Young Wood Fits Well With Las Positas Basketball Staff

Las Positas College assistant men’s basketball coach Spencer Wood is not all that much older than the Hawks players. In fact, during pregame warmups the past two seasons, fans often wondered if the athletic-looking Wood would be draining a few threes in the contest.

The 24-year-old Wood wears many hats in the program as Hawks social media ace, technology guru, gifted photographer, and a players’ coach who helps guys trust the process because the same process worked for him only a few years ago.

He played two seasons for the Hawks, including on the 2016-17 Las Positas team that won 22 games.

Head coach James Giacomazzi enjoys having Wood on the staff. The players do too.

“He can tell players, ‘I was there not long ago. Coach is going to challenge you. He wants what’s best for you, but he has your back.’ He knows that because I had his back,” Giacomazzi says.

Coaching is in Wood’s blood, it turns out.
“From when I was young, I always wanted to be a PE teacher and a coach,” says Wood, who was a team captain his senior season at California High in San Ramon.
After a knee injury ended his playing career at Simpson University in Redding early in his junior season, Wood was welcomed back into the Las Positas basketball family three years ago at age 21.

On his return, the new Hawks assistant found himself guiding some old teammates.

“I don’t know if I’d I really call it like I was a ‘coach,’ I was more like a mentor, I guess,” recalled Wood. “It was almost like a big brother-type thing because they know that I was in their shoes not that long ago, so it wasn’t a player-to-coach relationship, it was more personal. They knew they could relate to me a little more and they could ask me things that maybe they didn’t feel comfortable asking coach James and Coach Jordan (Whittenburg) who were a little older,” he continued.

Thanks to a steady stream of quality players and a unified coaching approach, Las Positas has averaged about 20 wins over the past three seasons.

Coach Wood has been a sponge for knowledge on a accomplished staff. Giacomazzi, for one, had an extensive playing career at Washington High, San Jose City and UC Riverside before amassing over 300 career victories at the community college level. Whittenburg has also coached at Northwest Christian University in Oregon, University High (San Francisco), and Cornerstone Christian (Antioch). He starred as a player at Berean Christian (Walnut Creek) and Los Medanos College and Northwest Christian.

What’s Wood learned so far?

“The list goes on forever,” Wood says. “A lot of work ethic. Coach James is one of the hardest working people I know. He’s taught me a lot. There’s a lot more that goes into a basketball program, especially with a junior college program, than most people think. It’s not just basketball either. Coach Giacomazzi is in the office from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., is a good day for him.”

Wood said Giacomazzi, also the Athletic Director, also has to focus on keeping players eligible and marketing the program. Sometimes his days stretch until midnight.

Wood’s path to coaching was expedited after he suffered a torn meniscus at Simpson University, followed by surgery a month later. Then six months into his rehab he re-injured his knee and had two more surgeries. And that was that.
“The doctor told me no more, no more basketball,” Wood recalled, “so after that I decided to not go back to the school. Obviously, I was talking to Coach (Giacomazzi) throughout all of it when it happened.”
As a high school player, Wood set the tone for his future by coaching at youth basketball camps. He also coached the Cal High freshman team after graduating before returning to playing at Las Positas.
Giacomazzi admires how Wood, with an unassuming nature, loves to play and compete. He calls him a worker and a grinder from a supportive family that attended Las Positas games even after Spencer stopped playing. The upcoming season was pushed back to the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Clearly Wood has many talents off the court.

“He’s in charge of all our computer stuff. He’s great at social media. Personable with the guys. He’s really gifted with photography; he has a great eye for it,” Giacomazzi says. “Whatever he chooses to do, I’m sure he’ll be successful at it.”