Spotlight on Men’s Basketball: #55 Transfer Tony Woods

We’ll continue our previews of the Oregon men’s basketball players for this upcoming season with Junior, #55 Tony Woods.  Woods will be at the Center position for Oregon.  He transferred from Wake Forest and had nine starts during his sophomore season at Wake Forest.

During the 2009/10 season at Wake Forest Woods averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.  He was ranked seventh on his team in scoring, third in blocks and fourth in offensive rebounds and third in dunks.  Woods stands at 6’11’’ and weighs 250lbs and could be a big impact as an Oregon big man.  Coach Altman believes Woods deserves a second chance after he was thrown off the Wake Forest team after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge that involved allegedly kicking and pushing his girlfriend in front of their infant.  He did not play during last season so he is immediately eligible to play for the Ducks.

Woods racked up some playing time with the Ducks during their exhibition trip to Italy.  He average 8 points and 5.4 rebounds.  During the Ducks’ win over Latina Basket, Woods was one of two Ducks who put up double digits with 12 points.  Woods also had six rebounds and five blocks in that 71 – 54 victory.  He was also the leader in blocking for the team throughout the five-game stretch (2.0 bpg).  Woods could have a major impact for the Ducks and is one of the reasons they are being looked at as a quiet threat in the Pac-12.

Altman spoke about discussions he had with Woods’ former coaches and Oregon’s head coach feels good about his decision to bring Woods to Oregon;

“I’ve only had the opportunity to coach him for 10 days prior to the trip and then the 12 days on the trip and during those first impressions he was really easy to work with and got along great with his teammates. He has tremendous upside as a player.”

From aol.sportingnews.com (share this quote)

If you missed our preview of Freshman Jabari Brown make sure to check that out.  Next week we’ll take a look at Junior transfer from Louisiana Tech, Olu Ashaolu.