His father was a high school coach and athletics director in Carbondale, Ill., with a lot of Division I players in his program, so Chris Woolard grew up with basketball as a major part of his life.
That didn’t change when his father became associate athletics director at Washington State while Woolard was a high school freshman. Woolard was good enough that he started getting Division I recruiting pitches as a sophomore, only to suffer a torn anterior cruciate ligament that forced him to miss his junior season. One game into his senior season, he did the same thing, essentially ending his basketball career.
That didn’t stop basketball from being important to Woolard, UK’s new associate athletics director for basketball.
Because UCLA coach Jim Harrick and assistant coach Mark Gottfried had recruited him, they offered him a chance to transfer to UCLA when he was within one year of finishing his business degree and becoming part of the Bruins’ coaching staff.
He worked one year under Harrick and one under Steve Lavin before going to Murray State as director of basketball operations for Gottfried, the former Alabama coach who recently became the new coach at North Carolina State.
“His last year at Murray was my first year, but I stayed after he went to Alabama and really enjoyed my time at Murray,” Woolard said.
Due to a coaching change at Murray, Woolard lost his job and spent a year in private business in Dallas before getting a chance to join the Conference USA staff, where he got to know Kentucky coach John Calipari.
“He was great with so many ideas and was a great friend and mentor to all coaches coming into the league,” Woolard said.
He was at Conference USA for seven years before coming to Kentucky to fill the void left by Martin Newton’s departure to become athletics director at Samford. Woolard says he knew plenty about UK basketball long before Calipari and UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart contacted him about the job.
“I knew about Kentucky. I was a Kentucky fan growing up. We would see all the replays on TV, even in southern Illinois,” he said. “With Dad being a coach, we were always watching hoops. I got to Murray and we had great players and they all loved the Racers, but all the fans knew about the Wildcats.
“I knew Kentucky basketball was a religion in his state, and no matter where you go in the state, Kentucky dominates talk when it comes to basketball. Once Cal got here and I watched him, it was so easy to see the passion these fans have.
“I really respect and admire what Cal has done here and is doing. He understands his job is about more than coaching.”
Calipari also understands that getting Woolard not only helps him, but also adds to the mystique of what the coach calls the “Kentucky Effect” even more.
“He is a guy I have known for a long time. He did an unbelievable job with Conference USA. I thought about hiring him when I first got the job,” Calipari said. “When Martin became the athletic director at Samford, I called him and said, ‘Now the path is laid for you to come in here if you want to be commissioner of a league, athletic director or want to move within our structure.’ Mitch loves him to death because his dad is an AD (athletic director). So now he is in our structure.”
“It is unusual for a basketball program to be able to start moving guys into athletic directors’ positions. That’s what I call the ‘Kentucky Effect.’ That’s what happens here. Assistants become head coaches. Assistant athletic directors become athletic directors. It happens for the players and everybody associated with it.”
That didn’t change when his father became associate athletics director at Washington State while Woolard was a high school freshman. Woolard was good enough that he started getting Division I recruiting pitches as a sophomore, only to suffer a torn anterior cruciate ligament that forced him to miss his junior season. One game into his senior season, he did the same thing, essentially ending his basketball career.
That didn’t stop basketball from being important to Woolard, UK’s new associate athletics director for basketball.
Because UCLA coach Jim Harrick and assistant coach Mark Gottfried had recruited him, they offered him a chance to transfer to UCLA when he was within one year of finishing his business degree and becoming part of the Bruins’ coaching staff.
He worked one year under Harrick and one under Steve Lavin before going to Murray State as director of basketball operations for Gottfried, the former Alabama coach who recently became the new coach at North Carolina State.
“His last year at Murray was my first year, but I stayed after he went to Alabama and really enjoyed my time at Murray,” Woolard said.
Due to a coaching change at Murray, Woolard lost his job and spent a year in private business in Dallas before getting a chance to join the Conference USA staff, where he got to know Kentucky coach John Calipari.
“He was great with so many ideas and was a great friend and mentor to all coaches coming into the league,” Woolard said.
He was at Conference USA for seven years before coming to Kentucky to fill the void left by Martin Newton’s departure to become athletics director at Samford. Woolard says he knew plenty about UK basketball long before Calipari and UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart contacted him about the job.
“I knew about Kentucky. I was a Kentucky fan growing up. We would see all the replays on TV, even in southern Illinois,” he said. “With Dad being a coach, we were always watching hoops. I got to Murray and we had great players and they all loved the Racers, but all the fans knew about the Wildcats.
“I knew Kentucky basketball was a religion in his state, and no matter where you go in the state, Kentucky dominates talk when it comes to basketball. Once Cal got here and I watched him, it was so easy to see the passion these fans have.
“I really respect and admire what Cal has done here and is doing. He understands his job is about more than coaching.”
Calipari also understands that getting Woolard not only helps him, but also adds to the mystique of what the coach calls the “Kentucky Effect” even more.
“He is a guy I have known for a long time. He did an unbelievable job with Conference USA. I thought about hiring him when I first got the job,” Calipari said. “When Martin became the athletic director at Samford, I called him and said, ‘Now the path is laid for you to come in here if you want to be commissioner of a league, athletic director or want to move within our structure.’ Mitch loves him to death because his dad is an AD (athletic director). So now he is in our structure.”
“It is unusual for a basketball program to be able to start moving guys into athletic directors’ positions. That’s what I call the ‘Kentucky Effect.’ That’s what happens here. Assistants become head coaches. Assistant athletic directors become athletic directors. It happens for the players and everybody associated with it.”
