Transfer Woods Escapes Duncan’s Shadow

Loren Woods left Wake Forest because he was sick of being compared--unfavorably--to Tim Duncan.

The slender, 7-foot-1 center found new life across the continent at Arizona, swatting away opponents’ shots at a record pace, scoring with his soft jumper and running the court as well as any big man in the game.

At 21, he is the popular leader of a young Arizona team that ranks among the best in the country.

“He was captain on our team before he ever played a game,” teammate Richard Jefferson said.

Woods’ Tucson experience contrasts sharply with his painful two years at Wake Forest.

“These are the best teammates I’ve probably ever had on any team,” Woods said. “We get along so well. We never argue or anything like that. This team has just been so great.”

Woods was one of the top prospects in the country out of Cardinal Ritter High School in St. Louis, and he was Wake Forest’s prize recruit. But from the start, the pressure was intense.

At one point in his freshman year, Woods was suspended for seven games because coach Dave Odom felt it was the only way to lift the pressure.

After his sophomore season in 1998, Woods decided he’d had enough. He looked around and decided coach Lute Olson’s highly successful Arizona program was the place for him.

He knew that Arizona center A.J. Bramlett would be a senior the season Woods would have to sit out before becoming eligible for the Wildcats.

“I wanted to come to a place that didn’t have a center since I didn’t have that many years left,” Woods said. “This is one of the better programs in the nation, and it was a good fit for me.”

Now, Woods considers his Wake Forest experience ancient history.

“When I first got here, coach Olson said I don’t have to worry about being anybody that I’m not, just be myself,” he said. “That’s all I’ve been since I’ve been here. I’ve just put that whole Wake Forest thing out of my head.”

Woods’ towering presence has allowed the Wildcats to play pressure defense on the outside knowing that the agile center will be there to block or alter any shots when a perimeter defender gets beat.

“We can pressure the wings and if they beat us to the hole, we know we’ve got Loren back there to throw the shot out,” freshman point guard Jason Gardner said. “That gives us a lot of confidence out on top.”

With 10 games left in the season, Woods had had already broken the school record with 90 blocked shots. The Pac-10 record of 115 by Mario Bennett is easily within his considerable reach.

Against Oregon on Thursday night, he blocked 14 to tie the NCAA record shared by David Robinson, Shawn Bradley and Roy Rogers.

“He was unreal,” teammate Michael Wright said. “He was knocking them out left and right.”

Woods’ blocks come in two styles -- gentle and mean.

“It depends on the mood the shot blocker is in that day,” Woods said. “Sometimes I can keep the ball in play and I just go up and tip it, but sometimes you want to send a message, you want to knock shots as hard and as far as you can out of there.”

When Arizona lost Jefferson with a broken foot, Woods’ presence became even more important as the regular rotation dwindled to seven players.

He responded defensively and offensively, leading the Wildcats in scoring a 15.1 points per game.

On the break, Woods gets down the court faster than just about anyone his size who has ever played college basketball.

“I like to get easy baskets,” he said, “and the easiest way to get baskets for a big man is to run the floor. If you’re up ahead of everybody and you’re taller than everybody, you can get layups.”

Woods still has to work on establishing his position inside, and has problems sometimes against muscular defenders, even though he has been working in the weight room.

“I’m never going to be a player that’s so strong, a power player,” Woods said. “That’s not the strength of my game at all, but I’ve definitely gotten stronger, and it’s helped me.”

If Woods keeps improving at the rate he has since he got to Arizona, Olson said, “a year from now he could be a candidate for player of the year.”

But he will have to resist the temptation to leave for the NBA after this season.

“There certainly a possibility that could happen,” Olson said, “but it reminds me a little bit of Sean Elliott. Sean could have gone out his junior year, but by the end of his senior year he was looked at as a possible No. 1 pick.”

Olson said most NBA scouts have told him Woods would be drafted somewhere in the teens in the first round this year.

“I personally think that would be a mistake for Loren,” Olson said, “because he has a legitimate shot at being the first player picked next year.”

Woods said he isn’t thinking much about the NBA.

“As far as right now, I’ve got to come back to this team,” he said. “We return everybody next year. We’re going to have a great team. If something uncanny happens this year, like we win the national championship or something like that, then it’s something to think about. But right now, I’m just having fun.”