Sean Woods

For the horse trainer, see Sean Woods (horseman).

Sean Woods

Current position
Record	64–82 (.438)
Biographical details
Born	(1970-03-29) March 29, 1970 (age 53) East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
Playing career
1988–1992	Kentucky
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003–2005	High Point (asst.)
2005–2006	Texas A&M Corpus Christi (asst.)
2006–2008	TCU (asst.)
2008–2012	Mississippi Valley St.
2012–2016	Morehead State
2017–2018	Stetson (asst.)
2018–2023	Southern
Head coaching record
Overall	191–232 (.452) [1]
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
SWAC regular season (2012) SWAC tournament (2012)
Awards
SWAC Coach of the Year (2012) Ben Jobe Award (2012)

Sean Woods (born March 29, 1970 ^[2] ) is an American former basketball player and former head coach for the Southern Jaguars basketball team. ^[3]

Playing career

Woods attended Cathedral High School ^[2] in Indianapolis before playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky. As a Wildcat in 1992, he was a member of a senior-laden team colloquially known as the "Unforgettables" who had come to Kentucky in 1988 and had stayed with the school for all four years, ^[2] despite the NCAA putting the university's basketball program on probation for three years, including a ban on post-season competition in both 1990 and 1991, for recruiting and academic violations in 1989.

The Unforgettables were coached by Rick Pitino and included fellow seniors Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, and John Pelphrey. The team surprised many by garnering a #2 seed and reaching the Elite Eight in the 1992 NCAA tournament. Woods and the Wildcats defeated Old Dominion, Iowa State, and the University of Massachusetts en route to the regional final. With a 29–6 record, the Wildcats faced off against Duke at the Spectrum in Philadelphia with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

In the finals against Duke, Woods cemented a legendary status in Kentucky lore by scoring 21 points, including a 10-foot (3.0 m) floater over Christian Laettner in overtime. The basket gave Kentucky a 103–102 lead with 2.1 seconds remaining. However, the Unforgettables lost the game on Laettner's subsequent jumper as time expired.

After Woods graduated, he was added to the NBA's Indiana Pacers preseason roster but did not make the team.

Coaching career

He then ran a popular basketball camp, which polished future basketball players such as Tony Delk and Antoine Walker (both of whom had played at Kentucky). He was an assistant coach at High Point University before he moved to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, also as an assistant.

In 2005, Woods became a charter member of the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Unforgettables. Immediately following the Duke loss, every Kentucky senior's jersey (though not their numbers) was retired. Woods is currently fifth all-time on Kentucky's career assist list, with 482.

On June 24, 2008, Woods became the head coach of the Mississippi Valley State University men's basketball team. In 2012, Woods's last year there, the Delta Devils won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. The team lost in the First Four round. Woods was chosen as the 2012 winner of the Ben Jobe Award, given annually to the most outstanding minority men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I competition.

On May 14, 2012, Woods was announced as head coach at Morehead State University, taking over for Donnie Tyndall. ^[4]

On November 22, 2016, Woods was suspended as head coach as result of an investigation into player mistreatment. ^[5] He was subsequently charged with misdemeanor battery after two players accused him of assaulting them during a game, and a player's father claimed to ESPN that Woods head-butted his son. ^{[6] [7]} Assistant coach Preston Spradlin was named interim head coach during the investigation.

On December 15, two days after Woods was charged with misdemeanor battery in Indiana for allegedly assaulting two of his players during a game versus Evansville, it was announced that Woods had resigned. ^[8] Spradlin would continue as interim coach while the school conducted a nationwide search for a replacement. ^{[9] [10]}

On June 9, 2017, Woods was hired by Stetson University as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team. He stayed on the Hatters' staff for one season before being named the 12th head coach in Southern University history on April 12, 2018. He replaced Morris Scott who served as interim head coach for the 2017–18 season. ^{[3] [11]}

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (Southwestern Athletic Conference)(2008–2012)
2008–09	Mississippi Valley State	7–25	7–11	6th
2009–10	Mississippi Valley State	9–23	8–10	7th
2010–11	Mississippi Valley State	13–19	12–6	3rd
2011–12	Mississippi Valley State	21–13	17–1	1st	NCAA Division I First Four
Mississippi Valley State:		50–80 (.385)	44–28 (.611)
Morehead State Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference)(2012–2016)
2012–13	Morehead State	15–18	8–8	T–4th (East)
2013–14	Morehead State	20–14	10–6	3rd (East)	CBI First Round
2014–15	Morehead State	17–17	10–6	3rd (East)
2015–16	Morehead State	23–14	11–5	2nd (East)	CBI Runner-Up
2016–17	Morehead State	2–7	0–0	Resigned
Morehead State:		77–70 (.524)	39–26 (.600)
Southern Jaguars (Southwestern Athletic Conference)(2018–2023)
2018–19	Southern	7–25	6–12	T–7th
2019–20	Southern	17–15	13–5	2nd
2020–21	Southern	8–11	8–6	5th
2021–22	Southern	17–14	12–6	3rd
2022–23	Southern	15–17	11–7	4st
Southern:		64–82 (.438)	50–36 (.581)
Total:		191–232 (.452)
National champion        Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Personal life

Woods is married and has two children. His son, Martiese Morones, a high school point guard in Kentucky, was signed by TCU for the 2006–07 season. Woods joined the TCU staff shortly afterwards.

References

1. "Sean Woods Coaching Record". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
2. "Sean Woods". BigBlueHistory.net. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
3. "Woods named Head Men's Basketball Coach".
4. "Morehead State names Sean Woods head men's basketball coach". Kentucky.com. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
5. "Morehead State's Sean Woods suspended; investigation underway". Kentucky.com. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
6. "Morehead State coach Sean Woods faces battery charge after accusations by players". Kentucky.com. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
7. "Parent: Susp. Morehead State coach head-butted son last season". ESPN. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
8. "Sean Woods resigns as Morehead State men's basketball coach". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
9. "Statement on future of Men's Basketball Program" . Retrieved January 13, 2017.
10. Staff, WKYT News. "Sean Woods resigns as MSU head basketball coach" . Retrieved January 13, 2017.
11. "'The best day of my life.' Sean Woods puts troubles behind, gets second chance as Division I coach".

External links

• Sean Woods stats at BigBlueHistory.net