Pike OL Woods is well traveled

Offensive lineman Kody Woods started his prep career at a small school that did not get as much recruiting attention, but since he transferred to Indianapolis' Pike High School prior to his junior season, the 6-1, 310-pound prospect has started hearing from a number of Division 1 programs.

"All the schools that [have talked] about offering me say they want to see me at their camp this summer and that's when I'd be offered," Woods said. "[Ball State] told me they really think they are going to offer, they just want to wait until the day of the camp."

Woods is beginning to understand how important his summer camp tour will be and he's been researching which schools' camps he will attend.

"I'm going to go to the Ball State camp this summer, the Cincinnati camp, the Ohio State camp for both Ohio State and all the MAC schools go there," Woods said. "My coach believes any camp I go to that I've been invited to I'll get offered the day I'm there, so he tells me to choose these camps carefully."

When scholarship offers do start coming through for Woods, he should already have a strong foundation for evaluating those programs because he has been out visiting several programs in recent months.

"I've been to Cincinnati once and I'm going back next weekend," Woods said. "I've been to Western Kentucky several times, I've been to Ball State, I've been to Ohio and Louisville and this Saturday I am going to Michigan for their big spring game, so I've been taking plenty of visits.

"As far as facilities, it is hard to say which school looks better. I think Cincinnati really stood out to me, partly because I know guys that go there from Pike and I love the tempo there. I like Ball State, here in Indiana, how they talk about how much they want to beat Indiana and Purdue. That's kind of the attitude our high school has."

In January, Woods took his game down to the U.S. Army Junior Combine in San Antonio, Tex. That experience opened his eyes to the talent around the country that he will be running into on the recruiting trail.

"First of all, it showed me where I'm at," Woods said. "Being with all those athletes and guys talking about what schools they are looking at, it shows what kind of caliber of player I was working against and what caliber of players I was going against. It really let me know where I was at as a player."

As a junior, Woods played on both the offensive and defensive lines at Pike, earning all-conference accolades for his play. He could potentially play either side of the football in college as well, but is leaning towards offense.

"I feel like I am a better offensive lineman, but I feel I could be just as good on defense," Woods said. "A lot of schools are different and a lot of the MAC schools say the first thing I would do if I go there is practice both sides and I could choose from there. Other schools like Cincinnati tell me I would be a center. I would play wherever they would tell me to."