By Palmer Johnson
Long Island grad transfer guard Tre Wood has committed to playing for Tony Skinn and Mason. This name may sound familiar to some fans, as Tre Wood was a Mason target but ultimately committed to UMass coming out of high school.
George Mason has received a commitment from transfer guard Tre Wood. The 6’1 Largo, MD native avg 7.6ppg & 4.3apg last season. He spent the previous 4 years at LIU after beginning his career at UMass. Played for Coach Lamar Butler at @SJCBoysHoops. 1 year remaining.@Tre_Snoo pic.twitter.com/qtFyCqPTdj
— George Mason Recruiting (@GMURecruiting) June 2, 2023
The trend of Skinn bringing DMV players back to the area continues, with Wood’s hometown being Largo, Maryland. He went to St. John’s College High School in DC and was the 5th best player from the district in his class according to 247Sports.
The Maryland native went to UMass for his first season, transferred out under the old rules, had to sit out for a season, and then played for three seasons at Long Island. This season will be his last year of eligibility.
In the 2022-23 season, Wood started nine out of twenty games. He averaged 7.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals on 40% shooting from the field and 33.3% from three while hitting 79.3% of his free throws.
Something I noticed Tre does somewhat frequently is that he will step a foot or two inside the three-point line and then take a shot. I think if he can replace his long twos for threes, his overall efficiency will go up. In his last season, he averaged .844 points per shot on twos and 1 point per shot on threes. Cutting down on shots between the three-point line and free throw line would likely increase his points per shot on twos.
Ever since the former UMass guard went to Long Island, his shooting splits have increased every season. His FG% has increased by 10.9% from his redshirt sophomore to his redshirt senior season along with his three-point percentage increasing by 28.5%.
In the past, free throws were a problem for Tre. He shot 48.9% from the line during his first two seasons. This is concerningly low, since free throw percentage generally correlates with three-point shooting potential. Luckily for Mason, it seems like he really worked on this and made sure it wasn’t a problem anymore. In the last two seasons, he has shot 68.2% from the free throw line. While there is definitely room for improvement, this is a huge step up from hitting under half of them.
Wood’s biggest strength is his suddenness and speed. While the transfer may be 6’1, he moves much faster than a normal A10 guard of that size. If he doesn’t have a particularly quick defender on him, he is easily blowing past his opponent and giving himself or a teammate an open shot.
It is worth mentioning that Tre was on the NEC Academic Honor Roll in the winter of 2022-23. Doing well in school means that he is good at learning new concepts, which will be important when he comes into a new system and needs to learn it quickly. It also shows he works hard on and off the court.
Wood is the bench scoring guard that this team was missing. I could see him playing a similar role to Jamal Hartwell during the Paulsen era but with more offense facilitation.
