University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Add Fifth Player To Incoming Class
April 13, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2004: Four standouts sign with UNC
April 13, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Martina Wood has signed a letter of intent to attend North Carolina, UNC women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell announced Wednesday. Wood, a 6-3 post player, is the daughter of former Carolina men's basketball standout Al Wood and becomes the fifth member of the Tar Heels' freshman class for 2005-06.
"Martina has grown a lot as a player in the last two years, and I've really been impressed with her commitment to improvement, her work ethic and her passion to become a better player," Hatchell said. "She shows many of the same qualities as her father and she has tremendous potential. I'm very excited that she's going to join our program."
Wood joins fall signees Heather Claytor, Christina DeWitt, Rashanda McCants and Iman McFarland to make up the incoming group. The Tar Heels lose four players - Nikita Bell, Kenya McBee, Leah Metcalf and Tiffany Tucker - from this year's squad, which won the ACC Championship, reached the Elite Eight and finished the season 30-4.
Wood is a 2004 graduate of Victory Christian Center School in Charlotte, N.C., and is spending a postgraduate year at the Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C. At Patterson this season, she averaged 11.7 points and 8.3 rebounds as her team won the NACA (National Association of Christian Athletes) national title. She recently was named MVP of the Charlotte All-Star Classic after scoring 30 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
 UNC signee Martina Wood with her parents, Robin and Al  |
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As a senior at Victory Christian, she helped lead her team to conference, state and NACA national titles while earning all-state and all-conference honors. She was Offensive MVP at the national championship and was an NACA All-America selection.
Wood attended Metrolina Christian Academy in her freshman through junior years, earning Female Athlete of the Year honors from the Charlotte Observer in 2003. She led her squad in scoring and rebounding each year and was a three-time MVP. Along with current Tar Heels Alex Miller and LaToya Pringle, Wood played for the Team North Carolina squad that won a Junior Olympics national championship in 2003.
The daughter of Al and Robin Wood, Martina has an older brother, A.J., who is a UNC student, and two younger sisters.
"Both of my parents attended Carolina, so I've grown up spending lots of time at UNC," Wood said. "My brother is a sophomore at UNC and I have a cousin who is a junior, so I'm going to feel right at home. I have grown to love Carolina like family and it's been a dream of mine to play basketball for the Tar Heels."
Al Wood played basketball for UNC from 1978-81 and ranks fourth in school history in career scoring. A first-team All-America in 1981 when he led UNC to the NCAA championship game, he was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team and spent six seasons in the NBA. His No. 30 jersey hangs in the Smith Center rafters as one of those honored by the UNC program.
