By Paul Gaeta
Sports Editor
Loren Woods, the man who came in his rookie season, averaged double digits in points and rebounds, and unanimously won ACC Rookie of the Year.
Loren Woods, the man who teamed with All-American Tim Duncan to become the nation's most threatening front court on the Demon Deacon trip to the Final Four the same year.
And Loren Woods, the man who dominated ACC play in the paint for the Deacs during his sophomore campaign, capping the year by being named to the ACC First Team.
That would have been the fairy tale script for Loren Woods' first two years as a Demon Deacon. But, like so many other times in college and professional sports, the perfect storyline was just never acted out. And Woods' two year stint at the university was the perfect example.
He came to Winston-Salem with the hype any McDonald's High School All-American would have. He was arguably Head Coach Dave Odom's most prized recruit in his eight years leading the program.
Woods' basketball career at the university, however never really got started. He didn't make the big baskets, didn't take the leadership on the court, and didn't play in a seven-game period of ACC play because Odom suspended him, citing that "he needed to spend time away from basketball."
What Woods did have was pressure: pressure that ultimately led to the announcement of him transferring on April 16. From the first day he stepped onto campus, the pressure on Woods mounted; pressure to live up to his McDonald's All-American status, pressure to combine with Duncan as a powerful force in the paint in his freshman seaon, pressure to be the new era in Demon Deacon basketball, leading the team into the next century pressure to be this university's next Tim Duncan, a task too difficult for anyone to fulfill.
So now Woods will leave school, no one knows where to for sure. Some say the University of Arizona, others say Seton Hall. His decision will probably be made by the end of the academic year.
Regardless, a move for Woods is the best thing for him. His talent was never exhibited in a Demon Deacon uniform, but he still has got game. A new environment, a fresh environment, will be perfect for what Woods needs most -- a start over.
Loren Woods once said that the best advice he ever received was from his mother. "There is no progress without struggle," she told him. Well, Woods has certainly struggled for two years. Hopefully, his decision to transfer will lead to progress over his final two years of college basketball. |