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In an interesting and surprising development, former UNC combo guard Seventh Woods announced on Tuesday afternoon that he will chose between Gonzaga, Michigan, and South Carolina to finish out his collegiate career.
Woods announced that he was transferring from North Carolina at the end of April with one year of eligibility remaining. Since then, there had been little to no chatter connecting Woods with Gonzaga until now. A highly touted 4-star recruit coming out of high school in Columbia, South Carolina, Woods never met the expectations heaped onto him by Tar Heel fans. Though he carved out a solid defensive role in the rotation during his three years in Chapel Hill, Woods never developed into the dynamic offensive weapon that his elite athleticism portended.
His career high of 14 points happened to come against Gonzaga last season, but that was the only game in his collegiate career where he reached double figures and he averaged just 2.5 ppg as a junior in 2018-19.
While Gonzaga has immediate backcourt needs with the losses of Josh Perkins, Geno Crandall, and Zach Norvell, Woods would not be available until the 2020-21 season as he would not enjoy graduate transfer status and would therefore need to sit out the upcoming season. Pairing with Dominick Harris, Brock Ravet, and Julian Strawther in 2020 as a veteran defensive stopper is an interesting proposition, but I’m not convinced the fit is right for either Gonzaga or Woods at this time.
Gonzaga’s reputation as an excellent program for player development is well known at this point, and has to be a significant consideration for a player like Woods who is hoping to unlock his prodigious talents and turn potential into production. However, I would imagine that his hometown South Carolina Gamecocks are sitting in the lead position as he mulls over his next step. According to 247 Sports crystal ball predictions, South Carolina was actually favored to be Woods’ choice back during his first recruitment in high school, and it’s not hard to see him wanting to return home for his last collegiate hurrah.
Wherever Woods decides to go, fans of the three programs will find out sooner rather than later as he indicated he would make his decision in the next week or two. Stay tuned.