Road to Duke
Rodney Michael Hood was born on October 20, 1992, in Meridian, Mississippi — a small city in the eastern part of the state, deep in the heart of the Deep South. Basketball was in the blood on both sides. His father, Ricky Hood Sr., was an undersized post player who played at Mississippi State from 1978 to 1980 before transferring to finish at Murray State. His mother, Vicky, also played basketball at Mississippi State. His brother Ricky Jr. and his sister Whitney both played at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where Whitney was an All-Southern Conference performer. His mother later became the principal at Newton High School and also coached a team — three-year-old Rodney would sit in the stands watching her coach. He was a student of the game, his father said, all along.
At Meridian High School, Hood was a two-time Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year and the Clarion Ledger’s Player of the Year. As a senior, he averaged 24.0 points and 8.0 rebounds, leading Meridian to a 29–2 record and the Class 6A state championship — scoring 24 points in the title game victory over Vicksburg and 27 in the semifinal. He was a five-star recruit ranked 16th nationally by Rivals. In a detail that has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with Meridian: his childhood neighbor was Hayley Williams, the lead singer of Paramore. Hood didn’t know this until March 2021.
Hood followed his parents to Mississippi State, committing in October 2010. As a freshman in 2011–12, he averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. He was at home in Starkville. Then head coach Rick Stansbury retired. The coaching change unsettled everything. Hood wanted more.
Duke had recruited Hood out of high school but backed off early, assuming the Mississippi kid would never leave the state. Coach K was wrong. When Hood became available as a transfer, Krzyzewski pounced. We recruited him out of high school and followed his progress, Coach K said. Hood became the fourth transfer Mike Krzyzewski ever accepted at Duke, following Roshown McLeod, Dahntay Jones, and Seth Curry. He sat out the 2012–13 season under transfer rules, bringing chitterlings and pickled pigs’ feet back from Thanksgiving in Meridian and introducing his Duke teammates to the Deep South one plate at a time.
At Duke
Hood played one season on the court at Duke, 2013–14, and it was brilliant. He averaged 16.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from three. He was a left-handed scorer with a smooth stroke, a 6’8 frame, and the ability to get buckets at every level — at the rim, from mid-range, and from deep. He was named to the All-ACC Second Team.
Hood played alongside Jabari Parker, Quinn Cook, and Rasheed Sulaimon on a Duke team that went 26–9 and reached the Sweet Sixteen. His teammate Amile Jefferson described what Hood brought to the roster: When he came in, it wasn’t, ‘Where’s Rodney going to fit in?’ It was, ‘We know we have Rodney Hood.’ We know what he’s going to give us night in and night out. The quiet consistency, the leadership by example, the Deep South humility — that was Hood’s gift to the program.
After the season, Hood declared for the 2014 NBA Draft as a junior. He was the only member of his immediate family who had not earned a college degree when he left. His wife, Richa Jackson — who played basketball at Duke from 2010 to 2014 and graduated — would later be the driving force behind him going back to finish.
After Duke
The Utah Jazz selected Hood with the 23rd overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He spent three and a half seasons in Salt Lake City, developing into a reliable starter alongside Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert. His best season was 2017–18, when he averaged 16.8 points and 2.8 rebounds — the highest-scoring season of his career. In February 2018, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team deal, joining LeBron James for the stretch run and the 2018 NBA Finals against Golden State.
In February 2019, Hood was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, where he found a home alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. The Trail Blazers reached the 2019 Western Conference Finals, and Hood emerged as a critical third scorer in the playoff run. It was the peak of his professional career — a legitimate contributor on a team that was four wins from the NBA Finals.
Then catastrophe. On December 6, 2019, Hood ruptured his left Achilles tendon against the Los Angeles Lakers. He was thirty-one months into his career’s best stretch. The injury is one of the most devastating in basketball — a sentence that changes a player’s trajectory permanently. Hood fought his way back, playing for Toronto and Milwaukee, but was never the same. He attempted a comeback with the Memphis Hustle in the G-League in 2024 but was sidelined by injury. In November 2024, Rodney Hood officially retired from professional basketball. He had played eight NBA seasons across six teams and appeared in over 400 games.
Where Is He Now
Hood hosts an annual basketball camp in Meridian that attracts hundreds of kids each year — giving back to the community that produced him. In 2020, during his recovery from the Achilles tear, Hood went back to Duke to work toward finishing his degree — inspired by his wife Richa, who had completed hers. He married Richa Jackson on July 29, 2016, in Oklahoma City. They have a son, born in January 2016. In November 2022, Hood was selected to represent Team USA in the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.
Rodney Hood was born in Meridian, Mississippi, the son of two Mississippi State basketball players. His mother was a school principal who also coached, and three-year-old Rodney sat in the stands watching her. His brother and sister both played at Chattanooga. His childhood neighbor was the lead singer of Paramore. He was a two-time Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year and led Meridian to a state championship with 24 points in the title game. He followed his parents to Mississippi State, then transferred to Duke when the coach retired — becoming Coach K’s fourth-ever transfer. He brought chitterlings and pickled pigs’ feet back from Thanksgiving and taught his roommate what Southern food tasted like. He averaged 16.1 points at Duke with a left-handed stroke as smooth as anything in the ACC. He was drafted 23rd overall, played eight NBA seasons, reached two conference finals, and ruptured his Achilles chasing a dream. He married a Duke women’s basketball player who convinced him to go back and finish his degree. He retired in November 2024 and runs a basketball camp in Meridian every summer. The Deep South gave him everything — the family, the food, the toughness, and the smooth left-handed shot — and he never forgot where any of it came from.