Newport alum helps WWU to D-II hoops title | Reporter Q and A
Published 10:52 am Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Before continuing his basketball career and education at Western Washington University and helping the Vikings to the program’s first ever national championship last weekend, Richard Woodworth was a three-time team MVP for the Newport Knights.
Woodworth scored 10 points and also had a team-high nine rebounds and four assists in his team’s 72-65 win over Montevallo (Alabama) to capture the NCAA Division II men’s basketball national title.
His father Don is the all-time career scoring leader at Whitman College with 2,019 points and broke the single-season scoring record his senior season with 652 points in 25 games.
The Reporter caught up with Richard on Monday while he and his family were watching a replay of the title game to talk about making school history, learning the game from a Whitman Hall of Fame member and going from a baseball-first school to a collegiate basketball court.
BELLEVUE REPORTER: Your dad was quite the player in his own right at Whitman and is in the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. Did he coach you during your youth?
RICHARD WOODWORTH: Yeah, he definitely did. He coached my sisters growing up and he got to coach me for a year when I was really young, but then he just kind of stepped back. He was really encouraging but stepped back and didn’t try and coach me too much. He was the one getting me motivated during the summer to get out there and put in the work.
REPORTER: How special was it to share that moment with him and your mom?
WOODWORTH: It was amazing. It was great to have him and my mom make it out for the Saturday game. I know they were really excited. They were going to come out for the Elite 8 but the flight got cancelled.
REPORTER: Most people would consider Newport the “baseball school” of the Bellevue high schools. How did you end up on a basketball court?
WOODWORTH: Newport has a really good baseball tradition. Football and basketball are a secondary sport for a lot of the good athletes. But there’s a lot of good basketball being played on the Eastside and a ton of good programs. I’d really encourage kids to get out there. Newport has a good select program and good youth program that gives kids the opportunity and I’d love to see some kids get out there and represent Newport and the Eastside.
REPORTER: That was a pretty close shave against Midwestern State (a 64-63 WWU win). How nervous were you during those first six minutes when you guys were still scoreless?
WOODWORTH: Our team has been in a lot of close games against a lot of really good teams. Our conference is full of good teams and we played some good competition in non-conference. We had a lot of confidence going in and those troubles were a little nerve wracking because it was win-or-go-home. They really put it on us early in the game. They came out and hit us in the mouth and we had to respond and hit them back and I think we did a good job of that.
REPORTER: Aside from hoisting the trophy, what was the most memorable part of your team’s run though the tournament?
WOODWORTH: It was really just getting there and being there. Western Washington has a great tradition of basketball and has had some really incredible teams. Of late, in the last five to 10 years, we’ve had some outstanding teams that went far but didn’t get as far as they would have liked. Just being able to get to the Elite 8 and getting to soak in the experience and begin there with my team, we got really close throughout the year. We had good chemistry on the team and those are all my closest friends. Just being out there with your friends and being a part of something as big as a national tournament was amazing.
REPORTER: You played a huge role throughout the season and also in the championship game. Could you have ever anticipated this when you signed to play at Western?
WOODWORTH: It’s funny, my senior year I kind of got a little burnt out. I had played AAU for a long time and I was more or less playing year-round, 11 months out of the year. We had some tough seasons my last couple years at Newport and I was deciding if I wanted to even continue playing basketball. At that point, I loved the game but I definitely wasn’t expecting to be a national champion back when I was deciding to come to Western.
REPORTER: What changed for you and has you at the point where you are now with your passion for the game?
WOODWORTH: This summer, before I came back to Western, I sat down with my dad and talked. I was coming off a redshirt year and he wanted me to make some goals for myself and the team. When he said that, I turned to him and said we should win the national championship. He looked at me and laughed and said that’s all well and good, but asked what I really wanted to accomplish. I was sort of kidding but at the same time I knew we had a really good chance.
REPORTER: What did he say when you reminded him of that conversation?
WOODWORTH: He said couldn’t believe he was laughing last summer.
REPORTER: Coach Jackson was in his 27th season as head coach of the team this year and has been around for some four decades. How special was it to be part of the team that finally got him that national title?
WOODWORTH: It was amazing. Coach Jackson, he has been here a long time and coaching almost 40 years. He’s really created a great tradition here at Western Washington and he’s a huge reason we have a national championship, along with coach Tony Dominguez. There’s not many guys I would rather play for than them. It’s really rewarding to be able to bring a title home to Western Washington and the Bellingham community.
REPORTER: I’m sure that flight back was, let’s say, spirited?
WOODWORTH: It was interesting. I got to ride my first charter so we got to stretch out and rest a little. It was hard to believe because we were so far from home, we didn’t have a lot of fans mostly just parents and administrators. It still hadn’t even really hit home even when we were on the plane but everyone was all smiles and just riding the high.
REPORTER: What was it like when you guys got back to town?
WOODWORTH: We had a great reception, there were a lot of people at the school chanting and congratulating us and telling us how proud they were.
REPORTER: How many phone calls, texts and voicemails have you received since Saturday?
WOODWORTH: It has been crazy, way too many to count. We got back to the locker room after the ceremony and everyone was turning out their phones and all you could hear is ringtones. I got all my friends from all over the country writing on Facebook and calling to say congratulations. People I haven’t even seen since I was a little kid living in Virginia. I had family friends calling that I didn’t even know. It’s been really cool though.
REPORTER: Of all those, which stuck out the most?
WOODWORTH: We got a congratulations from coach (Lorenzo) Romar over at UW. They (he and Brad Jackson) have been friends for a long time; my best friend from when I was like six-years-old who I haven’t talked to in seven or eight years gave me a call and said he couldn’t be prouder and was just really glad I was able to get it done. I had some distant family members I’ve never even talked to saying how excited the family is.
