The InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy Cup Final takes place this evening with Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU up against UCC Demons at the National Basketball Arena.
A big crowd is expected at the 2,500-capacity venue in Tallaght as the all-Cork decider takes centre stage. UCC are the most successful side in the competition's history although their last triumph came back in 2015.
"I'm looking forward to it man," says College's Seventh Woods.
"We're seeing how excited all the kids are for the game and everybody in Cork who is travelling up to Dublin. It's hard not to get excited for this one."
When asked if it would have been better to see the game taking place by the banks of the Lee, he adds: "Most definitely. Right here in Neptune would have been huge but doing it in Dublin will be huge also.
"Doing it at the National Basketball Arena and having the whole set up, I think it'll be huge."
UCC Demons - Route to the final
93-88 v Maree Basketball Club
105-96 v Belfast Star
100-93 v Energywise Ireland Neptune
Originally from South Carolina, Woods did his third level in North Carolina but it was a back injury that saw his basketball career take a side step.
"This was the only opportunity I had on the table," he says of coming to Cork.
"I had back surgery in my last school year so I had to rehab for a whole year. I had to come here and prove that I could still play at the highest level.
"Surgery helped me out a lot, before it I was in a lot of pain. I tried to play through it and tough it out. After the surgery, and the pain I got from being under the needle, everything was fine after that.
"I had a herniated disc so they had to shave it down."
While the journey to Saturday's final has been a tough one for the team, with narrow wins over Maree, Belfast Star and Energywise Ireland Neptune, Woods is back to where he wants to be after a tough couple of seasons.
"It's been hard with life stuff and basketball stuff. It's not a hobby, because I love it so much, but it's the thing I do to get my mind off everything else.
"It's been therapeutic for me."
Ballincollig, Super League champions last season, are standing in the way, having reached their first Pat Duffy Cup final earlier this month with a dramatic buzzer-beater victory over Garvey's Tralee Warriors with Keelan Cairns the hero.
Shawndale Jones Jr echoes Woods' idea that the final might have been better played in Cork, but he's looking forward to playing at the National Basketball Arena.
He was convinced to come to Ireland by his former teammate Dave Morris.
"They signed him and they were talking to him first," Jones says of Morris.
"Then they reached out to me to see if I had any places looking for me. It was like another dream because I played with Dave in college. We had been playing together since we were in high school.
"To play professional with one of my best friends was a story for me so I said yes without even questioning it."
Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU - Route to the final
95-92 v Templeogue
95-89 v Ulster University
78-76 v Garvey's Tralee Warriors
Jones acknowledges that the type of basketball played in the SuperLeague here is more physical than he was used to in the United States, but he points out that he's enjoyed the challenge.
"In college, the team I played for, you ran a set, you basically run the clock down to the last 13 or 14 seconds. Get a play off, get a rebound and then you bring it back out and take your time.
"Here it's very fast paced, up and down, quick. You can get the ball off the rim. You can't throw the ball back court. You can only sub in after dead balls.
"You can't call time out from the floor. That was one thing that I had to adjust to. In college if you're tired you can just call a time out immediately. It doesn't matter who calls it, as long as you call time out.
"It's very gritty, very rough - they just let you play. It's a man's game. You've just got to get the job done regardless. It's called very different back in the States.
"When it comes to anything, if it disrupts the person - getting a shot off or certain plays - it's automatically [called], the refs are on it. So the number one thing I would say is don't worry about the calls and just play. If the fouls come they come, and if they don't just keep going.
"It's a lot of small things that you got to get used to but once you're in the flow of things you get the hang of it."
