MIDDLESBORO — It’s been 53 years since Rodney Woods starred for Lone Jack High School, but there’s little question he’s one of the all-time greats in Bell County hoops history.
Woods was back home, or at least close to it, on Saturday as he brought his Wayne County Cardinals to Middlesboro to play the host Yellow Jackets in the Larry Tom Davis Classic.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here. We came over here in the preseason when my son-in-law, Russell Thompson (now the Pineville Independent Schools superintendent), was the coach. I got to see quite a few people last night, but a lot of the ones I remember were a little older than me. I spent a lot of time playing pickup games out at the Little League park here by the airport, and I played in this gym and the old one also. I had an uncle who had a grocery store (Lattiff Grocery) near here. I used to stay with him and my aunt (Louis and Mary Lattiff) and ride my bike over to the ball courts
Woods’ basketball career reached another level after high school as he moved on to the University of Tennessee where he started at point guard for Ray Mears’ Volunteers from 1972 to 1975. He led the Southeastern Conference in assists three times, averaging 6.9 assists and 9.4 points per game over his career. He still holds the single season assists record with 227 in 1975. He played on several very good Tennessee squads along with the famous Ernie (Grunfield)-Bernie (King) tandem.
“Those were some good teams,” Woods said. “Coach (Ray) Mears will never get the credit he deserves because I don’t think he finished below third (in the Southeastern Conference) in 13 years, but in those days only one team in each league made the tournament. He would have been in the NCAA Tournament 13 straight times if it was like today. We finished second to Kentucky a couple of times, and my freshman year we tied with them but they got to go since they beat us twice.”
Woods was a two-sport player at Tennessee with basketball leading into baseball each spring,.
“(UT sports information director) Bud Ford came to my room after we played in the Collegiate Commissioners Association tournament (for second place teams in the major conferences in the days before the NCAA field expanded) and said you aren’t going back to Knoxville. You’re going to Florida to catch up with the baseball team,” Woods said. “We played the No. 1 team (Florida State), and we beat them. As soon as basketball was over, I was right to baseball.
Woods said he considered Tennessee, LSU and Kentucky while he was a senior at Lone Jack. Former Harlan standout Dickie Parsons was an assistant at UK and recruited Woods.
“I think that’s why Dickie wanted me at Kentucky so bad,” Woods said. “He was the baseball coach at the time, but I don’t think it was left up to him. Tennessee came to watch me play 17 consecutive games. Coach Mears sat down and said he would promise me two things if I came to Tennessee. He said the only team you’ll ever leave the court is if you’re hurt. He said No. 2 I know you like playing fast. He played slower, but he said we’ll lead this league in scoring all three years you play.”
Woods has won more games than any active coach in Kentucky with over 800 victories in a 44-year coaching career that includes nine 12th Region titles. Woods coached three years at Powell Valley, Tenn., and three years at Corbin before moving to Wayne County before the 1986-87 season. This year’s Cardinals are 20-5 and ranked second behind Danville Christian in the RPI ratings used by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.
“We’ve got a chance. There’s some other teams that have a lot more experienced guards than we do,” Woods said. “We have a freshman point guard who has played well, much better than you could expect, but there’s nothing like that experience when it comes tournament time. We start two sophomores along with him, and one junior and one senior and have a freshman coming off the bench. We’re a young team, but we have a chance and that’s all you can ask for.”
Woods had connections to several people at the game Saturday in Middlesboro, including standout Pineville guard Sawyer Thompson, who talked with his grandfather near the Wayne bench before the game. Woods coached Sherrill King, the father of Middlesboro center Trey King, in the 1980s at Powell Valley, Tenn. He coached John Wheat, the current Middlesboro coach, at Wayne County.
“I’ve stayed in contact with him through the years, and I look up to him in more ways than just basketball,” Wheat said. “We talk all the time, He’s been the person I’ve talked to after my father died. He’s a special coach for what he does to help players. That’s what I want to try to be myself as a coach.”