Duane Woodward enters his third season at Rhode Island for the 2024-25 season. He was named as an assistant coach by Archie Miller in April of 2022.
A Queens, N.Y., native who has been successful as a collegiate coach and professional basketball player, Woodward came to Rhode Island after four seasons as an assistant coach for Kevin Willard at Seton Hall. Woodward helped the Pirates go 76-47 during his time there, making the NCAA Championship field twice in three possible chances, doing so in 2019 and 2022. The 2019-20 squad finished third in the Big East and was in line for a bid before COVID caused the postseason to be canceled.
Woodward worked with the guards and wings and was a recruiter for the Pirates. He was the primary recruiter for 6-5 shooting guard Jaquan Sanders, who chose Seton Hall over the likes of Pitt, Connecticut, Creighton and St. John’s. In his first campaign with Seton Hall, Woodward helped The Hall to a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, which tied a program record. Working with the team's wings, Woodward helped develop Myles Cale in his sophomore campaign to become the team's second-leading scorer.
Woodward's impact was felt even more in his second year of 2019-20, when he assisted Willard in leading The Hall to one of the program's best-ever seasons, which included a 21-9 record, a national ranking as high as No. 8 and a share of the BIG EAST regular season championship, the program's first since 1993. Woodward's work with wing Jared Rhoden was evident as Rhoden made a huge jump in his sophomore year to lead the team in rebounding and finish fourth in the BIG EAST in conference-only three-point shooting.
In his third season, Woodward continued to work with Rhoden, who increased his scoring average by six points per game and earned first-team All-Met honors and was named to the BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team.
Woodward had a successful four-year run at Monmouth as an assistant coach, helping the Hawks to two of the program’s most successful seasons ever that resulted in MAAC regular season championships. In 2015-16, Monmouth went 28-8 with wins over UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Rutgers, earned an automatic bid into the NIT and advanced to the tournament’s second round. In 2016-17, the Hawks went 27-7 and again earned an NIT auto bid.
Woodward was a major factor in recruiting, scouting and player development at Monmouth. Primarily working with the guards, he helped develop Micah Seaborn into the 2016 MAAC Rookie of the Year and then into an All-MAAC first teamer in 2017. Woodward also had a hand in developing two-time MAAC Player of the Year and Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention Justin Robinson, one of only two 2,000-point scorers in Monmouth history. And Woodward played a role in helping Deion Hammond to a unanimous selection to the MAAC All-Rookie team in 2018.
Woodward got his collegiate coaching start with stints at SUNY Maritime (assistant coach, 2012-13), Queens College (assistant coach, 2013) and Fordham (assistant video coordinator, 2013-14). He also had tremendous success as an AAU coach with the New York Panthers for five years, serving as the head coach of the 16U juniors and assistant coach of the 17U seniors, alongside the program’s director Gary Charles.
Woodward had a long and successful playing career in Europe over the course of 13 years, playing in 10 different countries. During his tenure in the Cyprus League for AEL Limassol, Woodward helped lead AEL to back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004 and was named Eurobasket.com All-Cyprus League Player of the Year and All-Cyprus League First Team, as well as the 2004 Eurobasket.com All-FIBA EuropeLeague Player of the Year. Woodward was also named to the 2008 Eurobasket.com Cyprus League All-Imports Team, and was a two-time All Star during his tenure in Europe.
Woodward is no stranger to the BIG EAST Conference, having played his collegiate ball at Boston College from 1994-98. Woodward was a four-year starter for the Eagles and helped the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and first-round wins from 1996-97. In ’97, Woodward and the Eagles won a share of the BIG EAST regular season championship and then went on to win the BIG EAST Tournament title. Woodward was named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament team after posting 13 points and seven assists in the title game win over Villanova. He capped his collegiate career by earning second-team All-BIG EAST honors in 1998, when he averaged 15.6 points, 5.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.
Woodward is a member of Coaches For Action, which brought together 21 BIG EAST assistant men's basketball coaches together on a shared mission to use the platform of athletics to educate and bring awareness to social injustices.Â
He is a 1998 graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing.
updated 6/4/2024
