With practices scheduled to begin Friday, one of the many questions hovering over the Tennessee Volunteers was the status of Memphis transfer center Dominic Woodson. Woodson played sparingly as a freshman at Memphis, ultimately leaving the program this summer and landing at Tennessee. The question: whether or not Woodson’s request for a run-off waiver that would result in immediate eligibility would be granted.
Thursday afternoon head coach Donnie Tyndall announced that the 6-foot-10 Woodson’s request was granted, meaning that he’s eligible to play in games this season for the Volunteers.
TYNDALL: Transfer forward Dominic Woodson has been ruled eligible to play this season.
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 2, 2014
The ability to use Woodson in games is a needed boost for a team that doesn’t have much in the way of size in its front court. Tennessee has just one other player as tall as Woodson, freshman Tariq Owens, and he’s listed as weighing just 205 pounds on the team’s official roster. But even with this good news for Tennessee, it should be noted that Tyndall maintained his stance that Woodson still has work to do in order to grab a spot in the rotation.
TYNDALL: Woodson still has progress to make to earn a spot in the rotation and contribute. He has made strides the past several weeks.
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) October 2, 2014
Woodson’s listed at 295 currently, and while he’s certainly made strides when it comes to his physique and stamina there’s still work to be done in the eyes of his head coach. Having already begun the process of working towards the goal set in front of him by Tyndall, knowing that he’ll be able to play this season should give Woodson an additional boost in the weeks leading up to the start of the season.
And if that occurs, the Volunteers will benefit from having a player of Woodson’s skill level on the court.