Georgia Northwestern's men’s assistant basketball coach and former Bobcat player Matt Woods, along with school board member and supporter Robert Hitchcox, were inducted as the second-ever Athletic Hall of Fame class for Georgia Northwestern Technical College during the athletic department’s annual banquet Thursday night on the Gordon County campus.
Woods was on hand to receive the honor, while Walker County Schools Superintendent Damon Raines accepted on behalf of the late Hitchcox.
Woods, a 2005 graduate of Dade County High School, attended Kennesaw State before joining the army. He served as a member of the military police in Iraq in 2009 before returning home.
Back in northwest Georgia, he enrolled at Georgia Northwestern and tried out for the Bobcats’ basketball team, unaware of what the future would hold in store for him.
“This is a surprise, obviously,” he said. “This (honor) is never something you count on getting. The two guys (Matt Hill and Jeff King) that went in (to the Hall of Fame) last year were great guys and it’s an honor to be inducted with Mr. Hitchcox. I know he meant a lot to the school and Coach (David) Stephenson.
“This school has done so much for me and this is just one more thing that they’ve done for me to try and help make me a better person. I appreciate that they have this much faith in me to honor me this way.”
After playing for Stephenson for two years, Woods joined the staff as an assistant under Stephenson. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2014 and will attend Mayo Clinic in the fall to begin medical school.
“I’ve been really blessed,” he said. “Everything that could have possibly broken my way kind of has. There was no guarantee I was even going to make the team (at Georgia Northwestern) when I first tried out in 2010.”
Woods said he was very appreciative that Stephenson and the school stuck by him later that first season when his older brother, First Lieutenant Bobby Woods, was seriously wounded while on patrol in Afghanistan. Bobby Woods has since recovered from his injuries.
“Because of that, I had to miss some workouts and take some time away from the team, but Coach (Stephenson) always stuck by me,” he continued. “He always said my spot would be there when I was able to get back to school. Georgia Northwestern was the first time I really tried hard and did well in school and I was able to get my grades high enough to get into medical school.”
Stephenson fought back tears as he inducted Woods into the Hall and later as he spoke about the former Bobcat player.
“Matt just epitomizes what our program can be and should be for every one of our kids,” he said. “I hope one day my daughters are blessed enough to find and marry a guy like Matt Woods.”
Inducted posthumously, Hitchcox spent over 40 years with the Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Hitchcox’s family moved to north Georgia when he was three years old. A 1969 graduate of Chattanooga Valley High School, he later graduated from Chattanooga’s McKenzie College.
As a business development manager with Coca-Cola, Hitchcox became one of the area’s most selfless and tireless community champions.
In addition to serving on the boards of several other organizations, Hitchcox served on the board of Georgia Northwestern Technical College and the Georgia Northwestern Technical College Foundation, winning numerous awards for service over the years.
One of the biggest roles he played, however, was that of Santa Claus, growing out his beard each year to portray Saint Nick for children and others.
Following his passing on March 10 of this year after a two-month battle with an illness, Georgia Northwestern fittingly established a scholarship in his honor.
Stephenson called Hitchcox’s induction “a no-brainer”.
“The very first time I met him, he asked what he could do to help and said he could help with anything we needed,” he said. “More importantly, on days when I was frustrated or depressed about something, he would always be very encouraging and reassured me that everything would be ok.
“From a purely athletic standpoint, many of things we have and many things we give out to students and spectators at our games came from him. He was always so supportive of this school and he loved coming to this banquet every year. He will be really missed.”