Kam Woods laughs thinking about just how surreal this trip has been.
The Pinson Valley High School graduate was sitting at his locker Thursday morning in Glendale, Arizona awaiting practice. He’s in the Final Four. With NC State. Just down the hall is the dressing room of his childhood favorite with one of his good friends and teammates.
Woods is a long way from his roots but there’s a taste of home with his beloved Crimson Tide playing in the other national semifinal and his former AAU backcourt mate Mark Sears leading this equally improbable run.
“Especially being from Alabama,” Woods said shaking his head. “There’s not too many people who’ve been to the Final Four. So just to be here, trying to put Alabama basketball on the map, it’s big.”
The ride of Woods has been crazier than the destination.
A high school basketball teammate of Alabama football star Kool-Aid McKinstry, Woods was a two-time Class 6A player of the year. His 38.1-point average as a senior put him among the nation’s top scorers and Tuscaloosa was his dream landing spot.
Woods remembers being recruited by then-Alabama coach Avery Johnson but that pursuit ended when Nate Oats took over in March 2019.
“That’s my favorite school,” Woods said Thursday. “I’m not going to lie. Even when they play, I still cheer for them. Hopefully, it’s us versus them in the championship.”
So he landed at Troy as a freshman. After starting 12 of the 23 games there, he transferred to Northwest Florida State Community College where he scored 11.0 points a game in 20 starts. From there, his junior season was played at North Carolina A&T where he scored 17.3 points. He led the team in scoring, assists and 3-pointers and the Power 5 schools came calling.
Pinson Valley's Kam Woods drives around Oxford's Kobe Warren during AHSAA Class 6A Northeast Regional semifinal basketball at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala., on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. (Mark Almond | preps@al.com)
Of course, he was hoping to hear from Oats in Tuscaloosa but he already had Woods’ former teammate with the Alabama Fusion. Sears, a transfer himself from Ohio, was the star returning in the backcourt so this winding path led to Raleigh instead of his backyard. Woods said he remembered going to Alabama games as a kid, watching the likes of Justin Coleman and Kira Lewis hoping to follow in their footsteps.
Still, he’s happy for Sears and all he’s accomplished. Playing with the Alabama point guard on the AAU level, Woods always remembered his work ethic.
Like he doesn’t care about all the hype,” Woods said. “He was always the first in the gym to grind instead of partying. That’s one thing I can really say about him.”
They spoke after Alabama beat Clemson to make the Final Four and before the Wolfpack beat Duke to join them in Glendale.
“I talked to Mark last week after they won,” Woods said. “They played the night before, I said we can get this W and meet you in Phoenix. He told me to get it done. Now we’re here.”
It has been a wild ride for Woods since arriving at NC State. He was originally ruled ineligible by the NCAA but was eventually cleared in December. Scoring a season-high nine points in his debut against Tennessee, Woods played 18 minutes that night. Playing time has trailed off as the Wolf Pack tinkered with the rotation in what’s become a tune-up season for what’s expected to be a larger role next season.
Still, the outside shot at an NC State-Alabama national title game is enough to get Woods mind spinning.
“That would be crazy,” he said. “A dream come true just knowing Alabama is playing …”
His Alabama connections run deeper than Sears.
He goes even further back with McKinstry.
“That’s my brother,” Woods said with a smile. “We grew up together, like from the sandbox so we’ve definitely known each other our whole life.”
They tag teamed to win Pinson Valley’s first basketball state title when the future Alabama cornerback was still trying to play both sports. The duo was dominant their senior season.
“It was easy,” Woods said. “If I wasn’t on, it was going to be him. If he wasn’t on, it was going to be me. So just to have that partner at all times, it made it easy.”
And while he’s incredibly happy to see McKinstry on the verge of becoming a first-round NFL draft pick, he knows the same could’ve been true if he stuck with basketball.
“People just don’t know,” Woods said. “He’s a great football player but he’s just as great at basketball. People don’t know that unless you watched him.”
McKinstry joined the Alabama basketball team as an early enrollee true freshman, sitting on the bench during games but never appeared in one.
Woods and McKinstry are close enough that the NC State guard was actually with his friend when his first college football scholarship offer arrived.
“We were in the car actually driving,” Woods remembered Thursday. “We were with our coach and he told him to turn the music down. He put it on speaker and he said ‘I’m going to give you your first offer.’ After that, that’s when they started coming in.”
Ole Miss was the first in but not the ultimate choice. The offer came after McKinstry’s freshman year where he flashed his potential on the summer camp circuit.
Now McKinstry’s about to live his dream.
Sears is doing the same with Alabama basketball while Woods is still on his journey -- one that he hopes can inspire others.
“Don’t quit on yourself,” he said is the message. “I went to a JUCO. I went to a HBCU. Now I’m at a Power 5 at the Final Four. There were some days I thought it was over, basketball was over. Now I’m here. So never give up.”
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.