1980s basketball player turned A-E assistant opens up about her legendary high school career

Rhonda Woodruff played for Rule High school in 1984.

special to the News Sentinel Rhonda Woodruff makes a strong post move to the goal in a game against Hiwassee College circa 1985.

Editor's note: In honor of the 40th anniversary of Title IX, this summer we are profiling women athletes who have trained or competed in the Knoxville area.

Students at Austin-East High School know Rhonda Woodruff as Ms. Woodruff, the elegant, friendly lady who serves as executive administrative assistant to Principal Benny Perry. Or maybe as Coach Woodruff, assistant to Lady Roadrunners head basketball Coach Vanetta Robinson-Kelso.

But none of them know her — except maybe through rumor, the stuff of whispered classroom legend — as the undersized post player who struck fear in the hearts of opponents around Knoxville high school basketball courts in the early- to mid-1980s. That was before moving on to a stellar career as junior college All-American, as well, and what might have been an equally impressive D-1 career.

"I was the bomb," Woodruff says with a self-aware chuckle, seated in her office adjacent to the principal's. "Yeah, and I knew it, too. It was a situation where everyone recognizes you and knows your name and you know you're the girl to stop. It was a great feeling.

"Even today, I see some of the females I played against, and they're like, 'Yeah, when I saw you, I knew I was in for it.' I was hardcore about basketball. As someone once told me, I was a beast."

Though she's still trim, and younger in appearance than the math would seem to allow, Woodruff certainly doesn't seem like a beast today, amiable and well-spoken and nicely-dressed, accommodating. She stands today as a testament to the value of hard work and determination — especially when those virtues combine with a healthy dose of natural ability — and to the significance of Title IV, the landmark provision of the Education Amendments of 1972, which guaranteed equal educational and athletic opportunities for women at institutions receiving federal funding.

A Knoxville native, Woodruff says she didn't play sports until eighth grade when her science teacher — also the girl's basketball coach — encouraged her to try out for the squad. "He saw something I didn't even know, in this tall, lanky girl," she says. "I wanted to be a cheerleader. But once I started, I liked it. It really was an adventure, something I never considered."

Woodruff's skills developed quickly. The following year, her freshman season at the old Rule High School between Lonsdale and Western Heights, she was an immediate contributor to the varsity squad. And she improved with each passing season.

"I saw so much improvement each year," she says. "It was a personal goal of mine because after realizing that college was a possibility and that I could have it paid for, that just made me intensify my game. Every game became a college recruit night for me. I was all in."

Her senior year, 1983-84, Woodruff was recognized as the Knoxville Interscholastic League girl's player of the year, averaging more than 20 points a game for the season and something close to double-figures in rebounds, as she recalls. This, despite playing low post at a relatively short 5 feet, 9 inches tall, regularly going against opposing players who were 6 feet tall.

Though her relative lack of size didn't hurt her on the court, it probably did hurt come recruiting time. Despite her stellar high school career and accolades, most of the schools that came calling were smaller ones. She was also a four-year letterman in track as a sprinter, high-jumper and shot-putter, so she received track scholarships offers, as well.

But basketball was her true love. And she chose to accept a full scholarship at Walters State Community College in Morristown (a program with a still-young women's program), where she majored in elementary education.

"It was great, the best decision I could have made for myself at the time," she says. "My career soared. It was a great foundation to continue to develop my game."

While earning her two-year degree, Woodruff went on to second-team junior college All-American honors her sophomore year, 1986, averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, while shooting an uncanny 60 percent from the field.

She led the team to its best finish to that point, the regional finals, where it nearly won and advanced to the nationals when Coach Dave Kragel moved his best player — Woodruff — from post to point guard. Woodruff proceeded to steal the ball and score on consecutive possessions, leading the Walters State Lady Senators from behind to take the lead, until a late foul by a teammate gave the other team the win at the free-throw line with no time left on the clock.

"That was crushing, pivotal," Woodruff says, still capable of getting lost in the moment, 26 years later. "But they would ask coach what position I played, and he's say, 'One through five because I could play any one of them."

Woodruff's success at the junior college level brought more interest from division one schools, even some interest from the University of Tennessee. She was leaning toward accepting a scholarship offer from New Orleans, and to continue her playing career, when she became pregnant.

"I decided it was my responsibility to be a mother to my child, as opposed to leaving him in my mother and stepfather's care," Woodruff says. "My parents always put us first, and instilled that mentality in me. Sometimes being a responsible adult means putting yourself last. But I have no regrets."

While raising her son Terry Heidt, now 25, and later, her second son, Jeffery Dean Simpson Jr., 20, Woodruff worked eight years in security at Oak Ridge's K-25, before lay-offs put her out of a job. Then she put her experience in elementary education to work for the first time, opening her own daycare business, which she operated until both boys graduated from high school.

At that point, she says she wanted to reenter the work force; she closed her daycare and took a job with Knox County Schools. Upon taking the job with A-E two years ago, however, it suddenly dawned on her that she was now working for "the enemy."

"Rule and A-E were very big rivals," she laughs. "Sometimes things come full circle. I didn't think about it until I got the job, then it hit me. What will my old schoolmates think? But I really enjoy my job. I enjoy knowing that what I have to offer is used on a daily basis personally, professionally and athletically."

On the subject of Title IX, Woodruff says the provision has opened doors for female athletes like herself, in more ways than one. "When it passed, it really triggered coaches to think about girls more in terms of recruiting and building their programs," she says. "We've made great strides, but there's still a gap to be bridged. Women's programs still tend not to get as much support."