UA Pine Bluff Athletics

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women's basketball head coach Erica Leak has announced the addition of Roderick "Rodd" Woods to the Golden Lions staff. Woods rounds out Leak's staff for the 2024-25 season as they prepare for the upcoming season.
 
"We are so excited to announce coach Woods as the final piece to our staff," said Leak. "Woods is a competitor, a strong recruiter, and 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, Confident, Class, Courage Culture)' mentality and will be an asset to our program."
 
Woods joins the pride after serving eight months as the interim head coach at Florida Memorial University. Woods brings over 22 years of experience in women's basketball coaching at every level, from high school and junior college to NCAA Division I & II.

Woods spent the 2022-2023 season in Miami Shores at Barry University, where they had an overall 15-15 record and an appearance in the Sunshine State Conference tournament. In his short stint at Barry, Woods was responsible for post-player development, which led to first-year player K'Nari Holliday earning freshman of the year honors.
 
Prior to Barry University, Woods spent one season at East Mississippi CC, where he helped lead the Lions to a 12-13 campaign under head coach Sharon Thompson.
 
During his three years before East Mississippi, Woods served as an assistant coach on Ashley Walker-Johnson's staff at Mississippi Valley State University of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Before that, Woods served in the same capacity for three years at South Carolina State University of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, where he helped coach two all-conference players. Woods was responsible for recruiting, scheduling, budgeting, and community outreach at both schools, overseeing individual player skill development, scouting preparation for opposing teams, and serving as the director of team and individual summer camps.
 
Woods spent 12 years as the head coach at Clinton College in Rock Hill, SC. He also served much of that tenure as the college's athletics director. Having eclipsed the 208 career wins, Woods guided the Golden Bears to five Region 10 runner-up finishes and coached three NJCAA Region 10 Players of the Year. His players excelled in the classroom, with six student-athletes named valedictorians of their graduating classes at Clinton.

Throughout his previous coaching stint in the junior college ranks, Woods also served as a tournament director for the NJCAA Region 10 men's and women's basketball tournaments played in Fort Mill, S.C. During the summer months, and he previously served as an associate director at the Nike girls' basketball camps held annually in Amherst, Mass.

Woods' basketball coaching career began at his alma mater as a volunteer assistant men's basketball coach at Eastern Kentucky University during the 1996-97 season. He also spent the 1999-2000 campaign as an assistant boys' basketball coach at Lamar (S.C.) High School.
 
Woods played college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University during the 1994-1996 seasons. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Richmond, Kentucky.

A native of Florence, S.C., Woods began his college athletic and academic careers in his home state at Spartanburg Methodist College. After teaming up as a freshman with two-time NJCAA Division I All-American and former NBA player James Scott to help lead SMC to the 1993 NJCAA National Tournament, Woods earned first-team All-Region 10 honors as a sophomore for the Pioneers.
 
Woods earned his master's degree in sports administration from the American Public University in Charles Town, West Virginia.  He has three children: daughters Oriona, 23, Kaelyn, 13, and son Kaiden, 15.