titansforever Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 From Colin Bent: Sad to report the passing of a former Titan. Eddie Woods passed away yesterday in Belgium where he has lived for many years. We hear that his funeral will be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Oh my....THIS IS A SAD DAY FOR ORU TITAN BASKETBALL.....Eddie was one of TheEaglemans' all time favorite ORU players....in fact, I would put him in the Top 10 of all time Titans/GoldenEagles.....he was a quiet guy who went about his business with professionalism....a true intimidator under the basket with a huge wingspan who was a great shot blocker and rebounder and had a nice touch from short range...our wing once made a sign and held it up during pre game warm ups that said....WHAT WOODS WE DO WITHOUT EDDIE???.....he saw the sign and winked at us.....just a very nice guy......I believe he is still one of the only players at any NCAA level to grab 30 rebounds in a game.....in fact, I think he did it in back to back games in 1971.....not sure about that but I think it's legit.....he was 6-7 but had a vertical leap that made him play like he was 6-11...in fact, when 7-0 David Vaughn was the ORU center in 1972-73 Eddie was still the guy who took the opening jump ball......TheEagleman also saw him win a bet in the practice gym one afternoon by picking a quarter off the TOP of the backboard.....the man could ball.....REST IN PEACE, EDDIE WOODS!!!..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 World-class leaper - one of those guys who had to look down for a landing area when he skyed for a rebound. Check him out in this classic video - he's number 30... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 TheEagleman was at the game above........heck, I might be in the video....lol......hard to believe but FOUR ORU players (that we know of) from those great teams of the early-mid 70s have now passed away.....Anthony Roberts, Arnold Dugger, Greg McDougald and now Eddie Woods.....that's a sobering thought for a guy about to turn 60 later this year....Woods, Roberts and McDougald are all in the video above...we really came up small in that TU game....ORU had so much more talent....I remember not getting over that loss for months..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 By the way...Sudden Sam McCants (#13) who was a transfer from Florida State could have been on of the best player in the country had he kept his head on straight.....he lasted one year at ORU and probably only that long because Coach Trickey and his staff looked the other way on a lot of Honor Code violations......McCants could really hoop.....if ORU had been able to keep Woods, McCants, Vaughn, Roberts and Scott (plus a few key bench players) together for a couple years in the Mid-70s we surely would have made a Final Four if not won the NCAA Title.....seriously....it's true.....those guys were THAT good..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Not a lot of defense from ORU and on most possessions, ORU took a shot within 5 seconds of crossing the half court line. Honestly TU didn't play much defense either. Trickey looked really young. There was a lot of talent on both of those teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Yeah, no need for a shot clock in those days! What always stands out to me in these old videos (other than the "nutters" ) is how good the mid-range shooting was, and how rarely the guards tried to penetrate the defense in half-court sets to get to the rim. Think how much a college-era Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade, Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook would stand out back then, going through and OVER the defense to score? The one guard I do remember playing that way back in the 70's was David Thompson at North Carolina State - "The Skywalker"! (Did you catch the Anthony Roberts reference at #7? Thompson and Roberts were teammates on the Nuggets.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Thank you for sharing the videos. They brought back great memories of the early days. Eddie was always a really nice person. Any memory of attending ORU with him & seeing him on campus includes that big smile of his. May he rest in peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 From Jimmie Tramel at The Tulsa World: ORU Rebounding Great Eddie Woods Dies By JIMMIE TRAMEL, World Sports Writer | Posted: Saturday, April 12, 2014 8:35 pm Eddie Woods, regarded as the greatest rebounder in the history of the Oral Roberts basketball program, died Wednesday, according to an obituary that appeared in his hometown newspaper, the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. Woods played for Ken Trickey’s freewheeling ORU teams in the 1970s and averaged double-digit rebounds all four years of his career, including a single-season record of 14.5 per game during the 1971-72 season. ORU reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in Woods’ senior season (1973-74). He still owns school records for career rebounds (1,365), career rebounding average (12. and single-season rebounds (407). He grabbed 20 or more rebounds a school-record 11 times. Woods, who ranks 14th on ORU’s all-time scoring list, is one of three players in program history to collect at least 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. The others are Caleb Green and Mark Acres. Selected by the Indiana Pacers in the fifth round of the 1974 ABA draft, Woods played professonally overseas and his funeral service was scheduled in Gent, Belgium. jimmie tramel 581-8389 jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 More, from Jimmie's "ORU Sports" online blog: ORU Sports: Saying goodbye to all-time leading rebounder in state's major college history By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer | Posted: Saturday, April 12, 2014 9:27 pm According to an obituary from a newspaper in Chattanooga, Tenn., Eddie Woods died Wednesday. If the name doesn’t ring a bell for people in the latest generation, here’s why it should: I posted a Twitter link to a story about Woods and I called him one of the best rebounders every to play college ball in Oklahoma. Upon further review, the numbers say he’s the best, period. Woods grabbed more rebounds (1,365) than anyone in Oral Roberts history during a career that concluded with an Elite Eight trip in 1974. No player at Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or the University of Tulsa collected more career rebounds. OU’s all-time leader is Wayman Tisdale (1,248). Tulsa’s rebounding champ is Michael Ruffin (1,211). OSU’s career rebounding leader is Byron Houston (1,189). Tisdale would almost certainly be the state’s all-time rebounding champ if he hadn’t left OU early to turn pro. Other players who left school early or who played during an era when freshmen were ineligible might have given Woods a run for his money. Instead of applying what-ifs, defer to reality and give Woods his due as king of the glass eaters. OSU’s Andy Hopson owns the best career rebounding average (13.1) among players from the aforementioned schools. Woods’ career rebounding average was 12.8, which matches the top career rebounding average in OU history (courtesy of Alvan Adams) and Woods' career average is a tiny bit ahead of Dana Lewis’ 12.7 career rebounding average at Tulsa. jimmie tramel 581-8389 jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I'm sorry but how is Eddie Woods NOT in the ORU Sports Hall of Fame????....TheEagleman thinks it's a travesty that he has never been honored.....it's too late now to bring him back to Mabee Center but perhaps we can have a few family members brought to Tulsa and give them the honor that Eddie deserved....Come on.....Eddie is clearly one of the top 10 ORU men's basketball players of all time....he was also an extremely nice and humble guy.....and certainly the best defender/rebounder in ORU history.....take it from a guy who personally watched him play over about 30-35 games.....Eddie was a beast..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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