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NAPLES, FL-- Community School of Naples 6'4" senior point guard Mitch Woods, and SWFLHoops.com #1 in the class of 2010, officially decided his college plans at about 6:30 pm on Wednesday evening to attend Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. The first call he made was to Appalachian State head coach Buzz Peterson to inform him of the good news. The second call was to the coaches at University of North Florida, the other main school he chose from. That in itself says a lot about Woods' character and maturity. Instead of avoiding the call to enjoy his moment a little longer, he did what had to be done and made the call, albeit unenjoyable, as he had built a very good connection with the coaching staff at UNF, in particular head coach Matt Driscoll.
"I felt like it was best to let them know right away and not waste any more of their time because they have other recruits to go after. It was tough because I had built such a strong relationship with the coaches already, but they wished me the best," said Woods this evening about his call to North Florida.
Woods took his official visits to Appalachian State and North Florida on back to back weekends, making the trip to ASU on September 25-27 and then to UNF on October 2-4. Every student-athlete is allotted five official visits, which they can take during the senior year of high school, but Woods only needed two to make a decision.
Woods recapped a bit about his trip to Appalachian State by saying, "The atmosphere around the school just felt like a college town with a lot of school spirit. We went to the football game and got to go down on the field and that was cool. The town is really nice and different with the mountains in the background, and being able to get away may be tough but also a great experience."
Woods averaged 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals per contest last season for Community School while leading them to the Regional Finals in the Class 2A state playoffs. Then came the travel season where he would be matched up against some of the best players the state and country had to offer playing for the AAU organization, SWFL Select. He more than held his own, bursting out for an 18 point fourth quarter performance in route to a win over the Adidas sponsored Florida Rams, one of the more well known travel teams in the country, and grabbed the interest of several division 1 schools in the process. NCAA division 1 college coaches were not allowed to be out watching games in the spring, but word traveled fast and within the next two weeks he had three division 1 schools in his gym to watch him workout.
When the summer stretch came to an end and after shining in the live period, Woods and his family felt the most comfortable with Appalachian State. He is excited about the opportunity and looks forward to his senior year.
Woods is looking is looking forward to the signing period in mid November to share the moment with his family, friends, and teammates.
Other than aforementioned University of North Florida he had interest from Jacksonville, Delaware, Eastern Kentucky, Tulsa, Wright State, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Colgate, Columbia, Bucknell, Northeastern, Furman, Tulane, Cornell, and Denver.
Look for Woods and Community School to be the favorites for another district title this coming season and potentially make a run into the state playoffs. We know the pressure is now off of the senior guard, and it has to be a great feeling heading into the start of a season to have your college future secured. Congratulations to him and his family.
Woods Finds His Fit with Appalachian State
Aaron Seybert
SWFLHoops.com Recruiting
October 15, 2009
