Duane Woodward, a Queens, N.Y., native who has been successful as a collegiate coach and professional basketball player, has been named an assistant coach for the Seton Hall men’s basketball team, head coach Kevin Willard announced Monday. Woodward, who spent the last four years on the coaching staff at Monmouth, replaces Fred Hill, who is moving on to pursue new opportunities after five seasons working under Willard.
“Duane is a terrific addition to the Seton Hall family and our coaching staff,” Willard said. “He brings a great work ethic and knows how to recruit today’s student-athletes and then develop their skills. He is a proud New York native and his connections to the basketball scene in the New York-New Jersey area will help us continue to identify the area’s top talent and recruit them to our great University.
“We are happy for Coach Hill as he moves on to his next opportunity, and we wish him all the best,” Willard continued. “He was a valuable member of this staff for the last five years and an integral part of the success we have achieved in that span.”
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 1998 graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing.
