Sophomore Guard Holland "Boo Boo" Woods made the adjustment to Division I basketball fairly quickly following a sterling career at Apollo High School in Phoenix, where he averaged nearly 30 points a game as a senior and was named runner-up for Gatorade Player of the Year in Arizona.     

"Boo Boo really matured in the program quickly for a freshman. The speed and size are an adjustment for everyone coming out of high school," said Viking Second Year Head Coach Barrett Peery of the 2018 recipient of the Dick Bergman Memorial Endowed Scholarship.      

In fact, Woods was starting point guard by game 10 last season and ultimately was named Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year. He averaged 10.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game and led the Big Sky in assists.     

"I played for a pretty good high school team (he scored 33 points in an overtime Arizona state championship loss), so the transition wasn't as rough as it might have been," he said. "But, the game definitely is faster. In high school, you had some good players and some who were so-so. In college everyone knows what he's doing."     

Biggest change for Woods was his role.      

"I was scoring nearly 30 points a game in high school. Here, they've asked me to do other things… be a play maker… that means more assists," he said. He also needed to work on his outside shooting because "in college guys are bigger and it's not as easy to get to the rim."  And that meant hours of practice.       

Woods ended up at Portland State because of a coaching change at University of California Santa Barbara, where he'd committed out of high school. He knew Viking Associate Head Coach Jason Coburn from Coburn's days as a high school coach at McClintock High School 11 miles outside Phoenix. As a member of the PSU coaching staff, he'd recruited Woods. Upon hearing of the coaching change, Coburn re-contacted Woods.      

Woods' expectations for himself last year and this year are pretty simple. "I want to win games. Last year, I wanted the team to win more games than it did the year before (check: 15 wins in 2016-17 and 20 wins last season) and I wanted to lead the league in assists (also check).      

His goal this year is the same. "I want to win games this year… and we've lost two games we could have won… I've been pretty tough on myself," he said.      

Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Woods said he worked to improve his entire game.      

"Coaches said to me 'you're not a freshman anymore. You're not going to surprise anyone this year'. And they told me I needed to get better in every aspect of my game," Woods said. That meant lots of time in the weight room and working on all the little technical details as well as developing the right mentality.       

Another thing the PSU coaching staff wanted from Woods this year was leadership.        

"We have a lot of new guys this year. Even though I'm just a sophomore, I'm trying to be the best leader I can," he said.         

And, Peery is pleased with his development in that area. "He has become a good leader. He's a good person on and off the floor. He carries himself well. He gets along with everyone. He's there for his teammates."        

Woods changed his major from business to criminal justice his second year after deciding "I really wasn't interested in business." He hasn't thought far enough ahead to figure out how his new major might fit into his post graduate life because he's still hopeful he'll have an opportunity to continue playing basketball after college.    

"(Woods') biggest strength is his understanding of what's going on out on the floor. He's a good ball handler and facilitator. He helps us play fast. He understands when he needs to score in a game. We're excited with what he brings to practice every day and what lies ahead for him," said Peery.