NCCU professor heading to wheelchair basketball hall of fame after life brings detour

A North Carolina Central University professor will soon be inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame.

As a college student in Texas, Andrea Woodson-Smith had the desire and physical stature to play women’s basketball, however a disability forced her to play the game sitting down. That is, in a wheelchair equipped for competitive wheelchair basketball.

It’s a game she took on as a mission to expand the sport around the world and here at home. Early on, it was her dream to compete in women’s basketball.

That is, until arthritis in both hips grew worse.

One of her professors offered hope, "And she said, of course, well she’s eligible to play wheelchair basketball." T

hat inspired Woodson-Smith to start training in the sport for Team USA.

"That just brought back that energy that I lost when basketball was taken away from me and so, to have that back into my life was just incredible," she said.

Eventually, her arthritic issues forced another change in her plans. She noticed that men dominated the sport and that women had fewer opportunities. They were also paid less.

So she assisted the NWBA (National Wheelchair Basketball Association) with grants. "That grant allowed the opportunity for individuals know that there were no financial barriers for them," said Woodson-Smith.

She worked for the US Department of State in their "sports envoy program" which took her around the world providing opportunities to include more girls and women in the sport.

Woodson-Smith continues her role at NC Central’s interim chair of the department of kinesiology and recreation administration. It's part of her long legacy of service.

She said, "The path was already laid for me. All I had to do was follow it, and it took me to places that I never dreamed of going. I never dreamed of leaving the United States. I never would’ve dreamed that this would have been my life and it’s been beautiful."

On April 13, Woodson-Smith will be joined by her husband and children as she is inducted into the NWBA Hall of Fame in Richmond, Virginia.