DENTON (8/24/05) -- North Texas head men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones has announced that the Mean Green has issued its final scholarship of the season as it signed Lawrence, Kansas, native and Arizona State transfer Keith Wooden.
Out of Free State High School, Wooden originally signed with Arizona State as one of the top 100 national high school players according to several publications and websites, including Basketball Times, Athlon’s, CBS Sportsline and HoopScoop. The 6-9, 245-pound forward will have to sit out the 2005-06 season due to NCAA transferring rules, but will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Mean Green.
"We are excited about the addition of Keith to our basketball program," said Jones. "This will give us a big boost in our recruiting efforts for next season and make our practices more competitive this year."
Wooden, one of 19 freshman named "All-Midwest" by Street & Smith’s in its 2003-04 preseason issue and named by Clark Francis as the No. 29 power forward in Basketball Times the same year, was expected to make and immediate impact with the Sun Devils and did just that. He actually started his first ever collegiate game and eight more as a freshman. The tall and athletic forward averaged 3.3 points with a .540 shooting percentage (34-63), but averaged 9.5 points and 20 minutes in a four-game stretch in late January of 2004. For the entire season, he played in 24 games and averaged 9.4 minutes per outing. Among his top games as a freshman were a 12-point, seven-board outing against Oregon State and a season-high 13 points against USC.
As a sophomore, Wooden saw limited action but still contributed with 7.9 minutes of playing time in his appearances. He scored a season-high eight points against Jackson State and registered points in all but two games that he played.
The versatile Wooden, who can play forward or center, had an outstanding high school career that saw him earn four varsity letters and represent Free State High School as the basketball team captain for two years. He was a two-time all-state selection and an All-Sunflower league selection three years.
Wooden posted impressive high school numbers, averaging 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists as a senior and 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks his junior campaign. He set the school record for rebounds, blocks and points in a season and a career while he was with Free State High School.
For his efforts, Wooden finished his senior year ranked No. 54 by Prep Stars in the March issue of Basketball Times. He was also ranked No. 89 in the final CBS SportsLine recruiting rankings, No. 92 in Athlons’s top-100 college freshman and among the top 50 high school players by HoopScoop. Wooden was a top-100 pick for the McDonald’s All-American game as well.
