Trey Woodbury; What happened?
Ryland Whitaker
Trey Woodbury; UNLV commit for class of 2018
If you haven't been under a rock locally than you have heard of Trey Woodbury getting removed from the Clark HS program with 3 games left in his Senior season. Trey was a 3 & 4 star recruit depending on what site you checked his ranking. Trey had committed to UNLV in the early signing period. Coach Chad Beeten, the current Clark coach, was responsible for bringing Woodbury to the magnet program 4 years ago. So what happened?
Let me start by saying that only a handful of people know every fact.
In a day and age where kids are brought over to high schools with open enrollment, expectations have changed from when I was in school. Clark HS was a terrible basketball program ten years ago. Ten years before that it was fairly anonymous as well. You would have to go to the early 90's to find teams that were serious contenders. Chad Beeten came in and took over and made a huge change. After his first season they proceeded to win games right away and get it done. Within 3 years they were competing with the city's best teams. This was a miracle considering how bad they were.
In the Spring of 2014 Trey Woodbury registered with Clark and came over with friend James Bridges. They were both promising players for their age. Trey had an above average Freshmen season the following year and along with James Bridges they learned plenty from that Senior heavy team.
Trey was a promising young player when I first met him as a Sophomore at Clark. He could play the 1, 2 & 3 position in high school. He had a great mid-range pull-up, good layup game for finishing and above average 3 point shooting(this needed some work). He rebounded well and played great defense and had a motor to go all game. Some would argue he should have started as a Sophomore with how much of an impact player he was. He was the first guy off the bench and during their State title run he was the MVP in some eyes versus Desert Pines HS. After that promising season, Chad Beeten left for Crossroads High School in Southern California. The meeting where Coach Beeten gave the news was shocking. Players were caught off guard and didn't know what to think. Remember, Beeten was their leader, leaving the program was a big change. This would be like having Mark Few leaving Gonzaga.
The following season was coached by incoming coach Colin Darfour. Colin was the head coach at Mojave HS prior to this. He was known for up-tempo style and a player's coach. Colin appeared to mesh well with the kids right away. He let the kids play and push the tempo. Many players were adjusting to the new style but it wasn't difficult. Two major games occurred that season. Clark played Chino Hills and barely lost to them while they were the top ranked team in the country. Clark's second most famous game was the State Final game versus Bishop Gorman. They had a 8 point lead under 2 minutes and let it slip away to be runner's up. Tough loss for Clark but the Gorman team they faced had 3 division I players at the time and experience. The following year was going to be their year. Clark would be Junior and Senior heavy with a chip on their shoulder. Then something crazy took place that nobody expected at the school.
Spring of 2017 for Clark HS Basketball should have been status quo. They were runners up in State finals to Bishop Gorman and nearly took down the top ranked team in the country with Chino Hills. Here is where things got sketchy. Two weeks after the State finals game on a Friday evening it was announced that Colin Darfour was removed from his head coaching position at Clark. Exactly one year after the resignation of Chad Beeten they fired the new coach who got them to the State Finals. This was unorthodox news coming from people that night. It turns out it was fact and not fiction that they let Darfour go. When asked about the removal, Colin was confused and dumbfounded as to what happened. Nobody really knew what was going on. Two months go by and Chad Beeten was announced as the next coach.
The part we didn't detail was Chad resigned from Crossroads unexpectedly before their season had finished.
During this time, Trey had become a focal point of the team and a leader. Trey's stock was rising fast. He had a great junior season with Clark and his AAU season was filled with accolades and winning. He developed physically and became more aggressive on the court. College coaches took notice and as a result the offers started to roll in. Trey could do no wrong on the court following his Junior year at Clark. Things were going well for him.
Senior Season
Trey was on form to have a great senior year. He was listed on the Las Vegas Sun Super Seven article.
Super Seven Story
Things were going his way. Here is where things get dicey(details are not 100%). Trey comes late to a team dinner function before a game and comes late to a practice or two. He was suspended from the team for a week and missed 3 of their starting games of the season. Something is odd during the games he does play. He is used at 50-60% of the minutes each game and often has long sub durations. Things are not adding up. Both of his AAU teammates who had signed LOI's were playing significantly more minutes per game. Jamal Bey and Maka Ellis were on the floor nearly 95% of the time unless it was a blowout. The season itself was not going to plan. Clark had lost its first meeting with Gorman at the Tarkanian Classic. They also struggled during an East Coast trip after Christmas to lose 2 of 3 games in South Carolina. On paper they were doing well but this was their best team of talent ever for Clark HS. January 29th of 2018 right before Clark plays Gorman HS, Coach Beeten removes Trey from the team. Beeten cites a player/coach contract was broken. At the moment Clark is in second place in their division and still playing well overall. Coach Beeten wins championships so how this season ends up will be eventful in the coming weeks.
Why is this a shock? Most Division I signees cruise through their final year of school and their coach loves them. Seniors typically get free reign and have a fun filled last season. That was not the case here and it baffles people.
This was a big head scratcher. Trey was brought in by this coach but he left the program for greener pastures. He comes back in for several players' senior years including Trey Woodbury's final year. Trey didn't fight a teammate, take drugs or get arrested. It is clear that responsibility lies with Trey on the player contract that he broke however. That is a fact. However, did the punishment fit the crime? His initial problems he had to start the year would normally get him a loss of starting minutes or sit for a half. He was kicked off the team. It is possible that he was doing other things to cause problems but most sources don't point that way but who knows. This will be an enigma for the Clark vs. Bishop Gorman battle that was predicted to be Clark's year to win State. It was hyped as Jamal Bey vs. Trey Woodbury. We may never know the whole story. Trey may end up having a great college career and people will dismiss this but at the moment it is extremely odd.
Senior Season
Trey was on form to have a great senior year. He was listed on the Las Vegas Sun Super Seven article.
Super Seven Story
Things were going his way. Here is where things get dicey(details are not 100%). Trey comes late to a team dinner function before a game and comes late to a practice or two. He was suspended from the team for a week and missed 3 of their starting games of the season. Something is odd during the games he does play. He is used at 50-60% of the minutes each game and often has long sub durations. Things are not adding up. Both of his AAU teammates who had signed LOI's were playing significantly more minutes per game. Jamal Bey and Maka Ellis were on the floor nearly 95% of the time unless it was a blowout. The season itself was not going to plan. Clark had lost its first meeting with Gorman at the Tarkanian Classic. They also struggled during an East Coast trip after Christmas to lose 2 of 3 games in South Carolina. On paper they were doing well but this was their best team of talent ever for Clark HS. January 29th of 2018 right before Clark plays Gorman HS, Coach Beeten removes Trey from the team. Beeten cites a player/coach contract was broken. At the moment Clark is in second place in their division and still playing well overall. Coach Beeten wins championships so how this season ends up will be eventful in the coming weeks.
Why is this a shock? Most Division I signees cruise through their final year of school and their coach loves them. Seniors typically get free reign and have a fun filled last season. That was not the case here and it baffles people.
This was a big head scratcher. Trey was brought in by this coach but he left the program for greener pastures. He comes back in for several players' senior years including Trey Woodbury's final year. Trey didn't fight a teammate, take drugs or get arrested. It is clear that responsibility lies with Trey on the player contract that he broke however. That is a fact. However, did the punishment fit the crime? His initial problems he had to start the year would normally get him a loss of starting minutes or sit for a half. He was kicked off the team. It is possible that he was doing other things to cause problems but most sources don't point that way but who knows. This will be an enigma for the Clark vs. Bishop Gorman battle that was predicted to be Clark's year to win State. It was hyped as Jamal Bey vs. Trey Woodbury. We may never know the whole story. Trey may end up having a great college career and people will dismiss this but at the moment it is extremely odd.
