Jerry Woods
Former Mercer High and Westminster College basketball great Jerry Woods is this year's posthumous inductee to the Mercer County Hall of Fame.
An outstanding all-around athlete, he made his biggest mark in the hoop world. He began to reap honors in basketball at a young age, taking first place in the Mercer Optimists Tri-Star Basketball Shooting Contests when he was 12 and 13 years old. In junior high he won honors when he was named to all-tournament teams in various events.
He was named an All-Star at the Geneva Basketball Camp two years and was named camp MVP in 1977.
In 1977, as a sophomore he helped Mercer High team to the state semifinals, before they were eliminated. That same season he was named to th Plum Holiday Tournament All-Star team.
In 1977-78, he was Mercer's leading scorer and assists leader and was named to the YMCA All-Tournament team.
His senior year, 1978-79, he led Mercer in foul percentage, scoring, assists and interceptions. He was named first-team all-county. That season he scored 678 points, which currently is 12th best in county history. He averaged 24.2 points per game that campaign. In his best scoring output that season, he tallied 40 points against Hickory.
He also was a member of the cross-county team in high school.
Jerry moved on to an outstanding basketball career at Westminster College from 1979-83. In his freshman year, he was the leading free-throw percentage shooter on the Titans squad and finished fifth overall in scoring.
He was the best free-throw percentage shooter every season, 1979-82, and led the team in assists during the same period. He served as captain of the Titans from 1981-83 and led the school to the District 18 NAIA championship and a spot in the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City in 1981-82.
He later played basketball in the Greenville Recreation League and served on the Westminster Summer Basketball Camp staff from 1979-84.
A superb softball player, Jerry played in the Valley League as well as leagues in Grove City, Greenville and Mercer.
He won the ``Mercer Rotary Club Award'' in 1982 for outstanding basketball service at Mercer High and Westminster College.
Jerry's life was cut short by a tragic automobile accident in 1991.