
By Trey Williams
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a regular series of stories by Trey Williams on the legendary figures who helped create the rich athletic history of Johnson City and Washington County.
High-leaping Tommy Woods had the right stuff to clear East Tennessee State University’s color barrier.
The 6-foot-6 Woods, who set rebounding records for a game (38), career (1,034) and per game (16.2) during a Hall of Fame career at ETSU, was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame this summer along with the likes of Reggie Johnson, Bill Bates and Todd Helton.
“When they told me I was being inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, you know, I really didn’t have to words to say,” Woods said during a telephone interview last week from his home in Louisville. “I was just thinking, ‘Me? Being inducted with all these great athletes?’ It was just mindboggling to me.’”
It’s mindboggling that Woods, unlike Helton, Bates and Johnson, couldn’t play for the University of Tennessee despite having played for a Hall High School team in nearby Alcoa that routed most opponents thanks to the likes of Woods and Wade Houston, who became Louisville’s first African-American signee in 1962 and the SEC’s first black head coach in 1990 at Tennessee.
“Wade was a better shooter than his son (Allan, a former NBA player),” Woods said.
Their teammates included Woods’ younger brother Larry (Butch) and Houston’s brother C.A. Larry, two years younger than Tommy, rejoined him at ETSU and Houston’s brother went to Cincinnati. There was also Sonny Madison (Tennessee State), Albert Davis (NFL), 6-foot-6 James Williams and Woods’ close friend Brian Garner, an athletic lead guard.
“We had a tall team and six or seven of us could dunk,” Woods said. “I think the reason why people really wanted to come and see us was – our uniforms were something like red, white and blue and there was frosting, and we warmed up with a red, white and blue basketball. We always had a crowd there.
“We averaged 80-90 points a game because we ran. We would run your tongue out. If you didn’t run you’d sit over there beside the coach. We played so hard and so long that we’d have at least a hundred whites there just to watch us play. And that was something. I’d say our (gym) would only seat three or four hundred people.
“Brian was about 6-1 or 6-2. And do you know he could dunk before I could. He used to ride me to death about that. Oh, he could sky.”

“I didn’t go to East Tennessee State to be no pioneer or groundbreaker or anything like that,” Woods said. “I went there for two reasons: one, to get an education; and two, to play ball. And once I got there and saw the way that I was being treated, and I was thinking to myself, ‘Tommy, what have you done to these people for them to treat you like that?’ I wanted to quit and come home.”
Woods’ parents encouraged him to stay, as did Maxey and head coach Madison Brooks. Maxey recruited ETSU’s first handful of African-American players, including Woods’ brother Larry (Butch), who was two years behind Tommy, and Ernie Sims, Bob Hall and Tim Fleming.
The experience was often emotionally grueling for Maxey too, like when he had Woods with him in a diner in Virginia while recruiting a 6-10 player. Maxey said a half-drunk white guy started creating a scene, and once the manager refused to handle the situation, Maxey paid the check and left with Woods without finishing their food. But the loud man and another, Maxey said, were waiting in a truck when Maxey and Woods exited.
The men followed Maxey and Woods, essentially tail-gating them at times, and Maxey drove to downtown Blacksburg, cut through some side streets and returned to the highway quickly to head home after losing them.
“That was a time,” Maxey said, “when you knew somebody could shoot you.”
Woods said ETSU teammates Wayne Miller, Chip Jaworskiand Gary Martin, trainer Jerry Robertson and Buccaneers football player Pat Carter were among those instrumental in helping him remain in Johnson City.
Robertson was also recognized by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame this year, receiving the Pat Summitt Lifetime Achievement Award. Former ETSU teammate Richard Arnold is hosting a reunion to celebrate Woods and Robertson in Rogersville on Aug. 19.
Woods said Robertson’s work helped him return from a painful leg injury that cost him six games in time for Senior Day against Morehead State. The rusty Woods only had seven points and seven rebounds in an 86-76 victory, but managed to excite the crowd with a couple of dunks, including one that gave ETSU an 80-59 lead with 4:06 left.
Shortly thereafter, Woods got a three-minute standing ovation when he fouled out in his ETSU finale. According to the Johnson City Press-Chronicle game story, not even all-time leading scorer Tom Chilton had received such a sendoff.
The standing ovation seemed to begin in a section where Woods said the bigotry had been the most apparent three years earlier.
“That standing ovation, yeah, it just brought everything back to me,” Woods said. “I started out my freshman year to all the booing and criticism and catcalling and all the stuff like that in that section over there. They had a student section over there, and I don’t know if it was the same ones, but they gave me that standing ovation my last year there. That’s something I never will forget.”
Woods’ rejections were unforgettable for players such as Western Kentucky’s Clem Haskins, who was drafted No. 3 overall by Chicago. In a 2011 interview for a book on Woods’ ETSU teammate, Harley “Skeeter” Swift, Haskins was all but incredulous while remembering Woods blocking his corner jump-shot.
“Terrible Tommy Woods,” Haskins said. “Tommy blocked one of my shots one day – this is a true story – the first time I ever played against him. In Diddle Arena I shot a jump-shot, and I shot from deep in the corner, and Tommy Woods was under the basket. My shot was about halfway to the goal and he caught that (SOB) and threw it in the stands. Never in my life, okay. … Man, I ain’t ever seen somebody jump as high as that guy.”
Woods and his Alcoa teammates, of course, couldn’t enroll at Tennessee due to segregation. Most of Woods’ offers came from black colleges. He also visited Texas Western, which used an all-black lineup while defeating all-white Kentucky for the 1966 national championship.
“I would’ve been right there with ‘em,” Woods said. “I saw them whip that butt. I sure did. I was telling my brother, ‘Butch, I would’ve been right there (in Cole Fieldhouse).’
“When I was in high school I went down there and toured El Paso in ’63. I played a little scrimmage game down there and I stayed down there. That’s where I really wanted to go. But due to the fact that it was so far away my parents couldn’t have afforded to see me play.”
ETSU assistant Jack Maxey recruited Woods. The late Maxey often recalled how Texas Western coach Don Haskins, continued to pursue Woods well into Woods’ first season at ETSU.
And Woods was strongly considering leaving due to the hatred that made him feel like a “fly in the buttermilk.” He told his parents early in his freshman season he wanted to transfer.
“I didn’t go to East Tennessee State to be no pioneer or groundbreaker or anything like that,” Woods said. “I went there for two reasons: one, to get an education; and two, to play ball. And once I got there and saw the way that I was being treated, and I was thinking to myself, ‘Tommy, what have you done to these people for them to treat you like that?’ I wanted to quit and come home.”
Woods’ parents encouraged him to stay, as did Maxey and head coach Madison Brooks. Maxey recruited ETSU’s first handful of African-American players, including Ernie Sims, Bob Hall, Tim Fleming and Langston High School legend Kenny Hamilton.
Integration could be challenging for Maxey too, like when he had Woods with him in a diner in Virginia while recruiting a 6-10 player. Maxey said a half-drunk white guy started creating a scene, and once the restaurant manager refused to handle the situation, Maxey paid the check and left with Woods without finishing their food. But the loud man and another, Maxey said, were waiting in a truck when Maxey and Woods exited.
The men followed Maxey and Woods, essentially tail-gating them at times, and Maxey drove to downtown Blacksburg, cut through some side streets and returned to the highway quickly to head home after losing them.
“That was a time,” Maxey said, “when you knew somebody could shoot you.”
It all would’ve seemed so nonsensical if it hadn’t been so disheartening and frightening.
“I didn’t find this out until, like, 6-7 years ago,” Woods said, “but Coach Brooks was a deacon at his church and Coach Brooks would have us all go to church, and by Butch and I going to church – this came from a reliable source – they asked Coach Brooks to step down as a deacon.”
A diner in Kentucky refused to serve Woods after a game. So he went to the bus with his food. Moments later, his teammates and coaches appeared. They’d exited without eating or even boxing up their food.
“That was touching,” Woods said.
ETSU teammates Wayne Miller, Chip Jaworski and Gary Martin and Buccaneers football player Pat Carter, Woods says, were among those instrumental in helping him remain in Johnson City.
“Gary Martin and his family were so nice,” Woods said. “You could tell it wasn’t an act. Gary had a car. We’d always ride around with Gary. I told Gary, ‘I know if they were always calling me a bunch of N-words, they were calling you an N-lover.’
“But we never did discuss it. We never talked about it. We just went on with our lives.”
Woods said ETSU trainer Jerry Robertson was also invaluable in the early days when he was considering fleeing ETSU. Robertson was also recognized by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame this year with the Pat Summitt Lifetime Achievement Award.
Former ETSU teammate Richard Arnold is hosting a reunion to celebrate Woods’ and Robertson’s distinctions in Rogersville on Aug. 19.
Robertson helped Woods return from a painful leg injury that cost him six games in time for Senior Day. The rusty Woods only had seven points and seven rebounds in the 86-76 victory against Morehead State, but managed to excite the crowd with a couple of dunks, including one that gave ETSU an 80-59 lead with 4:06 left.
Shortly thereafter, when he fouled out, Woods got a three-minute standing ovation. According to the Johnson City Press-Chronicle game story, not even all-time leading scorer Tom Chilton had received such a sendoff.
The standing ovation seemed to begin in a section where Woods said the bigotry had been the most apparent three years earlier.
“That standing ovation, yeah, it just brought everything back to me,” Woods said. “I started out my freshman year to all the booing and criticism and catcalling and all the stuff like that in that section over there. They had a student section over there, and I don’t know if it was the same ones, but they gave me that standing ovation my last year there. That’s something I never will forget.”
Woods’ rejections were unforgettable for players such as Western Kentucky’s Clem Haskins, who was drafted No. 3 overall by Chicago, and ETSU 1,000-point scorer Mike Kretzer. In a 2011 interview for a book on Woods’ ETSU teammate, Harley “Skeeter” Swift, Haskins was all but incredulous while remembering Woods blocking his corner jump-shot.
“Terrible Tommy Woods,” Haskins said. “Tommy blocked one of my shots one day – this is a true story – the first time I ever played against him. In Diddle Arena I shot a jump-shot, and I shot from deep in the corner, and Tommy Woods was under the basket. My shot was about halfway to the goal and he caught that (SOB) and threw it in the stands. Never in my life, okay. … Man, I ain’t ever seen somebody jump as high as that guy.”
Kretzer was similarly awestruck by Woods’ introduction.
“Tommy was probably the best athlete I’ve ever seen in my life,” Kretzer said. “I mean he was ridiculous. I’d never seen anything like him.
“When I was a freshman, you know the older guys always want to see who’s any good. So you put your sneakers on – no coaches involved – for a pickup game. Everybody thinks they’re a hotshot coming from high school. I take a shot from the corner – Butch Woods was guarding me – and here comes Tommy. He didn’t block it, he caught it. He caught it at the top and coming down gives it to me and says ‘Here, rookie. Welcome to the big time.’
“I said ‘What in the hell am I getting into? Are you kdding me?’ And I’ve never seen anybody that strong. Tommy had knots in his forearms. Oh, he was unbelievable.”
Woods said he could get a half-dollar off the top of the backboard.
“I could get my elbow a little above the rim,” he said.
After his career at ETSU, Woods played for Gulf Oil in places such as Central America, the Caribbean and Sweden. But he played through a knee injury sustained during that stint, and it progressively worsened during what would be his only season with the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels.
Woods remained in Louisville and spent some 30 years in law enforcement. He played basketball competitively until he was 66.
He rejected bitterness for a full, happy life.
“That started from my mother and daddy,” Woods said. “They raised me to treat people like you want to be treated. But, my God, it was rough my freshman year. …
“Some of the guys said ‘I bet you know how Jackie Robinson felt’ and I said ‘No, but I damn sure know how Tommy Woods felt.’ “