Tony Woods took an unofficial visit to Kentucky last week, and next he says he may fly to Austin to check out the campus at Texas.
A handful of other schools have expressed interest, too, which means a month from now, the former Wake Forest center will have a new team, a new coach, a new place to do what he loves most.
Eager as he is to resurrect his basketball career, the 6-foot-11, 245-pound Woods wonders if he’ll ever regain the thing he covets most.
His reputation.
“People think Tony is some sort of monster,” said Courtney Barbour, Woods’ girlfriend. “It’s frustrating to everyone around him because we know that’s not the case.”
Barbour’s defense of Woods is telling.
A little more than eight months ago, on Labor Day of 2010, Woods was arrested following an altercation with Barbour at the apartment they shared on Wake Forest’s campus.
Woods pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor assault on a female and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and an anger management program. First-year Demon Deacons coach Jeff [Redacted] suspended Woods indefinitely before granting Woods’ request for a release last October.
Since then, Woods has been living with his father and his uncle in Louisville, attending community college, working for UPS and longing for the day he can put on a college uniform again. The nation’s third-ranked center coming out of high school, Woods committed to Rick Pitino’s Cardinals last fall but has decided to re-open his recruitment.
“This has all been very humbling,” Woods said during a phone interview this week. “I’m anxious for a new start.”
Painful as it was to miss a season of basketball, the attacks on his character stung Woods even worse. After spending most of the last year in virtual silence, Woods and those close to him have had enough. They said it’s time to clear his name following an incident they claim involved nothing more than Woods “pushing” Barbour.
“We got into an argument, it escalated and I reacted poorly,” Woods said. “I was definitely in the wrong. I made a mistake. But what got printed and what got said was blown out of proportion.”
Former Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio, who recruited Woods to Winston-Salem, said Woods doesn’t have anger problems or character issues.
“Once something gets in the press, it can really taint your reputation,” Gaudio said. “In no way, shape or form am I trying to minimize what happened; what Tony did was wrong. But most people don’t know the facts. Tony is a good kid.
“He didn’t beat up his girlfriend.”
Shortly before the incident that nearly derailed his basketball career, Woods and Barbour stood in line at a Winston-Salem grocery store with their mothers, who were in town to help the couple get situated in the apartment where they planned to raise their 8-month-old son.
Though she declined to provide specifics, Barbour said her mother made a comment that offended Woods’ mother. The mood among the group became tense and, upon returning to the apartment, Barbour walked into the bedroom to discuss the situation with Woods.
“We were just defending our own mothers to one another, naturally,” Barbour said. “I tried to talk to him about it, he didn’t want to hear it and things just escalated.”
Barbour said she was sitting on the edge of a mattress where Woods was lying with their son. Because the couple had just moved into the apartment and had yet to purchase a bed frame, the mattress rested only on top of a box spring just a few feet from the floor. She said Woods became agitated and pushed her off the mattress, causing her to topple onto the carpet.
At that point, Woods said he picked up his son and attempted to leave the room.
“Then it became a power struggle,” he said. “She got up and tried to take him from me. I didn’t want to give him back, so I pushed her away again. At that point our parents came in and broke everything up.”
Barbour said Woods never attempted to hit her or punch her. Asked if she thought he had any intent to injure her, she said: “No, not at all. I never felt that way.”
If the altercation had been violent, Woods’ mother, Jackie Cunningham, said she would’ve heard it in the next room.
“It’s a small apartment and all of the doors were open,” Cunningham said. “There was no noise – no bumping or thumping. He barely shoved her onto the floor from a box spring and mattress that weren’t even set up. She slid onto the carpet. There was no physical evidence of bruising on either person.”
Still, Barbour’s mother was incensed. She immediately made her daughter pack up all of her furniture and other belongings and move them out of the apartment. Cunningham said Barbour’s mother then contacted police, who left after detecting no signs of injury.
A few hours later, though, Barbour went to a local hospital complaining of back pain. It was determined she had a fracture in her lower lumbar spine. Police responded by arresting Woods on three misdemeanor charges: assault inflicting serious injury, assault on a female and assault in the presence of a minor.
Two of the charges were eventually dropped, including the one for “inflicting serious injury.” The origin of Barbour’s back problems couldn’t be determined. She said it may have occurred when she fell out of bed at her dormitory a week earlier.
“It had been bothering me that whole weekend, even before [the altercation],” Barbour said by phone this week.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Woods had been painted as a guy who beat up his girlfriend and fractured her spine – all in the presence of their 8-month-old son. All of a sudden, a guy who had never encountered any discipline problems felt like an outcast on Wake Forest’s campus.
“It made me realize how powerful the media is,” Woods said. “Once something is printed, people just take it as gold. I’d always been the same way. I believed everything I read, too. But with me, there were so many different stories out there that just weren’t true.
“I couldn’t be there anymore, dealing with all of that scrutiny.”
Norman Parker, Woods’ longtime mentor and AAU coach, said it was disheartening to see Woods portrayed in such a negative light.
“I’ve known Tony since he was 14,” Parker said. “He’s got a good heart. He knows he made a mistake, but he didn’t hurt her. She had a previous injury and she tried to straighten it all out but no one listened to her. Once it got in the paper, it was all over. It sounded like this big, mean basketball player had beat up some little girl. It didn’t happen that way.”
Woods was suspended from school. He said he had the option of returning for the spring semester; instead, he asked to be released from his scholarship. His mother said the experience was “gut-wrenching” for everyone involved.
“He couldn’t even hold his head up,” Cunningham said. “He was embarrassed to leave the apartment because of what the public would say. He had very little self-esteem. That’s why he left school.
“There was no way he could come back and hold his head up without being brow-beaten again.
“He was beaten down into the ground by the public, the media, [Barbour’s] mom, the school. I know the child that I raised. He was not the person he was made out to be – this monster, this beast that beat his girlfriend and broke her back. He loves her and his son dearly. He never would do something like that.”
Tony Woods arrived for his unofficial visit to Kentucky last week assuming he’d meet with various members of the Wildcats’ coaching staff.
By the end of the day, though, Woods had spent time not just with John Calipari and his assistants, but with athletics director Mitch Barnhart and university president Lee Todd.
“I guess they’re the ones who ultimately have to give me the green light,” Woods said. “Hopefully, I left them with a good impression.”
Later in the conversation, Woods became emotional and had to fight back tears.
“It sucks,” he said. “Whenever my name comes up, [the altercation] is what people associate me with. Hopefully, I’ll be able to change people’s opinions. If not, I’ll just take what life throws at me and deal with it.”
Before last fall, there would’ve been no reason to question whether Woods would be a good addition to a program. He passed all of his classes at Wake Forest, was known as a hard worker on the court and a good citizen off it.
Lately, when coaches such as Pitino call to inquire about Woods, Gaudio’s response is always positive.
“He’s an outstanding young man,” Gaudio said. “He’s nice, he’s intelligent, he’s coachable, he’s sensitive … just an all-around good kid. I can’t see him causing anyone any problems.”
Woods’ actions during the past seven months certainly speak to his drive and maturity. To be eligible next season, Woods had to pass 18 hours during the spring semester. Not only did he accomplish that feat at Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, he did it while juggling a job at UPS to pay for his tuition.
As much as he’s missed basketball, Woods said having to live on his own for a while will pay dividends in the long run. Before January, he had never even had to register for classes on his own because someone was always there to handle it for him.
“I know what it means to have to work for things now,” Woods said. “Some athletes – especially D-I athletes on a big-time stage – never learn what it means to work and to be a real person in the real world, paying bills, getting a job, struggling. All of it has made me appreciate the opportunity to play basketball so much more.”
While some coaches may be scared away by Woods’ legal problems, there are plenty of others who have expressed interest. Woods accepted a scholarship offer from Louisville last fall, but the recent departure of assistant Tim Fuller to Missouri has caused Woods to look elsewhere. Fuller was on Wake Forest’s staff when Woods was there.
Texas presents an intriguing situation because the Longhorns graduated senior forward Gary Johnson and lost freshman Tristan Thompson to the NBA draft. At Kentucky, Woods could be a part of an imposing frontcourt that would also include players such as Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones.
Woods also realizes that, because of Kentucky’s passionate fan base, he would be scrutinized more there than at any other school.
“[Calipari] said it could either be great for me if I walk the talk without any distractions,” Woods said. “Or he said it could be the nail in my coffin if something bad happened and I ended up on YouTube or Twitter.
“I’m not worried about that, though. I’m hungry. I spent the last year without basketball. All I want to do is play basketball and work out.”
The Wildcats have yet to offer Woods a scholarship. Xavier, Cincinnati and Missouri are among the other schools who have expressed interest. Woods, who has two years of eligibility remaining, said he’s remained active by competing in men’s leagues around Louisville – and that he’s still at his playing weight of 245 pounds.
“He’s very athletic for his size,” Gaudio said. “He runs the floor incredibly well. He’s a back-to-the-basket big. He’s not a guy that tries to step out and show people what he can do on the perimeter. That’s not his game – nor does he try to make it his game.
“He’s an old-school big guy with pro potential.”
Woods knows how much a lucrative NBA contract could improve the quality of life for his son. It’s something, he said, that drives him each day. Woods is still in a relationship with Barbour, who lives in the Washington, D.C. area with their son. Barbour was asked what she would tell a coach who was considering signing Woods.
“I’d tell them not to let this one incident define what you think of him or who you think he is,” Barbour said. “We all make mistakes. He acted out of character and it got blown out of proportion.
“He’s definitely learned a lot from this experience. He’s much more thankful for the opportunities given to him. He’s grown as a man, as a father, as a boyfriend – everything.”
Parker, the mentor and AAU coach, said he senses Woods’ growth as well.
“He’s paid a heavy price for what happened,” Parker said. “He’s looking for someone to give him a second chance and I think he deserves one. It’s time to forgive and forget and try to help this young man achieve his dreams.
“He’s been punished enough.”
