A community in North Carolina is mourning the death of a standout basketball player who died in a car accident over the weekend.
Southwest Guilford (High Point, N.C.) basketball player Dez Woods was killed Sunday morning when the car he was riding in struck several trees.
According to what Davidson County (N.C.) Highway Patrol Master Trooper Ned Moultry told WGHP, the 16-year-old Woods was a passenger in a car driven by Brandon Lamberth when the car went off the road to the right before veering to the left and hitting several trees in the median.
Lamberth, a freshman basketball player at Guilford College, was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center with serious injuries. He is charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and careless driving.
Speed is not believed to have been a factor.
According to what Southwest Guilford head coach Guy Shavers told the Greensboro News & Record, Woods was traveling back from a trip to Charlotte with friends after attending the Wake Forest-Florida State football game in Winston-Salem on Saturday.
As a sophomore last winter, Woods scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds and had a steal in Southwest Guilford’s 73-49 victory over Leesville Road (Raleigh, N.C.) in the Class 4A state championship game March 11. The 6-foot guard averaged 7.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
“That kid was special,” Shavers told the News & Record. “He was a different kid.”
A vigil was held in Woods’ honor on Tuesday.
Great turn out for my Man Dez Woods! Love you Dez
! #Legacy #4Dez #2 #SWCowboys #2017Champion pic.twitter.com/Xm30dKqhVW
— Antonio Threadgill (@CoachThread) October 4, 2017
! “He represented more than just basketball,” Woods’ former teammate, Southwest Guilford senior Jalen Snipes, said per the News & Record. “He had the strongest character and the heart of a million men put together. Dez would want us to be happy right now and feel love, not just in ourselves but in others as well. When you fall down and start thinking about him, look in your heart and remember the good times with him because that’s what he’d want you to do.”
Support for Woods, his family, and the Southwest Guilford community has poured in on social media.
Rest Easy D♥️🤞
, best lil bro anyone could ask for. Thank you for your friendship, and I'll continue to let you live through me. #LLDW♥️🤞
pic.twitter.com/Jkqw2ng1nv
— Mello
(@carter_jamell) October 3, 2017
(@carter_jamell) Rest In Peace Dez
forever in our hearts.
#2Forever
— Jaren Rainey (@Therealjarenray) October 1, 2017
forever in our hearts.RIP Dez heaven has gained a warrior! I’m a better father, coach, brother, and friend bc of you. Love you ❤️ #2
#Family #SWCowboys #
#myguy4ever #blessed2havecoachedu pic.twitter.com/fnZhlVJhT9
— Antonio Threadgill (@CoachThread) October 2, 2017
