CHECK OUT WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THE LIFE OF THIS ATHLETE

WOOD'S LINKS

Akron U. Basketball
Akron U. Schedule
Jeremiah's' Profile Page
Akron U. Stats

PERSONAL TESTIMONY

Religion, church or anything like that was never really a part of my life. My parents never were involved and so the few times I went to church, it really didn't make much sense to me. Even when I tried to pick up and read the Bible on my own in 9th grade, I couldn't understand it because the Bible I had was written in that Old English. But I DID know to pray. So I did my best to just talk to God each night and be thankful to him.

During high school, my basketball career started to take off. As I improved, I took the natural course of just enjoying the compliments, getting the attention from the girls and doing some of the things that I shouldn't be doing.

In spite of the success and the "things" that I thought I wanted, there was still this emptiness that let me know that I wasn't finding what would really satisfy me.

Going to college quickly became a great experience because I had success on the court right away. Though I had made a decision in high school to try to make better decisions and get my life straightened out, I wasn't happy with my life the way I wanted to be.

Near the end of my freshman year, when I was named to the All-MAC freshman team, (March 18th, 2004), I suffered a stress fracture in my tibia that ended my season. That gave me a lot of time to think about things. But I pretty much just focused on rehab to get ready for the next season.

Coming into the season, I was named to the pre-season All-MAC team. Dick Vitale had named me a Diaper Dandy freshman of the year in the MAC. My season was looking to be very special. Our team had a great year, but they played most of it without me. By the first week of January, I was out for the season for the second time in two years with a torn ACL, after landing awkwardly on one foot while grabbing a rebound. It was a long season after that. It was a season that sent me searching.

I had been studying/reading the Bible on my own because I was searching to improve and change my life. Finally, one day I attended church and the preacher was challenging the crowd that we needed to turn our lives over to him and completely live for one reason - Jesus Christ. So on that night, June 17, 2005, I gave my life to Christ and trusted Him to be my Savior.

This is a life long committment to me. I spend my spare time trying to learn more about Christ and see things the way God wants me to. I'm trying to discipline myself to be the way He wants me to be. I am not worried about material things or how people look at me (Galatians 1:10). I just want to please God. It's exactly what I've been looking for. This is the satisfaction that fills that emptiness that I had.

God built me up, let me have all I wanted of myself, and then broke me back down, showing me how much I needed Him. It was kind of like he punished me, but it really wasn't because in the long run God gave me what I was really looking for.

Probably the most precious part now is how I am discovering that God was with me and putting people around me when I was spiritually immature - just waiting, patiently waiting for me to notice Him. Now that I know how long God has had my back protecting me until I was ready, just makes me love and appreciate him even more.

Jeremiah Woods

Akron U.
Basketball
Senior
6'6" Forward

NEWS

Jeremiah has experienced both the worst AND the best of the athletic experience. Last season Wood was named to the All-MAC tournament team for arguably the best team in Akron U. history. He also has experienced a stress fracture in his lower leg and a knee operation during his sophomore season.

Read his personal testimony (at left) to learn how he has turned adversity into real success in life.

2006-07 SEASON

GP-GS FG-FGA Pct. FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg A TO Blk Stl Avg
32-30 131-229 .572 69-11 .580 86 165 251 7.8 54 64 13 30 10.3

2005-06 SEASON
MEDICAL RED-SHIRT

2004-05 SEASON

GP-GS FG-FGA Pct. FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg A TO Blk Pts Avg
10-10 45-82 .549 17-35 .486 23 58 81 8.1 18 20 12 107 10.7

THE TEAM JAM CONNECTION

John Saucier first noticed Jeremiah when he was a sophomore forward alongside of Charlie McKee at Akron Garfield, who was heavily involved with TEAM JAM.

Later on while at Central-Hower and playing some ball or refereeing youth games over at St. V-St. Mary, he overheard John talking to Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce about a Bible study he was doing with them. He challenged John to come to Central and do the same thing for him and teammates like Chris Steens.

Once he went to Akron U., and joined up with a number of other Akron U basketball players who have been involved with TEAM JAM, it has been a natural to meet together even more.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Sophomore
Voted pre-season All-MAC.
Suffered torn ACL injury that
prematurely ended his season. In the 10 games that he played, he averaged 10.7 pts. and 8.1 rebounds per game.

Freshman
Named to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team... Also picked by ESPN's Dick Vitale as the MAC's Diaper Dandy of the Year... Named MAC East Division Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 21... Started in 26 of the 28 games in which he played... Team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.3 boards a game... Rebounds-per-game figure ranked sixth in the league... Also ranked in the conference's top 10 in both the offensive and defensive rebound categories... 2.75 offensive rpg ranked fourth and 4.57 defensive rpg ranked seventh... 59 percent (109 of 186) field-goal clip was also tops on the squad... That percentage was the best in school history by a freshman and would have led the MAC, but was just shy of the minimum 4.0 made per game required... Ranked second on the squad in scoring, with 9.9 ppg... Led the team in scoring six times and in rebounding 21 times...

High School:

Averaged 20 points and 17 rebounds during his two seasons (junior and senior) at Akron's Central-Hower High School... Two time All-Ohio Division II selection...Two time First Team All-District. was named MVP of the Akron City Series (Senior Year), . . . Played on three City Series Championship teams for two high schools. . . Scored over 1000 points and tallied over 1000 rebounds in his high school career. . .. Attended Akron's Garfield High during his freshman and sophomore year.