Recruiting Report: Trey Woodyard (2021)
London 6’6” guard Trey Woodyard (2021) is one of those young prospects who makes our job at Prep Hoops Ohio quite easy. We’re on the road looking for kids who can play college basketball and we skip on over to watch NEO Tru Game. Two of the most important indicators of a good basketball player, and it doesn’t take a genius to get this right, are shooting and size — Woodyard’s specialties.
He swishes jumpers off the catch, on balanced one-dribble pull-ups, and even can hit over the top of opposing guards because of his size. Shooting, court vision, and being a team player, Woodyard says, are his offensive strengths. Then it’s the defensive side of the floor where his height advantage makes the biggest difference.
“I feel like I could guard them all with my length,” Woodyard said when asked which positions can defend. “Then I can help shot-blocking and defensive rebounding.”
Also, while his shooting mechanics are terrific, the 16-year-old 4.0 student-athlete understands he needs to let it fly more often.
“I’m just trying to get my confidence up on the offensive side,” he said. “Just shooting the ball more.”
Woodyard talked a lot about the team and how he wants to help bring London to the next level of success, even going as far as declaring a State Championship his biggest goal as a high school player. When you’re wired in that team-first way, it may feel unnatural that your shot is the best shot for your team on any possession. It’s far easier for a kid like that to become too unselfish.
But wisdom comes with experience and Woodyard is only one year into his high school career. As a freshman scoring 8.1 points per game, Woodyard helped them to a 5-16 record, an improvement from the year prior.
“I think we just need to grow as a team,” Woodyard said. “I know my eighth grade year, we struggled just because nobody knew how to play together. I’m going to try to help us bond and then we just need to play as a team.”
Woodyard says that he has needed to take on a leadership role within the team earlier than most — the type of thing a guy like Woodyard, the no. 30 prospect in 2021, needs to do for them to win.
“I expect just to help lead my teams to more dubs this year and just help the team grow in general. I think we’re going to be good this year,” Woodyard said.
Having their star sophomore at 100 percent health helps the cause. Woodyard broke his hip in eighth grade, which took nine months to recover from, and tweaked his ankle during the 2018 grassroots season. He tells us he’s back to full health at the moment and is working on physical strength routinely.
Down the line, academic and overall fit will be the most important factors once colleges are making their pitches to Woodyard and his family. Ohio State is the only program to have reached out about Woodyard thus far, the Central Ohioan’s dream school.
“I talked to coach [Ryan] Pedon from Ohio State a few times,” Woodyard said. “He wanted me to come up to practice. I went up and saw. I talked to the coaches. And then over the summer at a team camp at Ohio State, I talked to him.
“They’re definitely helping. Coaching change helps. They look good,” Woodyard said.
As time goes on, various programs will certainly be sneaking into the Buckeyes’ back yard to get a look at Woodyard. In the short-term future, he has a chance to steal everybody’s attention if London has a successful year in the very competitive Ohio Division of the Mid-State League.