Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Recruiting: Can Tony Woods contribute to Kentucky on the court?

Now that Trevor Lacey is Alabama bound, it appears that next years edition of the 2011-2012 Kentucky Wildcat’s roster is virtually set.  Not that I said virtually.  I would imagine that the only thing that may change would be the addition of former Wake Forest Demon Deacon Tony Woods.

Now, if we can, let’s put the personal baggage aside and look at Tony Woods, the basketball player.  Woods was a member of Wake Forest’s 2008 recruiting class and he was rated then by Rivals as a solid five star athlete, the third best center in the 2008 class and a top 20 player overall.  Woods was pretty much figured to be the real deal.  What was interesting is that Woods joined the Demon Deacons after Ty Walker, another five star and top 20 player committed.

Woods appeared to be the better option between himself and Walker, but both played a couple of nondescript years for Wake Forest.  Wood averaged 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game his freshman season and averaged around 10 points a game.  In his second season, he only played about 13 minutes a game, and scored 4.6 points per game and 3.2 rebounds.  He shot 60.8% from the field his sophomore season but is a pretty horrid FT shooter, hitting 48.1% of his shots.  Woods also showed a tendency to turn the ball over.

It’s hard to find a lot of basketball scouting reports on Woods, but here is what Jerry Meyer said about him nearly five years ago:

"A good leaper with substantial length, Woods is a defensive presence around the basket. Along with swatting shots and snagging rebounds, he is also developing an ability to score in the paint. A major upside player, Woods will continue to fill out his frame and refine his skills."

And so now the question has to be asked:

Can Tony Woods help this basketball team?

The answer is a big question mark.  With the return of Terrence Jones, Kentucky can have the best starting frontcourt in the country with Gilchrist/Miller, Jones and Anthony Davis.  Eloy Vargas improved immensely down the stretch and Kyle Wiltjer is a top 25 player now.

Plus, Woods would be the equivalent of a JUCO player with just two years of eligibility remaining.  As we have seen the last couple of years, we can not expect a JUCO player to just waltz into a Kentucky uniform and contribute. Darnell Dodson was a mixed bag and Eloy Vargas is a work in progress still.  You would hope that Vargas can improve much like Josh Harrellson did, but if so, that could leave Woods as the last man off the bench in the backcourt.

Depth is never a bad thing to have, but to be honest, with two underachieving years out of high school and a years worth of rust from not playing, I can’t see Woods getting much playing time this season.    And is this a scholarship that Calipari wants to tie up, not knowing what is going to happen with the 2012 class.  Would you take a Woods as a senior over any of the incoming players in 2012?  It may be nice to have that senior player and experience, but you really wonder how experienced Woods would be at that point.

Granted, there is a chance that Woods may never come to Kentucky.  he is looking at Texas, among other schools.  But if DeAndre Daniels, who still has not decided, heads back to Texas, Kentucky could be the most attractive landing spot for Woods.

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