Woodall, Hardnett Will Play At Keystone College

PLANT CITY - Channing Woodall and Steve Hardnett will not be going their separate ways after all.

Two big parts of Plant City High's success in boys basketball this season, Woodall and Hardnett are headed to play for the same college. They will attend Keystone College in La Plume, Pa.

Woodall and Hardnett, good friends off the court, committed two days apart last week. Neither signed a full athletic scholarship, but both are receiving financial grants.

"This is what I want year in and year out for our program," said Raider head coach Dale Chambers, who guided the senior-led team to the regional finals after Plant City had not been to the playoffs in 15 years. "We hope to give the seniors the chance to go to college."

In the case of Woodall, he will practically be getting a free ride thanks to seven scholarship awards: the U.S. Army Reserve National Scholar Athlete Award, scholarships from the Plant City High Boosters Club and Optimist Club, memorial scholarships named for Ray and Nancy Rollyson as well as Eloise Rice Robinson, the Suncoast Federal Credit Union award and the African-American Youth Male Achievers of Today and Leaders of Tomorrow award.

According to Woodall, who turned to Keystone after losing out on a scholarship at Limestone College in South Carolina, he should be able to start right away as a freshman.

"That was important to me, to play my first year. The coach said I could come in there and make an impact," said Woodall, referring to coach Jason Leone who just completed his first year at the school.

Leone needed a point guard and loved what he saw in tapes of Woodall. Chambers composed DVDs featuring highlights of the Raiders from last year's playoff games - and that approach helped Hardnett as well.

"He told me he was looking at Channing on the tapes, then as they watched the footage they all wondered about the big kid, Hardnett too. It wasn't a package deal to get both of them; it just worked out," Chambers said.

The Giants roster had one freshman from Florida and another player from Tennessee. Every other player is from the Northeast, so the inclusion of Woodall and Hardnett in Leone's first recruiting class is an obvious sign of how Leone regards their talent.

Last year, Keystone, which plays at the Division III level, finished 14-12 and made the regional playoffs.

Keystone fields a pretty full slate of athletic teams that cover all the major sports except football. The school had 1,750 students this year and features a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio.

The college is the oldest educational institution in northeast Pennsylvania, where it tends to get fairly cold in the winter months.

"Everybody keeps telling me to pack my winter coats," Woodall said.