City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Caleb Wood looks like he belongs in an old Western. With a lean, athletic frame and a goatee framing his chin, the Reno., Nev. looks like he’d be just as at home in the O.K. Corral as he does on the basketball court.

But the 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard didn’t come all this way to horse around.

Coming out of Galena HS (Nev.), in 2013, Wood’s recruitment wasn’t exactly what he wanted: several NAIA and Division III opportunities, but nothing in the Division I landscape he aspired to join. So he enrolled at Monterey Peninsula College (Cali.), where he averaged 11.0 ppg as a freshman, but still wasn’t satisfied.

“I played my freshman year, took a year off just to work on stuff, get bigger and stronger, and went back to junior college,” he said. “That year off just made me a lot better...something clicked.”

As a sophomore at Lassen Community College (Cali.) in 2015-16 Wood exploded, averaging 23.2 ppg while shooting an astounding 49.1 percent from 3-point range and chipping in 5.4 rpg and 4.7 apg. By the end of the year, he was being pursued by Penn and Cal Poly, with Colorado State and Washington State involved as well.

In March, he committed to become a Quaker, picking the only program recruiting him on the far side of the country.

“Of all the places that were looking at me, this was definitely the best basketball program, and definitely my first choice in where I wanted to go,” he said. “I definitely had to consider (distance); I was looking at Cal Poly just because it was so close to home, that was my second choice.But University of Penn was the best choice for me, so I’m glad I came here.”

Wood has basketball blood in his genes. His father, David Wood, a 6-9 forward out of Nevada, played for the Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Pistons, Warriors, Suns, Mavericks and Bucks -- as well as quite a few international teams -- during a pro career that spanned from 1987-2001.

More importantly for this Quaker program, though, is that at 22 years old Wood is already one of the oldest players on the roster, more than three years out of high school and with plenty of college miles (and minutes) under his belt.

“We thought that we needed to bring in a player that was older and that could help us win, faster than maybe just growing through freshmen,” head coach Steve Donahue said. “I think obviously this is a very different thing for us in general because I don’t think (junior college is) necessarily the way we’re going to go. But there are unique situations and I thought Caleb was that.

“(He’s an ) incredible student who is really dedicated to the game in the fact that he didn’t wanna go anywhere until he was good enough to go somewhere out of high school so he wasn’t recruited and he was dedicated to his craft and to go Division I,” he continued. “And I thought it was a need for us.”

After three straight seasons of single-digit wins, an 11-17 season (5-9 Ivy League) in Donahue’s first year was certainly a move in the right direction. But there’s another few steps to take to get Penn back to relevancy in the Ancient Eight, and at the very least into a top-four spot that would guarantee a slot in the league’s first-ever playoffs come March.

Veteran leadership is crucial in that regard; Wood and another fourth-year junior, Matt MacDonald -- a Fairleigh Dickinson transfer who was captain as a sophomore at FDU -- will both be leaned on heavily, along with the program’s only two seniors in Matt Howard and Dylan Jones.

“One of things that’s the biggest hurdle in growing your program is losing. Kids want to come to a winning program, they want to be looked at,” Donahue said. “I think (Caleb is) someone who’s experienced enough and good enough talent-wise and fits what we do and I think he’s someone who can make a pretty good impact on our team.”

Wood enters West Philadelphia into an interesting situation at point guard. Cherry Hill East (N.J.) grad Jake Silpe averaged 5.0 ppg and 3.2 apg last year in 28 games (20 starts), while junior Darnell Foreman (5.0 ppg, 2.2 apg) started five times while also appearing in all 28 games. Another point guard, Germantown Academy’s Devon Goodman -- the quickest of the four -- joins the roster this year.

In Donahue’s 3-point heavy offense, Wood’s speciality might just put him over the edge.

“I think my outside shot, my 3-point shot, is my biggest asset, and I can also handle the ball and I’m a pretty good passer,” he said. “I just want to help the team do as best as we possibly can, and I want to find where I fit in the program as quickly as possible.”