Purdue targeted Bolingbrook's Samantha Woods as a perimeter/high post threat and will likely be used as a combination of
guard and forward. Woods began her high school career as an intimidating interior player for Fenwick (IL), but moved from
the private Catholic school to hometown Bolingbrook. Since that move, Woods has been developing into a solid perimeter
player, as was evident from her 45-of-100 shooting from the perimeter her junior season. As her shooting improves, she
also brings good defensive pressure on the wing and always has that interior game to make her usable at multiple positions.
Main weakness as of the beginning of her senior year is ballhandling. An improvement in ballhandling might see her play
more small forward as her slashing ability would improve.
Improvement in her perimeter shooting has been slowly seen in her high school numbers. While a highly rated young post
player at Fenwick (she was actually rated as the nation's 13th best prospect nationally early in her high school career
while in the post), she was 1-of-3 from the perimeter her freshman year. As sophomore, she increased her perimeter
attempts, but her percentage went down as a result, 4-of-20. The transfer to Bolingbrook put her on the perimeter as her
primary position, and her attempts swelled to 100 while her percent-made jumped to 45-percent.
As a junior at Bolingbrook, Woods averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, three assists and three blocks per game for the
Illinois Class AA girls basketball state champs. She shot 43-percent from the field, 74-percent from the freethrow line
and 45-percent from the perimeter.
As a sophomore at Fenwick, Woods averaged 7.0 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Woods chose Purdue over Michigan State. She made an oral commitment to the Boilermakers on October 9th, 2006, and signed
a National Letter of Intent in November 2006.
Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp...Sam is a highly sought-after student-athlete who is one of the most versatile
athletes in the country. She's almost 6'4, can play inside or out and is a very good three-point shooter.
Defensively, her shot-blocking ability and length at the wing position will cause match-up problems for opponents.
Her ability to post, push the ball down the floor and shoot the three make her a real challenge to defend."
(November 9, 2006)
Bolingbrook head coach Anthony Smith..."She's a great kid and a great person. She's a team player. She's a 6-3 wing
player that can play outside or inside. She's a talented player. She's not afraid to go inside. She's one of those
blue-collar players that nobody is going to outwork. She's a gifted kid. She's fast, strong and she can jump."
(October 10, 2006)
Old Gold Free Press scouting report from the Adidas Summer Slam..."Former Fenwick player now getting some games in
with her future teammates at Bolingbrook. Her role on this team was far from the under-the-basket role she had at
Fenwick, and planted herself out at the small forward position with the Hawks. When she would get down low, she
showed the strength of her game around the basket. Has very good hands catching in traffic. Her small forward role
is a work in progress. Not real sure if she has the step to get past defenders on the perimeter and generally needs
some space to operate. Dribble is a little high which will cause her problems. Not much success shooting beyond the
three-point line in this game (0-for-2). A bright spot was her defense on the outside, and her long arms are
intimidating to shooters on the perimeter. Indiana Elite had plenty of shooters, and Woods seemed to cause hesitation,
as a 6'3 small forward would. Can't fault her for trying something new, but she is a productive post player and a
rather unproductive small forward at this point." (September 3, 2005)
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