Story Courtesy Tom Perpetua, Louisiana Associate Director of Athletics Communications
The Louisiana men’s basketball team announced the hiring of Giovonne Woods as assistant coach under first-year head coach Quannas White. Woods joins the bench along with assistants Donald Reyes, Scott Raines, and Josh White.
Woods comes to Louisiana after spending last season at Florida A&M. The Rattlers went 10-8 in the SWAC and reached the conference quarterfinals in his lone season in Tallahassee.
He joined the Rattlers after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach and head of player development at Montverde Academy. Montverde finished 2024 ranked as the number one team in the nation, going 33-0 with a lineup that featured Cooper Flagg, Derik Queen, Robert Wright III, Asa Newell, and Liam McNeeley, who all started games in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Woods was part of two National Championships at Montverde (2022, 2024). He also served as the head coach of the post-grad team from 2022-2024, having a 56-22 record, and won the Central Division Title in 2023.
Before Montverde Academy, Woods was a graduate assistant at the University of Washington during the 2020-2021 COVID season, where he was involved in player development, video, and scouting. Before Washington, Woods served as the interim head coach for Lanse Cruese High School in Harrison Township, Michigan.
Woods was born in Detroit, Michigan, but relocated to Lacey, Washington. Woods graduated from River Ridge High School in 2004 as a four-year varsity player in football and basketball. Woods was part of the 1000-point club and named All-Conference, All-Area, and All-State as a senior in both sports. Woods went on to attend The Evergreen State College before transferring to San Jose City College and finishing his career at Central Washington University from 2006-09. While at CWU, Woods’ senior season, his team was ranked in the top 15 in the country and competed in the Division II National Tournament.
After college, Woods played professionally for ten years overseas in Austria, Spain, Croatia, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, Mexico, Iraq, and Tunisia before retiring in 2020.
Woods earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 2009 from Central Washington and his Master’s degree in 2021 at the University of Washington.
