That unknown wrong route was one of the few things to go wrong for Redden in his inaugural season. Woodward went on a wild tournament run, pulling out a pair of overtime wins in the sectional tournament before upsetting top-seeded Dayton Dunbar for a district championship.
The celebration, however, was short-lived.
Woodward graduated 12 seniors from that team, including All-Ohio center Terry Durham and all-district point guard Demontez Cooper. In one offseason, Redden had to replace 51.2 points, 25.5 rebounds, 13 assists and 8.2 steals per game.
There were instant bumps in the rebuild road. Woodward lost its first six games in 2019 and finished 3-20. The Bulldogs started 6-8 in 2020 and recovered to finish 13-11 but suffered a second-straight first-round tournament exit.
“It made me stronger, hungrier and eager to learn,” Redden said of those two seasons. “Winning my first year, it can mess your mind up and make you think you’re the greatest. In reality, coaches learn something new every year. I was learning the ropes.”
In 2021, Woodward, led by All-Ohio point guard Paul McMillan IV, returned to the limelight, winning the program’s first CMAC championship since 1998. Expectations of another tournament run were everywhere, especially after the No. 3 Bulldogs won their first two sectional games by a combined 94 points.
In the sectional final, though, Woodward fell behind No. 5 Wyoming by double digits in the first half, then had to scrap and claw to force overtime.
