There’s no shortage of talent in the Woods’ household. John Woods, Jr. played basketball for two seasons at the University of Missouri. His wife, Jerline, was also a star on the court in high school. And of the couple’s seven children, three of them are Bear athletes – football player Kassidy Woods, and the newest Bears in the Woods family: Kylen, also a football player, and women’s basketball player Kioncé. 

“For a while I was telling my siblings they should come up here and we could all be together,” Kassidy, 23, said. “Now that it has come to fruition, it’s amazing. I never thought this would happen.” 

The first to call UNC home, Kassidy arrived in 2019 as a wide receiver and last year led the team with an impressive 48 receptions for 483 yards and four touchdowns. This year he’ll be tackling more than just practice, games and classwork though. He’ll focus on being a role model and support system for his younger siblings who are new Bears this fall. 

“I’m not going to be an overly protective brother. College is the time you experience new things and meet new people, so it’s going to be cool just being around them and seeing them grow into themselves,” Kassidy said. 

His sister, Kioncé, 21, transferred from Coffeyville Community College in Kansas and is majoring in Sociology at UNC. After being away from her family for the last two years, she found that moving to Greeley gave her the sense of home she was longing for. 

“Kassidy played a big part in why I wanted to come here,” Kioncé said. “He was always encouraging me to come here.”

Living in the same city for the first time since they were teens growing up in Texas, Kioncé and Kassidy will have no problem reconnecting their close bond. The two are living in a house together on campus – with frequent visits from their 18-year-old younger brother, Kylen a Business Management major.

“I’m really excited to be on the same team as my brother,” Kylen said. “It’s going to push me to be better every day.”

Sharing his own success and skills with his siblings is something Kassidy is happy to do. 

“Ever since I’ve been in college, I would come home and teach Kylen things, and he would pick up on them so fast, so my expectation is for him to be better than me,” Kassidy said. “He is already ahead of me when I was a freshman so yeah, I stay on him just to be supportive.”

With two younger Woods siblings waiting in the wings (one is in high school and one in middle school), it’s not too far out of the realm of possibility that there could eventually be five Woods siblings who attend UNC.

Kassidy graduated last spring with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology but because the COVID-19 pandemic extended his eligibility for another two years, he’s working on his second bachelor’s, studying Philosophy.

As a student-athlete, Kassidy appreciates the generous scholarship support he’s received that has allowed him to focus on his studies. Recently, he was one of two student-athletes selected to receive the 2022 Berven Athletic Leadership Scholarship as a result of his role as a leader for fellow student-athletes – not only for his siblings, but also as the Big Sky Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) president, vice president of UNC’s chapter of SAAC and a collegiate rights activist.

“Having a big family instilled in me the importance of being selfless, caring for others, having patience, listening and showing genuine love to everyone.  I feel it’s my duty to continue to use my voice and platform to speak for current, future and past collegiate athletes to ensure safety, rights and compensation for our community,” he says.  

Former Bears football player Mark Berven ‘94 and his wife Tammy ‘94, felt a similar duty to pay it forward when they established the Berven Athletic Leadership Scholarship to recognize student-athlete leaders and support their college journeys.  

Kassidy deeply appreciates his scholarship, and he feels it will make a difference not only to him, but to his siblings and fellow athletes. 

“I’m grateful because (the scholarship) encourages me to tell my story that when athletes stay the course and see it all the way through the end, everything eventually will fall into place – as long as you honor your values, and for me personally, my faith,” explains Kassidy. “This also gives my younger siblings motivation that they can do the same because exposure to success and hard work allows others to see, excel and become even more successful.”