Nick Woods has accepted a scholarship offer from University of Tennessee baseball coach Dave Serrano.
"I visited about two weeks ago and liked it a lot. The coaches are great guys, the facilities are the best I've seen and a new dorm will have been built by the time I get there," Woods said.
East Hamilton's Nick Woods (5) stretches and grabs an errant throw as Walker Valley's Grayson Roundtree slides. The Hurricanes defeat Walker Valley 4-3, in a Tuesday afternoon baseball game at East Hamilton. Woods, who played shortstop, closed the win from the mound.A 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior, he pitches and plays shortstop for East Hamilton coach Steve Garland during the school year and for Brandon Turner's Exposure Baseball during the summer.
Woods also had contact with or made unofficial visits to Mississippi State, Michigan State, Kentucky, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee State.
"Nicholas thought about waiting even though he received a really good offer from Tennessee," said his father, Steve Woods. "We talked with Brandon - he's an expert in the world of college baseball - and after talking with him and Coach Garland he decided to go ahead and commit."
According to Steve Woods, one thing the Volunteers coaches liked was that Nick also has played second base and third bases.
"I'll probably be at third but I might be a second baseman," said Woods, who might have had a college football future as a strong-armed quarterback. "I don't know about pitching. They didn't give me a hint and I don't know who they have right now in the rotation."
There was really no question about which sport he'd play, though. He's played baseball since he was a 3-year-old, and summer baseball has kept him from attending football camps. Too, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Hurricanes' first football game last year.
"He is still recovering from the knee surgery, but not only did he come back in near record time for our baseball season but he pitched an eight-inning (sectional) game at Columbia Central to get us into the state tournament," Garland said.
Woods was one of three rising juniors to play for Team Tennessee in the Sunbelt tournament earlier this summer in Oklahoma, where he was seen several times by UT assistant Aric Thomas. Thomas also has seen him at Perfect Game events while playing with the Exposure (Turner Baseball Academy).
"Coach Thomas saw him out in Oklahoma as a hitter and as a pitcher and liked him at bot, and I know they've seen him playing for Exposure," Garland said. "They did their homework on him, saw him play numerous times in the last eight weeks. He is a tremendous talent and an outstanding student, a gifted athlete who has a great mind for the game."
Woods currently has a 3.85 grade point average and scored a 22 the first time he took the ACT.
He is the first East Hamilton baseball player to commit to an SEC school and will be the school's third SEC athlete, joining Vanderbilt football player Tre Herndon and UT softball player Shaliyah Geathers.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.