High-majors calling on Woodard

Big time college basketball programs are beginning to take notice of Jesse Woodard, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard from Centennial High School in Compton, Calif. While the three-star prospect is wide-open at this time, there is no doubt that Woodard is receiving heavy interest from four schools in particular.

"Jesse's recruitment is going good," said Compton Magic head coach Etop Edo-Ema. "Everyone is recruiting him right now. A lot of schools are calling and sending mail to Jesse. I would say that Iowa State, Utah, Virginia Tech and USC are recruiting Jesse the hardest.

"Those four schools are showing a heavy amount of interest," he added. "As a team, we've been to Kansas, Maryland, Indiana and Texas A&M and we have visited each school. I also know that Jesse is going to elite camps at Utah and USC."

It is only a matter of time before more schools begin to call on Woodard, the three-star prospect from California. Not only does he have the skill and ability level to compete at the high-major level, Woodard recently received some good news academically.

"He just looked over Jesse's grades and figured out that he has a 3.0 GPA core average," he said. "That is so huge for Jesse. He is going to qualify academically; there is no doubt about that."

As far as his role on the court, Woodard is a point guard that has the ability to shoot the basketball. That is one area of his game that he has spent a lot of time working on, and people are starting to take notice.

"Jesse is a point guard that can shoot the ball," he said. "He had a game earlier in the spring where he scored 18 first half points against Chris Wright. He is a great player, but Jesse held his own. After the game, people came up to me and asked if Jesse could play the point guard position, and I told them that he is a point guard, but he can also shoot the ball."