The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Beachwood alum Woodrich commits to CSU
Jayson Woodrich finished his senior year at Beachwood averaging 26.1 points per game. The 6-foot-7 wing led The News-Herald coverage area in scoring and 3-point shooting with 87 3s en route to first-team AllOhio honors.
When he graduated, Woodrich had no offers to play college basketball.
But he still aspired to continue playing. After a prep year at Scotland Campus in Pennsylvania, he received eight scholarship offers.
March 25, Woodrich chose to come back home. He committed to Cleveland State, entering its second year under Coach Dennis Gates.
“First, it’s home,” Woodrich said. “I always dreamed of playing for my hometown. Coach Gates and the rest of the coaching staff, Coach (Cam) Joyce and all of them, I love what they’re doing with the program and I feel like they’re heading in the right direction, so I want to be a part of that.”
Woodrich narrowed his final choice to the Vikings and Iona, the program that recently hired Rick Pitino.
At Scotland Campus, located 4 ½ hours away from Beachwood near Gettysburg, Woodrich worked with Coach Chris Chaney, who owns more than 800 wins on the prep basketball circuit. Nineteen of his previous players went on to be drafted in the NBA, and he coached 120 D-I players.
Woodrich said his work with Chaney and director of player development Sullivan Brown turned him into a different type of player. He’s a better ball handler and has an improved feel for the game.
Woodrich said he averaged roughly 18 points and nine rebounds per game while shooting 52% from 3 during his 44-game season with Scotland Campus. He continued to shoot prolifically from the 3-point line and said he showed he’s one of the country’s best shooters.
“If that doesn’t show anybody that I’m one of the best shooters, I don’t know what will,” Woodrich said. “Especially because we had a lineup with five Division I players on the court at the same time and they were still faceguarding me, not trying to let me shoot the ball.”
Woodrich plans to study sports management at
Cleveland State. His other offers included St. Louis, Manhattan, Stony Brook, Fairfield and Bryant. The Vikings went 1121 and 7-11 in Horizon League play in their first season under Gates. Woodrich joins 7-foot-2 center Mabor Majak in Cleveland State’s 2020 recruiting class.
“They’re getting the right players,” Woodrich said. “I love the way, Coach Gates, his playing style is. He has an offense that’s going to let me shoot a lot of 3s, which is my strong suit so I feel like he’s going to get the most out of me.”