New Arkansas Pine Bluff women’s head basketball coach Erica Leak rounds out her coaching staff, as the program announced the hiring of Roderick “Rodd” Woods as an assistant coach.
“We are so excited to announce coach Woods as the final piece to our staff,” said Coach Leak. “Woods is a competitor, a strong recruiter, and a passionate coach whose experiences will serve him well here at UAPB. A connector by nature, who is experienced in leadership development and team development, embodies our ‘six C’s, (Character, Commitment, Confidence, Class, Courage Culture)’ mentality and will be an asset to our program.”
Coach Woods brings over 22 years of women’s basketball coaching experience ranging from high school to Division I. Before coming to UAPB, he served as interim head coach for eight months at Florida Memorial University.
Woods spent the 2022-23 season at Barry University where he oversaw the development of post players. It was under his tutelage freshman K’Nari Holliday was named Freshman of the Year.
He spent a season at East Mississippi Community College on Coach Sharon Thompson’s staff.
The SWAC is not foreign territory for Coach Woods, as he was an assistant on Ashley Johnson-Walker’s staff. He also spent time in the MEAC when he was an assistant coach at South Carolina State for three seasons. He wore several hats as he was in charge of budgeting, recruiting, scheduling, community outreach, player development, opponent scouting as well as the director of team and individual summer camps.
He also served as the head coach and for a fair portion of that tenure, athletic director, at Clinton College. In his twelve seasons at the helm, he led the Golden Bears to over 200 wins and five Region 10 runner-up finishes. He also coached three NJCAA Region 10 Players of the Year.
Woods began his collegiate basketball journey at Spartanburg Methodist. Along with two-time NJCAA Division I All-American and future NBA player James Scott, he helped SMC reach the NJCAA National Tournament. After earning All-Region 10 honors as a sophomore, Woods moved on to Eastern Kentucky, playing in 1994-95 and 1995-96.
