As recently as June, Annicia Woods thought her interscholastic basketball career was over.

The Nansemond River High School student-athlete, who graduated earlier this month, had begun searching for colleges solely based on their academic offerings.

But then Andrew Stephens, the new Mary Baldwin College women’s basketball coach, called.

“He called me recently, like a few weeks ago, and was like, ‘I saw some tape and stuff, and I really want you to come up here to play college basketball with us,’” Woods recalled on Thursday. “So I went up there on the 20th, and I met him.”

On Thursday, in the wake of that meeting, Woods signed to play for Mary Baldwin during a ceremony that included family, friends, teammates and coaches at Nansemond River.

Woods said signing to play basketball at the next level meant everything to her.

“I did not expect to be signing a paper today,” she said. “It was a big ‘wow’ for me.”

It was all thanks to Stephens’ persistence.

Though she had moved on from the idea of playing interscholastically in college, Stephens kept recruiting her, “so I’m like, ‘Maybe I need to look back and re-think, maybe it’s time for me to go back to basketball,’” Woods said.

Her coach and parents all expressed excitement at the sudden turn of events.

“Of all the years, this is probably the biggest surprise, but it’s one of the best surprises,” Nansemond River coach Calvin Mason Sr. said. “It’s gratifying to see a kid who actually puts some time and work in be rewarded.”

Her father, Persel Woods added: “I think she was a good student, a good person in the community. She’s a good kid, and she fulfilled her goals and dreams of playing basketball and going to a four-year university and also as an ROTC student.”

She plans to major in mechanical engineering and then join the United States Air Force after graduating.

Mary Baldwin College, as an NCAA Division III school, cannot offer athletic scholarships, but Woods will be receiving a partial academic scholarship that will cover a substantial amount of her college costs.

She has great team spirit,” mother Tonya Burton said. “She’s going to be a great addition to the team.”

One of the tallest players on the Lady Warriors’ roster, Woods was used to playing either forward or center. She said coach Stephens had told her she would be “the tallest one on the (MBC) team, so I’ll probably still be center.”

Mason said, “First year, she’ll probably be a backup,” but her size will give her a chance to play. “Hopefully she’ll grow into a bigger role as she goes.”

Her parents already have plans to make the three-hour trip to see her play.

“I’ve already said soon as I get a schedule that we’ll book our rooms and make sure we get some good rates so that we can attend some of the games,” Burton said.