MILLS RIVER — An outstanding retired high school basketball coach has written a book about his experiences, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Rick Wood has written a book entitled “40 Seasons: The life of a high school basketball coach,” a memoir that chronicles his life in the sport.
Wood, 68, retired at West Henderson in 2006 with 662 career victories and a list of former players that includes Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter and a member of the 2009 national championship team at North Carolina (J.B. Tanner). Woods proudly points out that each player is listed in the appendix of “40 Seasons.”
“A couple years after I retired, I just started to think about how I’ve been blessed with so many experiences and so many outstanding players,” Wood said. “I just wanted to share some of my experiences with others who might want to read it.”
Wood said he put together the memoir with the assistance of “a ghost writer” in former Hendersonville Times News sports editor Ron Wagner. The two conducted about 15 interviews.
Wood grew up in Kinston, Ala., and coached Showalter at Century (Fla.). Before coming to West Henderson, he coached at Edneyville and Tuscola.
The book begins with Wood’s final game, a loss to Forest Hills in the 2006 Western Regional tournament in Winston-Salem. Wood announced his retirement during a postgame news conference at Joel Coliseum.
“We started this project in February of 2010. It was a long project, and a lot of work went into it. But the final product turned out pretty good,” said Wood.
The book is available for purchase online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Wood said there will be a book signing from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 26 at Henderson County Heritage Museum inside the Henderson County courthouse.
