Oakland men’s basketball has landed a commitment from fifth-year senior transfer Jayson Woodrich. Woodrich played his last four seasons at Cleveland State, but in his COVID-19-granted fifth year, he has chosen to take his talents northeast to Rochester Hills.
Woodrich has been one of the most dangerous shooters in the Horizon League during his tenure with the Vikings. At 6-foot-7, Woodrich can elevate above smaller guards to get off his knockdown jumper. In his final season with CSU, he made 1.8 threes per game on 5.1 attempts, good for a 35.7 percent clip. He averaged a career-high eight points per game and shot a career-best 79.2 percent from the free throw line.
The numbers might not be mind-boggling, but consider what recent Grizzlies have done in Greg Kampe’s system. Jack Gohlke and Blake Lampman both had exceptional seasons last year, largely because of their shooting. Both were able to get clean looks and benefited from Kampe’s play calls. Woodrich is ready to become the next great sniper at Oakland.
When Woodrich decided he wanted to enter the portal, he knew that Oakland would be high on his list of preferred schools. “I had an idea when I hit the transfer portal that if Oakland was gonna end up offering me, that would be a school that I’m definitely interested in,” he said.
“Obviously, I know about Kampe and the program. I played against them for four years. I felt like it was the perfect system for me.”
A perfect system, indeed. Woodrich was confident about his ability to fit in with the way that Coach Kampe wants to play. “In his system, obviously, there is a high emphasis on shooting, and that’s something that I know I’m good at; it’s something I can bring to the team,” Woodrich said. He was also quick to heap praise on Kampe, saying how exciting it’ll be to play for a legendary coach.
This time of year for college basketball used to be relatively quiet. The only real news would be coaches taking new jobs or players declaring for the draft. But now, with the emerging importance of NIL and the ability of schools to essentially pay players to come play, the spring has turned into a free agency of sorts.
For Woodrich, transferring was different for him than for a lot of other players. His ultimate goal isn’t more money or popularity, but to win a championship with Oakland. Woodrich is determined in this, saying, “I’ve gone to the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament for four straight years. We are going to have a good team next year, and I don’t see why we can’t win the whole thing.”
As far as personal goals go, he has his eyes set on being an all-conference selection. “That’s just the confidence I have in my work, confidence I have in my abilities and the trust I have in the coaching staff,” he said.
As the team gets closer to the beginning of summer practices, the roster will begin to solidify. As amazing as Team 57 was, players like Jayson Woodrich are determined to make Team 58 even better.