Robert Woodard II has seen a lot of sights and learned plenty of valuable lessons in the past month.
Between traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and to Bahia Blanca, Argentina, to represent the United States in the FIBA Americas Championship, many of those lessons involved basketball.
Each time, the Columbus High School rising sophomore passed his test and played an integral role in helping the USA Basketball Men’s U16 National Team win its fourth championship in the biennial tournament that was launched in 2009.
Team USA’s 77-60 victory against Canada on Sunday night presented Woodard II and his teammates with a new challenge: Getting their gold medals through airport security.
Turns out the final test really wasn’t difficult at all.
“I have been through (screening stations) four times,” Woodard II said Tuesday in between travel stops. “They pat it down and tell me to keep going.”
Woodard II wore the gold medal under his shirt when he passed through each check point. He said he planned to keep it close to him until he arrived back home in Columbus. Until then, Woodard II said he was going to let everything continue to sink in so he could realize the significance of winning a gold medal for his country.
“It was an honor, first of all,” said Woodard II, a 6-foot-5 guard, who is the son of Robert and Velma Woodard. “It was just great. We have a bond, a brotherhood, and we will know each other for the rest of our lives. It was a great experience to play with a bunch of guys for our country.”
Woodard II had two points and one rebound in four minutes in the title game. He averaged 5.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game in Team USA’s 5-0 run through the tournament. He was 10-for-22 from the field (45.5 percent).
Gary Trent Jr. (Apple Valley High School/Apple Valley, Minnesota) scored all 19 points of his points in the second half and earned tournament MVP honors. Jarred Vanderbilt (Victory Prep School/Houston, Texas) added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. (Pace Academy/Fairburn, Georgia) had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tre Jones (Apple Valley High /Apple Valley, Minnesota) had five steals and finished the tournament with a USA U16 competition record 19 steals, breaking Malik Newman’s record of 14 set in 2013.
The tournament was the Americas zone qualifier for the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship. The top four nations from the FIBA Americas U16 Championship will earn berths to the 2014 U17 Worlds.
Woodard II hopes to be in position to earn a spot on that team. He feels he did “pretty well” in the five games and that the experience opened his eyes to areas of his game — ballhandling and passing — he wants to work on to improve. He feels the opportunity to play against guards showed him the importance of being able to create his own shot and playing tough defense.
Team USA coach Don Showalter said the players’ ability to come together and play as a team rather than individuals was crucial in the march to the championship. He credited the players’ passing and defense, especially in the title game against Canada, for helping the team rally from an early deficit and win the finale going away.
“I think they realized in order for us to succeed they had to play a role on our team,” Showalter said. “That role has been really different than the one they play on their high school or their AAU team because they are the main people there. They all bought into it. In the end, the kids really wanted to win. In the end, it was the USA basketball U16 team winning a gold medal, not a certain person.”
Showalter praised Woodard II’s ability to fit in with the team, regardless if he played two or 20 minutes. He said he liked the fact that Woodard II remained aggressive whenever he was on the court and tried to be a scoring threat and a stopper on defense.
“He didn’t play a lot in the gold-medal game because the people we had on the floor were on a roll in the second half, but when he came in he really complemented everyone on the court,” Showalter said. “He is a great kid. I love him.”
Showalter believes the experience of playing against international competition will help all of Team USA’s players. He said the experience will be valuable because it will provide a lesson each player can use to focus on to improve parts of their games.
For Woodard II, that means continuing to hone his skills on the perimeter. With plenty of room to grow, Woodard II likely will see playing time on the wing and in the post as a sophomore for coach Luther Riley at Columbus High. He feels he shot the ball well and played tough defense, and hopes that the lessons he will share with the Falcons can help that team improve, too.
“It really helped with my maturity,” Woodard II said. “(The experience) taught me I can do things on my own as an independent young man and that I don’t have to depend on everyone for everything. It gives me a lot of confidence.
“It is an honor knowing we represented our country playing a sport we loved and that we did the best we could and brought the gold medal home.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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