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Bouncing Back

Healthy Woods says Arizona will be team to beat

Loren Woods Senior C, Arizona 15.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.9 bpg

We couldn't wait until Midnight Madness to catch up with college basketball's premier players, so we decided to track them down during summer break. Check back here each week to find out whether your favorite hoopster has been bulking up, barbecuing or perfecting his turnaround J.

By Carl Bialik, CNNSI.com

Woods hopes to ride his size and intensity to the NCAA championship next year. John W. McDonough

Not all modifications are as easy as pressing a few buttons on a game controller, however. This offseason Woods underwent rehab that was a good deal more excruciating. A compressed disc in his back, which had first bothered him in late January, forced the first team All-Pac-10 selection to miss the final eight games of last season, including Arizona's second-round NCAA tournament loss to Wisconsin. Woods underwent two operations -- on April 5 and April 7 -- and is currently on campus in Tucson, lifting weights and doing individual workouts on the court. He will continue this course for two to three more weeks, and then start playing pickup games.

While sidelined, the 7-foot-1 Woods dropped about 20 pounds and still only tips the scales at 230. Though he lifts regularly, Woods does not have a target weight. "I just try to get stronger," he says. "I'm not really too worried about my weight. I've never been big, so my weight's never carried me through basketball. It's always been my skills."

Woods has also been sustained by a passionate dedication to the game. As it turns out, he was playing with the back injury for about a month before being forced to sit out. "You know, once you step on the court, there are no excuses," Woods says. His intense attitude toward basketball has sometimes caused him to push himself too far. Wake Forest coach Dave Odom suspended Woods for nine games during his sophomore year in Winston-Salem, for his prized center's own well-being -- Woods, it seemed, was taking the game too much to heart.

Quotables On video games: "I like fighting games. Any of the Streetfighters. I got the new Dreamcast system that came out. The fighting game on there, Soul Calibur, is awesome." On Portland's Game 7 loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals: "I saw that. It was horrible, just awful. They should have won. Things happen, and the Lakers are a good team, but I really wanted Portland to win." On his mother's desire that he stay at Arizona for his senior year: "She's just one of those people, like most parents, who wants their child to get the best education and make the best decisions. She wants to see me get as much education as I can. I think she'll be really happy once I graduate."

Woods, who transferred to Arizona after that season, says Lute Olson's program has been a better fit for him, and that taking the year off from hoops required of all transfers by the NCAA also helped him adjust because it allowed him time to relax and concentrate on school.

In order to keep his course schedule lighter next season and be able to dedicate himself more fully to basketball, Woods is taking two classes this summer towards his family studies major: human development and counseling. When his athletic career is over, he wants to be an adolescent counselor. "I've always talked to kids and found it interesting," he says. "So that's what I figured I wanted to do."

Of course, Woods hopes to have a successful run in the NBA first. "Moving on to the highest level is something I've been training for since I've been playing basketball," Woods says, adding that during the season he was strongly considering leaving Arizona with one year of eligibility remaining until he suffered the back injury. "I haven't really had a full, good year since I've been in college. For me, [returning to school] was more pride. I wanted to come back to prove I could play a full year of college and play well."

With all of the Wildcats' starting five returning next season, Woods is confident he can do just that. "There's no doubt in my mind that we should be the best team in the country next year -- the whole year," he says. " [We're] definitely a team to beat. Or the team to beat."

Note: On Aug. 21, Woods was officially cleared to play this season.

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