Colgate Honoring Memory of Late Professor & Kentucky Native

Ephraim Woods, second from left, is an Ashland native and life-long fan who was a professor at Colgate before his death in 2023. His son, Aidan, said the family went to several UK games together and will be back in Rupp Arena tonight for the game honoring his father’s memory.

They will be sitting in the Colgate section at Rupp Arena tonight but if Kentucky wins, one family is still going to be smiling.

The family of Ashland native Ephraim Woods accompanied the Colgate basketball team on the trip to play No. 5 Kentucky in honor of the late Colgate chemistry professor and men’s basketball faculty liaison who passed away on Feb. 13, 2023 following a battle with brain cancer.

Woods was a life-long Kentucky fan but also developed a passion for Colgate basketball after he became a professor there in 2002.

“He left Ashland to attend Transylvania and then went to graduate school in Wisconsin,” said Aidan Woods, 23. “He did research for four years at North Carolina and then when I was 1-year-old we moved to New York.

“Dad grew up loving UK. We started going to Colgate games and in 2011 he had a chance to become the faculty liaison. He became close friends with the coaches and got to know the players. I am sure he probably told a few of them he was a Kentucky fan.”

Colgate coach Matt Langel certainly knew about Ephraim Woods’ love for Kentucky basketball and worked to schedule a game with the Wildcats. This year it finally worked out for the teams to play.

“Coach Langel befriended my dad and really wanted to arrange this game to honor him. Coach did it purposefully for my dad’s sake,” Aidan said. “Colgate has also been trying to get explosive against more advanced teams like Kentucky that we wouldn’t play normally.’

Ephraim’s wife, Kerri, 53, graduated from UK’s college of pharmacy and  is also an Ashland native. She will be at tonight’s game along with her daughter, Lily, 20, a junior at Syracuse. Family friends who live in Kentucky also plan to attend the game.

“Since we will be sitting in the Colgate section, I think I will wear neutral colors. I feel like I owe it to Colgate to cheer for them but I think I need to look neutral,” Aidan said.

He’s been in Rupp Arena for games before. He went a few times growing up and then was in Rupp with his parents and sister in late 2022.

“We can’t believe this is happening. We are kind of nervous,” Aidan said. “We really are not sure what expectations to even have. We also got to travel with the team when they went to March Madness in 2023. I played clarinet in Colgate’s pep band. It was fun but this is different.”

Langel has tried to tell his team what Ephraim Woods meant to the team and what the team meant to him. Woods attended practices and built relationships with the players.

The Colgate coach appreciated what the professor did to help his players and knows what tonight’s game would have meant to Ephraim Woods.

“Any time there’s a chance to reflect on all he accomplished, on the impact he had on my life and others’ lives, I like to do that,” Langel told colgateathletics.com. “In playing Kentucky, I’m sure taking the trip down there will be for me emotional in a good way, just a chance to reflect and remember all the lessons I learned from him.”