Jarod Hinton
There is a young man at John Milledge Academy who is proving the old saying “practice makes perfect.” JMA junior Cody Wood has been on fire lately, including a double-double (14 points, 14 rebounds) one week ago in JMA’s home victory over Trinity Christian.
For his outstanding efforts this season, Wood was honored this week with U-R Player of the Week.
The JMA junior has been playing very sharp and is currently averaging 14.8 points and seven rebounds per game and has 20 blocked shots on the year. He has scored a total of 282 points this season.
However, his excellent basketball skills are not due to natural talent alone. Wood says he practices basketball all year long.
“I like to play against older and more experienced competition than what I’m playing now. That really helps my game.”
His investment of time and discipline has certainly been paying off for the Trojans. The JMA boys have a record of 7-12, but Wood says their record is deceptive.
“I would have to say our record doesn’t really show who we are because we’ve had at least four games where we’ve lost by five points or less. We lost by one point twice.”
Looking forward to the regional tournament, Wood says a major goal for their team is to get fourth or better so that they qualify for the state tournament. He says the key to this is to play four quarters of great basketball.
“We are such a spurt team. If we put together four quarters we can be dangerous.”
It is evident that he really enjoys playing for the Trojans and talking about basketball.
Wood is described as the “vocal leader” of the team by head coach Thomas Craig.
“I would sum him up as a great leader. He’s still young, still got a lot to learn. But he has learned the game and is very advanced for his age. He’s really grown as a leader on and off the court,” said Craig. “He loves basketball, so that makes my job very easy.”
Wood also says he’d like to play at the college level, though he’s not sure where yet.
“I would like to play for a [division one] college, but I guess where ever I get a scholarship is where I’ll go.”
Even though he is one of the taller players on the JMA team, he has exceptional ball-handling skills and a good awareness of the court, both of which are very valuable to most college teams.
Wood’s parents are Chris and Kathy Wood of Milledgeville, and they are certain to be proud of their son. His hard work and practice are certainly bringing results and setting a good example for other athletes in the area.
Congratulations, Cody, for being named U-R Player of the Week!
