BIO: Woodberry played as a point guard, shooting guard and small forward.

Born in Wichita, Kansas he attended Wichita South High School.

He played on two state title team’s and was named Kansas Naismith Player of the Year as a senior in 1990.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Steve Woodberry made his NBL debut with the Gold Coast Rollers at 23 years of age. He scored 22 points in his first game.

By 1995 the Gold Coast Rollers had been struggling financially for some time. The team would lose a good chunk of its roster to various exits which included Andre LaFleur (quit), Mike Mitchell (Brisbane), Steve Key (knee injury), Matt Reece (Melbourne), Andrew Goodwin (Brisbane). Coach Dave Claxton was able to retain Peter Hill, Tony DeAmbrosis, John Szigeti and added Perth veteran Trevor Torrance, who had seen diminished playing oppourtunies over the past few seasons and replaced long time import duo Mike Mitchell and Andre LaFleur with Fred Herzog (Canberra) and Tony Massop.

Massop failed to live up to expectations and was cut prior to the season starting. The team replacing him with Kansas University product Steve Woodberry.

Woodberry averaged 24.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists before a severe knee injury ended his debut season after only 16 games. Woodberry returned to Kansas University for his rehabiliation and during the next 8 months underwent four knee surgeries.

The trio of Woodberry, Herzog (20 points per game) and Torrance (15.2 points) failed to deliver the success or excitement the ‘ Mitchell and LaFleur’ team’s had brought to the Carrara Indoor Stadium previously.

The Rollers roster, which was primarily made up of aging veterans and cheap state league talent struggled to say the least, and managed only five wins for the season.

BRISBANE BULLETS
1996
In 1996, the Brisbane Bullets re-loaded by adding veterans Mike McKay (via Adelaide) and Mark Dalton (via Sydney), as well star import Steve Woodberry (23.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists), who was coming off a major injury, led the team in scoring, and was selected to the All-NBL second team. McKay (17.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) was impressive during his first season in Brisbane while the legendary Loggins (16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) delivered his worst season ever, recording career lows in points, rebounds, assists and steals, prompting many to think he may retire at seasons end.

During a extremely tight season where Brisbane, Sydney, North Melbourne, South East Melbourne and Melbourne all tasted the league’s leadership at some point, the Bullets finished up in eighth place (14-12) under first-year head coach David Ingham. Loggins (16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) who averaged career lows in points, rebounds, assists and steals, prompting many to think he may retire at season’s end.

1997
Although many believed Leroy Loggins would retire after delivering the worst season of his career, he instead bounced back, returning to his previous form. With Loggins (21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) paired with Steve Woodberry (21.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.0 steals), who was named to the All-NBL third team, the Bullets finished in fifth place (15-15).

The 39-year-old would also drag the Bullets back into the playoffs, facing off against Perth (17-13) in the elimination finals. Brisbane would lose both games one (79-81) and game two (71-88), ending the season prematurely.

1998
After two first-round exits, Dave Ingham would be released and replaced with returning head coach Brian Kerle who had led the team to hampionship success in 1985 and 1987. Also during this time, the high cost of playing home games at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre (along with falling attendances) forced the Bullets to move to the smaller (4,000) capacity Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from the 1998 season.

Brisbane were led again by Steve Woodberry (26.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists) and a 40 year old Leroy Loggins (18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game), who, remarkably, was still starting for the team at small forward.

The Bullets also added CJ Bruton (15.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4 assists), fresh from playing college basketball in the USA. Together, the trio formed one of the league’s most effective perimeter attacks and finished the regular season in fourth place (16-14).

After four consecutive seasons of being eliminated during the first round of the playoffs, Brisbane defeated Melbourne in two straight games to move on to the semi finals.

South East Melbourne had destroyed most team’s during the season, losing only four games for the year. With Brisbane responsible for one of those defeats (a 81-76 win in round five) Bullets fans had reason to believe a upset was possible. The Magic wouldn’t let things fall that way, however, winning game one (98–106) and game two (90-84) in straight sets, ending the Bullets’ season.

1998/99
The Bullets made a number of moves during the off-season, signing import Thaddeus Delaney as a replacement for the departing Chuck Kornegay, and adding Ben Knight and Matthew Shanahan, who were both squeezed out of the Giants/Magic merger and Phil Doherty, who had left the Wildcat’s looking for more playing time.

Steve Woodberry (27.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 2.1 steals) delivered his best season and took home the 1999 NBL MVP in the process alongside Leroy Loggins (18.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.4 steals), still delivering at 41 years of age. Other than that, the Bullets roster was light on, to say the least. Delaney (11.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.1 blocks), while able to fill the box score, never delivered on his potential. Veteran Rodger Smith (6.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists) did what he could on defence, and 23-year-old Mark Nash (8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists) stepped up here, he could, but when that’s the production you’re getting out of your starting lineup, it was always going to require a big night from Woodberry/Loggins just to keep it competitive.

The team finished with a 13-13 record, finishing fifth and earning a qualifying finals matchup against the Melbourne Tigers, who eliminated Brisbane in two straight games.

It's just a game. have fun with it!! @SteveWoodberry @nblhistory @BrisbaneBullets @NBL pic.twitter.com/KzmWa1rPDG

— RANDOM HOOPS (@HoopsRandom) March 17, 2023

SYDNEY KINGS
1999/00
During the 2000 season, Woodberry averaged 7.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists and was a part of the Kings squad which finished in a seventh place with a record of 11-17.

Steve Woodberry played six seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Gold Coast Rollers, Brisbane Bullets and Sydney Kings. He averaged 24.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 143 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 46th in points per game.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (827 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.