University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: J.D. Lyon Jr.
Lucas: Out Of The Woods
October 5, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Finally healthy, Seventh Woods wants to show you what you missed during his freshman year.
By Adam Lucas
When he was in the middle of it—when there were five turnovers against Radford or four straight zero-assist games in the middle of ACC play or limited minutes in Carolina's NCAA Tournament run—Seventh Woods was stoic. Away from the court, he never seemed panicked about his freshman year results.
As he looks back, though, he admits what you probably suspected all along. "It was the first time I've ever been unsure on a basketball court," he says.
Over and over again, Roy Williams proclaimed that no one had seen the real Seventh Woods just yet. Woods knew his coach was right, but it wasn't the freshman's place to tell everyone he was more capable than what his results might show.
Williams is legendarily tough on point guards, and Woods knew that even Joel Berry went through a stretch during his freshman year when Berry felt he should consider giving up basketball. That's exactly where Woods found himself after some of the most difficult games.
"I definitely felt like I was out of my league at times," he says. "There were days I felt like I was the worst basketball player ever."
The dose of reality came as a slight shock to the Columbia, S.C., native, who has been an internet sensation ever since his YouTube highlight clip went viral when he was in ninth grade (it currently has over 15 million views). There are a couple of passes included on that tape almost as an afterthought, but mostly it's 150 seconds of an athletic marvel, jumping and dunking over everyone in harm's way.
Remember: this is a player Berry described as having "more of a burst than me" last year at this time.
But Woods wasn't fully healthy for most of his freshman season. "I feel like people have seen glimpses of the real me," he says. "But they haven't seen it consistently. Right after the season, when we were getting back in the weight room, I started feeling 100 percent and more like myself."
Part of his summer was spent making some mechanical adjustments to his shot. Assistant coach Hubert Davis advised Woods that his guide hand was over the ball too often; Woods made just two of his 11 three-point shots last year. The duo have had repeated workout sessions to refine his shot, and he's repositioned his guide hand to give the ball a clearer path to the hoop.
In addition to the technical changes, Woods is also feeling healthier. He's shared some of that improvement on social media recently, showing improved lift even after a tough conditioning workout.
But he's also well aware that playing point guard for Roy Williams is equal parts mental and physical challenge. Woods knows some of last year's physical struggles were caused by the mental stress of trying to remember everything Williams requires of his lead guards.
"He throws so much at you at one time," Woods says. "The toughest part is trying to take it all in. And you have to make the most of your playing time. To be prepared for that time, what I learned was that I had to think through the game on the bench. I had to ask myself, 'If I was in the position Joel is in right now, what would I do?' It was frustrating at times. But I also know I'm building for the years to come."
After committing a turnover every seven minutes of game action during the first four months of the season, Woods committed just one turnover every 10.5 minutes in the season's final nine games. His assist/turnover ratio was nearly 2:1 in ACC games, a big improvement over his sub-1 mark in non-conference play. And there were some encouraging moments against good opponents, including a four-assist performance at Duke and helping key a 10-2 run against Louisville.
"Around ACC play, the game started to slow down for me a little bit," Woods says. "My parents were great about keeping my confidence up, and Coach always kept confidence in me. I feel like I'm ready to continue making improvement."
Adam Lucas is the co-author of Redemption, the official book on Carolina's 2017 national title. Signed copies are available here.
When he was in the middle of it—when there were five turnovers against Radford or four straight zero-assist games in the middle of ACC play or limited minutes in Carolina's NCAA Tournament run—Seventh Woods was stoic. Away from the court, he never seemed panicked about his freshman year results.
As he looks back, though, he admits what you probably suspected all along. "It was the first time I've ever been unsure on a basketball court," he says.
Over and over again, Roy Williams proclaimed that no one had seen the real Seventh Woods just yet. Woods knew his coach was right, but it wasn't the freshman's place to tell everyone he was more capable than what his results might show.
Williams is legendarily tough on point guards, and Woods knew that even Joel Berry went through a stretch during his freshman year when Berry felt he should consider giving up basketball. That's exactly where Woods found himself after some of the most difficult games.
"I definitely felt like I was out of my league at times," he says. "There were days I felt like I was the worst basketball player ever."
The dose of reality came as a slight shock to the Columbia, S.C., native, who has been an internet sensation ever since his YouTube highlight clip went viral when he was in ninth grade (it currently has over 15 million views). There are a couple of passes included on that tape almost as an afterthought, but mostly it's 150 seconds of an athletic marvel, jumping and dunking over everyone in harm's way.
Remember: this is a player Berry described as having "more of a burst than me" last year at this time.
But Woods wasn't fully healthy for most of his freshman season. "I feel like people have seen glimpses of the real me," he says. "But they haven't seen it consistently. Right after the season, when we were getting back in the weight room, I started feeling 100 percent and more like myself."
Part of his summer was spent making some mechanical adjustments to his shot. Assistant coach Hubert Davis advised Woods that his guide hand was over the ball too often; Woods made just two of his 11 three-point shots last year. The duo have had repeated workout sessions to refine his shot, and he's repositioned his guide hand to give the ball a clearer path to the hoop.
In addition to the technical changes, Woods is also feeling healthier. He's shared some of that improvement on social media recently, showing improved lift even after a tough conditioning workout.
But he's also well aware that playing point guard for Roy Williams is equal parts mental and physical challenge. Woods knows some of last year's physical struggles were caused by the mental stress of trying to remember everything Williams requires of his lead guards.
"He throws so much at you at one time," Woods says. "The toughest part is trying to take it all in. And you have to make the most of your playing time. To be prepared for that time, what I learned was that I had to think through the game on the bench. I had to ask myself, 'If I was in the position Joel is in right now, what would I do?' It was frustrating at times. But I also know I'm building for the years to come."
After committing a turnover every seven minutes of game action during the first four months of the season, Woods committed just one turnover every 10.5 minutes in the season's final nine games. His assist/turnover ratio was nearly 2:1 in ACC games, a big improvement over his sub-1 mark in non-conference play. And there were some encouraging moments against good opponents, including a four-assist performance at Duke and helping key a 10-2 run against Louisville.
"Around ACC play, the game started to slow down for me a little bit," Woods says. "My parents were great about keeping my confidence up, and Coach always kept confidence in me. I feel like I'm ready to continue making improvement."
Adam Lucas is the co-author of Redemption, the official book on Carolina's 2017 national title. Signed copies are available here.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballMBB: "We're No. 1 - The 1993 UNC Tar Heels" Trailer
Monday, December 29
Carolina Women's Basketball 2025-26 | In Pursuit: Episode 3 - "Joy and Fire"
Wednesday, December 24
UNC Men's Basketball: Tar Heels Breeze Past ECU, 99-51
Tuesday, December 23
Carolina Insider: Rapid Reactions pres. by Modelo – Men’s Basketball vs. ECU – December 22, 2025
Monday, December 22