Family of late Colgate professor moved by ‘surreal’ Kentucky matchup in his honor: “I wish he could be here in person.”

Colgate men’s basketball head coach Matt Langel had been trying for years to schedule a game against the Kentucky Wildcats. But not because he wanted an opportunity to take down the mighty Wildcats in Rupp Arena (although that was likely part of the reasoning).

Langel wanted to schedule the matchup as a special favor to one of his good friends Ephraim Woods, who passed away in Feb. 2023 after a battle with brain cancer.

Woods was born in Ashland, KY, and raised on Kentucky basketball. He played high school ball at Russell before attending Transylvania in Lexington. He later became a chemistry professor at Colgate starting in 2002, bringing his love for basketball along with him. Woods served as the Raiders’ men’s basketball faculty liaison and became incredibly close with the players and staff over the years, sending encouraging messages after losses and being a constant, uplifting figure during practices. He was even on the committee that hired Langel.

But Woods always bled blue and white.

A Kentucky-Colgate matchup finally happened on Wednesday night in Lexington. The new Kentucky staff reached out in the offseason and asked Colgate to make it work. A game was quickly scheduled. Despite a hot start from the ‘Cats, it was just a two-point game at halftime and only an 11-point win for the home team.

“It was something that Coach Langel really wanted to do for my husband because he and Ephraim were great friends,” Kerri Woods, Ephraim’s wife who is a graduate of UK pharmacy school, told KSR ahead of the game. “He wanted to do this for Ephraim and it’s a special thing for him. I know he’s been trying for quite some time even before his passing. Coach Langel wanted to make this happen.”

Professor Ephraim Woods loved two basketball teams: Kentucky and @ColgateMBB.

Tomorrow Colgate will take on Kentucky in honor of their late faculty liaison with his family in attendance. https://t.co/GVBKrgDNQb pic.twitter.com/Hv90kpEigI

— Colgate University (@colgateuniv) December 11, 2024

Members of the Woods family and a few of his close friends from college all made the trip to Lexington with the rest of the Colgate team.

“This is surreal to me, to be here,” Brian Froedge, one of Woods’ three close friends who were in attendance, told KSR. “This game in honor of (Ephraim), it’s very odd, but wonderful at the time same time. Basketball is something that I think bonded us. It’s an awesome night.”

Froedge, along with fellow Transylvania alums Ben Mackey and Mark Detherage, all kept up with Woods over the years through basketball (with some Star Wars talk mixed in there, too). The four of them have a group text that goes back 15 years, primarily dedicated to discussing the Wildcats, a team they all cheered for while growing up in the Bluegrass and beyond.

“We’ve been group texting about Kentucky basketball, every game for probably 15 years or so,” Mackey told KSR. “Something like that. The four of us. Every game we’d sit down and group text and give our opinions, get mad, get happy.”

They all consider themselves big fans, but none were more dedicated to cheering on Kentucky than Woods.

“He could be a coach. He had the knowledge of basketball to be a coach,” Mackey said. “In our group text, we would all get mad and spouting hyperbole. He would be like the calm voice of reason. Although his family just told us sometimes he was throwing his remote while he was doing that.”

In particular, they remember being together for the infamous Christian Laettner shot that pushed Duke past Kentucky in the 1992 Elite 8. That’s when the bond truly began as students at Transy. But they also remember the joy that was shared after the ‘Cats won the 2012 national championship. Through the highs and the lows, they always stuck with their team.

Sadly, Woods was never able to see his two favorite programs go head-to-head. But his memory lives on through his love for both. Wednesday night’s game was held specifically in his honor. Woods’ family and friends couldn’t find the words to describe what he would have felt if he had been able to watch from the stands.

“It would have been unreal, that’s for sure,” Woods’ son, Aidan, said. “It’s hard for me to imagine how he would have felt. I wish he could be here in person.”

Everyone was torn when trying to decide which team Woods would cheer for. He was born a Kentucky fan but grew to love his basketball family at Colgate just as much over the last 20 years. Perhaps he wouldn’t have leaned one way or the other though. This game was a clash between his two favorite worlds — whichever side came out as the victor didn’t ultimately matter.

“He would cheer for good basketball,” Detherage said.