 to 1987. The team relocated to Rochester, Minnesota at the conclusion ...

, and in the second part of the season he transferred to the

Lancaster Lightning The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association. They were based in Rockford, Illinois. History The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red Roses fro ...

, where he also played during the playoffs, averaging 20.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He played a total of 45 games in the 1984–85 CBA season, averaging 10.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 24.7 minutes per game. In 1985 he came back to Italy, and played 38 games for AMG Sebastiani Rieti between the 1985–86 and 1986–87 editions of

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. He then moved to Spain, where he played the rest of the 1986–87 season in

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

for

CB Breogán Club Baloncesto Breogán, S.A.D., also known as Río Breogán for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Lugo, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. The club was founded in 1966 by the Varela-Portas brothers. The team pla ...

. He played 15 games in the regular season, averaging 19.5 points and 8.8 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per game. He also played 4 playoffs games, recording averages of 25.5 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Personal life

Rudy Woods was the fifth child of Lemon Woods, Sr. and his wife Ruthie: his parents had 8 children. After his retirement from professional basketball he worked as a truck driver, as a police officer in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and as a correctional officer in his native town of Bryan, Texas. 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. During his career abroad he learned 5 languages; he died of complications related to

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

, an illness he had been fighting for several years.

References

External links

Stats at Sports-Reference.com

Italian league stats

Spanish league stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Rudy 1959 births 2016 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players AMG Sebastiani Basket players Basketball players from Texas CB Breogán players Centers (basketball) Dallas Mavericks draft picks Lancaster Lightning players McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Sportspeople from Bryan, Texas