ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — For the second time in as many offseasons, St. Bonaventure boss Mark Schmidt has had to fill an opening on his coaching staff.
In this instance, he’s replaced one St. Anthony’s product with another.
Tray Woodall, who starred at both the former New Jersey high school powerhouse and Division I Pittsburgh, has joined the Bonnies as an assistant, Schmidt announced Thursday. He replaces Dwayne Lee, who also played for legendary coach Bob Hurley Sr. and recently accepted a coaching position at Quinnipiac.
Woodall, 30, spent the last two seasons at Schmidt’s former school, Robert Morris, starting as the director of basketball operations before being promoted to assistant coach for the 2018-19 campaign. Before that, he spent one season as an assistant coach at Division II powerhouse Indiana University of Pennsylvania under former Bona aide Joe Lombardi.
Woodall made 75 starts (in 139 games) across five seasons at Pittsburgh, posting career averages of 8.0 points, 4.2 assists and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 41.6 percent from the field. A member of four NCAA Tournament teams, including the group that reached the Elite 8 in 2009, he totaled 1,108 career points, which currently ranks 37th in program history, 580 assists and 116 steals. He’s one of just seven players in Pitt annals with at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
Woodall, who was born in Brooklyn before moving to Paterson, N.J., graduated from Pittsburgh in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and a minor in communications. After his collegiate career, he played professionally in Turkey, Greece, Estonia and Mexico.
“We’re excited to welcome Tray into our program,” Schmidt said in a release. “He is a tremendous addition to our staff. The numbers he put up as a player with Pitt speak for themselves, and since his transition to coaching, he has been key to successful programs at both Robert Morris (where helped the Colonials to a mark of 18-17 and a win in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament) and IUP.
“He is a rising star in the coaching ranks and we couldn’t be happier to have him with us. He’s going to make a great impact on our players immediately.”
Woodall joins a Bona staff that includes Schmidt, now entering his 13th year with the Bonnies, which makes him the second-longest tenured coach in program history (behind Mike Reilly’s 15 years), 10th-year coach Steve Curran, second-year coach Sean Neal, and Matt Pappano, entering his 12th year as the director of operations.
Lee spent two years at Bona, helping the program to a mark of 44-24, including a school-year 26 wins and an NCAA Tournament victory over UCLA in 2018-19. Among the recruits he helped signed were Izaiah Brockington and incoming freshman Justin Winston.
