For the past several weeks, Notre Dame’s coaching staff has been working hard on the recruiting trail, looking at rising juniors and seniors. Slowly, the Irish staff is starting to craft a list of targets as the program heads into the fall.
One player that certainly has made the list is Adam Woodbury (Sioux City, Iowa/East), a class-of-2012 big man.
Thus far, a member of Notre Dame’s staff has been present at every AAU game Woodbury has played for the Martin Bombers. The 7-foot, 220-pound athlete has taken notice, too. Despite the added attention, however, Woodbury is trying to stay within his skill set and not try to do too much.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” he said. “You can’t look at the coaches and try to play out of your element. You’ve just got to kick it up a notch and show them what you can do and hope they recruit you even harder.
“You definitely want to play your best every time out with those coaches there. You need to bring it to a whole other level of energy and motivation to play harder because they’re big-time coaches and you’ve got to show them what you’ve got.”
The Irish coaches haven’t only been watching Woodbury play—they’ve also had several conversations thus far in the recruiting process. Soon, they could be having many more.
“It’s been going well,” Woodbury said. “The coaches have talked to me a couple of times. I actually plan to take a visit down there to check out the campus to see what they have to offer me as well as what I have to offer them.”
Although the Irish trip isn’t finalized, the power forward/center hybrid is looking to take some time after the school year commences to knock out a couple of visits to schools that have displayed early interest.
“I don’t know yet. I’ll probably make that visit in the fall,” Woodbury said. “I’d like to take a roundtrip and get a few visits in—to see some of the schools that have been recruiting me.”
Once Woodbury does make it east towards the South Bend campus, the Irish coaches have offered a glimpse of what he could experience.
“It’s been great,” he said. “They’ve been talking about their system and they really would like me to come down and talk with some of the players, meet face-to-face with the coaches and walk around the campus to see how nice that is and try to make me feel at home.”
Woodbury currently holds seven offers, including ones from Creighton, Drake, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska and Utah. Because of his versatility, athleticism and scoring touch in the post, more could be coming soon.
“I feel like my big strength is my running the court,” he said. “Being able to mark up my opponent and using my left and right hands with my inside post moves.”
In any case, Woodbury hasn’t yet begun to narrow down his list of offers. With over a year remaining in the process, he isn’t in any hurry.
“I’m pretty wide open right now,” Woodbury said. “I’m just taking it all in, enjoying the process and just seeing what schools are looking at me and just which schools come to watch our games.”
That’s why Woodbury isn’t looking to decide in the near future. As of right now, the junior is simply focused on improving his game and preparing for the season.
Instead, Woodbury is waiting for the process to unfold naturally. When he realizes that he has found the right fit, he will announce his decision.
“I’m just going to work really hard to get ready for the season,” he said. “Just try to get stronger and faster and just work on my overall game. Hopefully I’ll make a decision within the year. I don’t have to rush to do anything. When the perfect place comes up and I feel that right fit for me in the school, then I’ll go off of that.”
