Inside look at ‘Portal Combat’ with UNCW coach Nicole Woods
Seahawk head coach and her staff brought in some serious star power in her second year. Hear the recruits' stories about how it happened.
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – It’s no secret the UNCW Women’s basketball program has struggled in recent years. But there’s reason to think that will change.
This year’s Seahawk squad has as much star power as the program has ever had. Nine new players arrived in Wilmington for this season, some with McDonalds All-American nods, multiple stars in their recruiting profile, and even postseason individual hardware from the CAA.
The new-look Seahawks has UNCW Women’s basketball head coach Nicole Woods and her and the team thinking big goals: “My goal this year for us to have the number one turn around in the country.”
Woods is known for her recruiting, dating back to her time as an assistant coach at UNC Charlotte. Her saying is that ‘relationships are her superpower’ and it is evident. 2024 was her first full offseason in the Port City, and she took full advantage of the Portal City.
“We call it Portal Combat,” said Woods, referring to the classic sparring videogame Mortal Combat. In January, right as the 2023 season ended, she tasked her staff with signing five transfer players.
How did she galvanize her staff get it done? She says it was some good old incentivization: “I said ‘If we do what we need to do and have all of them signed by the end of April, you can have the entire month of May off.’ I think that’s what did it.”
“I learned early on as a person that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
As much as she credits her staff for the influx of talent, every new player WWAY spoke with at media day cannot help but gush about their conversations with Woods.
ALI ZELAYA, UNC TRANSFER:
“She’s human. It was so refreshing to finally meet a human being that also happens to be a head coach. Our connection wasn’t built upon her recruiting me, it was built upon her wanting to get to know more about me. I think the best way to say it is she just cares. She seems like she is real tough and firm because she has such good posture, poise and pose… I think that’s something I can learn from. She just carries herself in such a way… how do you not want to be around that kind of energy?
KATE HOLLIFIELD, BELMONT TRANSFER
“She’s awesome. As soon as I entered the portal, she was the first person who contacted me. I’ve always had such a great relationship with her, and it has always felt genuine. I remember on my visit she gave me a note that said, ‘Go where you are celebrated, not tolerated’ and it stuck with me and she made it feel like home and has always made me feel so welcomed.”
JANIA HALL, MONMOUTH TRANSFER
“Immediately I could feel how loving she is. She is a great person and easy to connect with. I felt connection with her almost instantly. I remember our first phone call… it took me a little to get off the phone. I kept asking her if she had more time to speak. Honestly I didn’t get that connection with anybody else.”
