City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2024-25 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 4. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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Jeff Woodward’s basketball future hung in the balance this offseason.

The Methacton grad received his degree in psychology from Colgate University in the spring, then put his name in the transfer portal after his senior year. He had one season of eligibility remaining. It was a year he wasn’t even sure he wanted to take.

Woodward’s years at Colgate had seen him contribute to four straight Patriot League championships, play in four straight NCAA Tournaments. It was a college career most players would dream of, and he knew it.

“Before I went into the portal, I considered, should that have been it?” Woodward told CoBL during a late September conversation. “Should I end on the high note of winning our fourth straight?”

Ultimately, Woodward decided he wanted to take advantage of the extra year of COVID eligibility. He withdrew his name from the portal to stay at Colgate — and play one final season of competitive basketball. 

The affable mountain man who’s been doubling as a key part of the Raiders’ frontcourt over the last four years is calling it a basketball career after this year, he revealed. While he could likely extend his career overseas thanks to his 6-foot-11, 270-pound frame and on-court acumen, Woodward is instead applying to graduate programs to become a licensed clinical therapist.

He said he’s known for more than a year that his college career would be the end of the road in terms of his playing competitive hoops. 

“I never really had crazy dreams of playing overseas or trying to make a run, trying to play in the NBA,” Woodward said. “I was always kind of like, I want to use basketball as a vehicle to advance myself and to put myself in great positions moving forward. And so yeah, that’s been my mindset.”

It’s a decision that didn’t come as a surprise in the slightest to Colgate coach Matt Langel, the former Penn standout and Temple assistant who’s now in his 14th year as the Raiders’ head coach.

“I’ve said this for a long time, the best thing about Jeff Woodward is he’s very comfortable with who he is, and I think in life that’s one of the greatest things that an individual can ever come to terms with,” Langel said. “He’s a unique individual, he’s a unique-sized person, he’s a unique personality, he has unique interests, but he’s very understanding and embracing of who he is.

That reality makes this season extra-special for Woodward, who’s going to have a fifth college year unlike any of those that came before it.

In his Colgate career thus far, Woodward has appeared in 120 games, with 18 of his 25 career starts coming as a senior. He’s been a significant contributor all four years, averaging 8.0 ppg and 4.3 rpg as a freshman, playing 15 games in the COVID-shortened season as Colgate captured its second Patriot League title in three years. 

That year, he also went slightly viral for a moment in the NCAA Tournament, hitting a baby hook shot over Arkansas’ Ethan Henderson and giving him the ‘too small’ gesture on the way back down the court.

Woodward’s production has been fairly consistent throughout: 6.4 ppg and 4.1 rpg in his first full season as a sophomore, then 6.9 ppg and 4.5 rpg as a junior. As a senior, he averaged 7.2 ppg and 4.2 rpg, leaving him 161 points shy of 1,000. 

The whole time he’s been there, he’s shared the frontcourt with Keegan Records, one year older and at 6-10 one of the most talented bigs in the league. A two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection, Records started 117 of 119 games the last four years, finishing his career with 1,459 points. 

Records’ eligibility is out, leaving Woodward without his good friend and teammate for the first time. Sophomore Sam Wright, a 6-9 forward, and 7-0 freshman center Cameron Brennan are the only other two true bigs on the roster.

“I’ve felt for a long time we’ve had two of if not the two best big people in our league,” Langel said. “Now we only have one. We have some good young big guys, but they’re not as old and experienced as he is.”

Nobody on the roster is. 

Woodward is the only fifth-year in the Colgate program, the other three members of last year’s senior class electing to end their hoops careers or do a graduate transfer year elsewhere. Only two others on this year’s roster are seniors and two are juniors; nine of the 14 Raiders are underclassmen.

That aspect actually appealed to Woodward, who wants to make sure that the success he’s experienced throughout his college career continues. 

“It’s been giving me a chance to embrace more of a mentor-coach role rather than just exclusively focusing on the basketball side of things,” Woodward said, “which has been nice, especially with how young the team has been.”

Woodward (above) has been part of four straight Patriot League championship teams. (Photo courtesy Colgate Athletics)

It’s no secret that Langel has built Colgate into the powerhouse of the Patriot League, winning four straight championships and five of the last six. Woodward’s teams have gone 88-33 (.727) in four years, including a dominant 60-6 mark in the Patriot League. 

“It really has been something special,” Woodward said. “Since I’ve gotten on campus my freshman year, it has been the expectation, while not being presupposed, that we should be champions. 

“No one on our team has ever experienced not winning the conference championship. And that’s always a little scary — yes, we know what it takes, but we also don’t know what it feels like to not win. [...] I think (Langel) is trying to do his best to get us to realize that every other team in our league, they want to win four straight, too.”

Langel said he’s not sure exactly how many minutes Woodward will play this season, having never needed to rely on him for more than 18-20 mpg. There’s no doubt he’ll have the big man out there as much as he can, both for his ability to facilitate and score from the post as well as for his on-court leadership and IQ.

Asked about the impact he was leaving in Hamilton, Woodward noted that he was still “hopefully creating even more of a legacy,” but there isn’t much he can do in this last fifth of his college career to erase the first four. The only thing unaccomplished is a win in the NCAA Tournament, but only four Patriot League teams in history have ever pulled that off. 

“I just want people to remember how hard I played, and how I was willing to do whatever it took to help our team win,” he said, “Whether that’s carrying water bottles on and off the bus or scoring 14 points and hitting the ‘too small’ celebration in March Madness, doing whatever it takes to try and get our team a win in a game in a drill, in a practice, whatever it is.

“I just want them to remember the impact I had on my teammates and the people within the Hamilton community, and everyone I interacted with, and leave behind a positive impression on them.”