Seventh Woods, Chevez Goodwin named The State Boys Players of the Year
Seventh Woods and Chevez Goodwin tried to make a name for themselves during their careers at Hammond.
The duo did just that, and put the Skyhawks in the national spotlight in the process. After helping Hammond to a SCISA 3A state title in 2015, they carried the momentum into this year and were part of 36-game winning streak.
In December, the Skyhawks became the first South Carolina team to win the Chick-fil-A championship since 2010 and were ranked in both the USA Today and MaxPrep national high school rankings for more than a month.
Goodwin and Woods also picked up their share of individual accolades, including sharing The State’s Midlands Boys Basketball Player of the Year honor.
“It was big for us because we have been together since the sophomore year. We saw the program develop to a nationally ranked program,” Woods said. “Being nationally ranked and not losing in 2015 was pretty big.”
“When we were in 10th grade, we couldn’t imagine doing stuff like this,” Goodwin said. “Everyone knows who Hammond is now, and everyone can’t wait to play us even when me and Seventh aren’t in these jerseys.”
When Goodwin arrived at Hammond from A.C. Flora before his sophomore year, Woods already was a national name after his YouTube video went viral when he was in the eighth grade. The two remembered each other from playing recreation basketball and said there was an adjustment period.
Instead of trying to outdo each another, they learned to work as teammates and relied on each other more, especially this year after Xavier McDaniel Jr. graduated.
The 6-foot-9 Goodwin averaged a career-best 18.9 points, 12.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks and signed with College of Charleston on the same day Woods picked North Carolina.
“He has grown a lot as a player,” Woods said. “I think he is the best big man in the state. I saw the behind-closed-doors stuff he put in, both before and after practice. I think his work ethic got us through a lot because we saw how hard he worked.”
While Woods fed off Goodwin’s work ethic, Goodwin tried to emulate his teammates’ intensity on offense and defense.
Woods averaged 17.9 points, 4.9 assists and three steals despite being bothered by a knee injury down the stretch.
“He thinks the game and is probably the best defender I have played in high school,” Goodwin said of Woods. “I haven’t found anyone that guards better than him. He just gets after it with steals, turnovers and disrupts whoever he guards.”
While the pair’s career ended with a loss to Northwood in the SCISA 3A semifinals, both have a bright future and will get a jump on their college careers in June.
Both said they will follow each other’s career and have dreams of playing professionally.
“We became a nice combo, and probably the best dynamic duo in the state in the past 10 years,” Goodwin said. “We came together better than I thought we ever would. It’s going to be weird not playing on same team next year.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Seventh Woods, Chevez Goodwin named The State Boys Players of the Year."