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OREM — The last shot is often the most difficult, but for Utah Valley's Trey Woodbury, his (likely) final shot in college basketball could've been epic.
The senior guard from Las Vegas who flirted with a triple double in the Wolverines' first-ever NIT semifinal heaved a last-second 3-point attempt from 70 feet — a shot put-style heave that wasn't particularly close but also not as far as one might expect that would've proven an incredible game-winner against Alabama-Birmingham.
Instead, Woodbury's shot fell short, he finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and the Wolverines dropped the final game of a historic 28-9 season to UAB 88-86 in overtime at Orleans Arena.
Just like that, Woodbury's time in college basketball — barring a medical waiver he's sought from the NCAA — came to a close, the winningest season in program history, a Western Athletic Conference regular-season title, and a rare postseason bid that had the Wolverines among the final eight teams playing college basketball and the last one to play on its home court.
But like he hasn't with any shots before, the 36% career 3-point shooter never doubted. No, not even on that unmet miracle hurl.
"Yeah, I thought I could hit it but it didn't go in, so I don't know," he stammered, before continuing, "I'm just proud of the guys, and like you said, to the buzzer, we thought we could win it and we just continued to fight, so I'm just proud of the guys for that.
"This is my favorite team I've ever played on," Woodbury added later. "These are my favorite guys I've ever played with. I'm just extremely grateful for these coaches and these players believing in me and giving me a chance to lead them this year, and it was an unbelievable season and run."
Trey Woodbury of @UVUmbb#NIT2023 | #NITMBBpic.twitter.com/xTtMRolLa5
— NITMBB (@NITMBB) March 28, 2023
In a season where Woodbury moved from the wing to combo guard to to point guard for long stretches of the season, he'll remember that final shot — and dozens more. But he'll mostly remember a Utah Valley squad that refused to quit, that always found a way to fight, even when — like they did against the Blazers — an 11-2 deficit to start left a hole too big a hole from which to reocver.
That fight? Those moments? The wild comebacks and insane game-winners? That's what college basketball is all about.
"For me it means everything," Woodbury said after the game. "Like I said, this is my favorite team I've ever played on. These are my favorite guys I've ever played with.
"I'm just extremely grateful for these coaches and these players believing in me and giving me a chance to lead them this year, and it was an unbelievable season and run."
In many ways, it was fitting that Woodbury's college career ended on that floor in Las Vegas, and not only as the site of the WAC Tournament that has proven the final end of too many Utah Valley programs that threatened with the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
It was that same Orleans Arena court that also held dozens of high school memories for the one-time UNLV transfer who starred at nearby Clark High School, located just 2.4 miles from the arena on the west side of the Strip.
When he recruited Woodbury from Sin City and out of the transfer portal, UVU coach Mark Madsen saw potential.
He saw a budding star who Madsen now ranks among the best athletes in Utah Valley history, in any sport. Regardless of where Woodbury actually stands on the Wolverines' all-time scoring list or other accolades, the scoring threat who often flirted with a triple double and avoids all social media left his mark on the program.
"To me, the game is all about the players," Madsen said. "The game is all about the players, and what you see with Trey Woodbury, the leadership, the lead by example, the vocal, the vocal aspect of his game — it has been an honor to coach him. It has been a huge impact on this season, on the university."
Along the way to 28 wins, Utah Valley set some notable marks: a road win over cross-county rival BYU, the second in program history; another road win at Oregon, the second-straight over a Pac-12 program; the WAC regular-season title that started with a rousing victory over fellow contender Sam Houston State; and of course, the 74-68 victory over Cincinnati in front of 5,289 fans at the UCCU Center in the NIT quarterfinals that sealed the season.
That run and that season may have woken up the sleepy fanbase of a commuter college just 15 years into its full Division I status that bills itself as the largest public institution in the state. More than 400 donors and alumni chartered to Las Vegas for Tuesday's semifinals, while around 300 students gathered at Lockhart Arena in Orem to hang on every shot, every foul call, and every interview from viral president Astrid Tuminez in front of an ESPN2 broadcast.
Of course, the next step of harnessing that energy moving forward may be the hardest. Like most low-major and one-bid conference teams, Utah Valley's success has also made it a target, and the program will launch a national search for its next head coach after Madsen accepted an offer to coach at Cal on Wednesday morning.
At Berkeley, Madsen would be tasked with turning around one of the most difficult jobs in high-major college basketball, a program with lax university support, mounting debt, and no basketball practice facility that just fired coach Mark Fox after a three-win campaign capped a 38-87 tenure. The Bears haven't won more than 14 games in six years, with just one NCAA Tournament bid since 2014.
Turnarounds happen in college basketball, and Madsen's use of the portal — which produced players like Aziz Bandaogo, Fardaws Aimaq, Connor Harding and Blaze Nield, in addition to Woodbury and others —could help mastermind a rapid rebuild.
If you can build a mini-dynasty in Orem — one that won 20-plus games in back-to-back seasons for the second time in school history — then success should follow with Power Six support, resources and facilities, right? That's the hope Madsen will be taking at Cal.
If anyone can do it, it's Madsen, a breathe of fresh air in college basketball both for his humble persona and his honesty.
Take it from UAB coach Andy Kennedy, who called Madsen regularly when Jordan Brinson transferred to UVU to be closer to his hometown of Inglewood, California. Madsen appreciated Kennedy candor, and Kennedy likewise enjoyed speaking with an honest coach unafraid to speak the truth.
"He's a good guy; genuinely I feel, a good guy," Kennedy said. "He's done a great job at Utah Valley and I just with wish him well with whatever's next."
