Mike Woodbury revives The Nation Basketball five years after private school closed
Mike Woodbury revived The Nation this week, five years after a TCPalm investigation exposed myriad wrongdoing at The Nation Christian Academy private school in Port St. Lucie where he was CEO.
The Nation Basketball's practices and workouts began Feb. 7 at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center, according to an Instagram post on his @woody_thegolfguy account.
“The Nation Basketball will offer college-exposure travel teams," the post states. "We have identified the desperate need for a legit college placement program, and after much thought and consideration feel it is our duty to revive what once was one of the country’s premier full-service programs.”
The full story: Mike Woodbury and The Nation
Lost Year: How The Nation dashed Jordi Maatkamp's dreams of college
Who is Mike Woodbury?
Woodbury has successfully placed several players in college programs and routinely posted pictures on social media of college coaches meeting with his players.
However, TCPalm's yearlong investigation, which yielded nearly 40 articles, raised questions of child welfare, education, immigration, government oversight and public funding of private schools.
"I understand and accept that I have critics, and I also acknowledge that I have made mistakes in the past," Woodbury told TCPalm this week. "Not withstanding those mistakes, I’m proud of the thousands of young people that I have positively impacted in my basketball career.
"Moving forward, I’m committed to creating more positive experiences and opportunities for young people. I’m thrilled by the enthusiastic response that we have received. Our program is thriving and we will continue to roll."
TCPalm investigation findings
Pam Barker, a woman whose twin daughters played basketball for Woodbury in Maine, and three young players TCPalm interviewed in 2019 alleged that Woodbury:
Bit teenage girl players on the face, neck and forehead
Called them over a dozen profane and sexualized names, such as "sperm banks"
Asked them whether they were having sex and what they had done
Started conversations about masturbation and slang terms for sex acts and anatomy
Went into their away-game hotel room without parents present, wearing nothing but gym shorts and getting in their bed, under the covers.
Woodbury's criminal record from 1995 to 2019 includes:
Being charged in three assaults in Maine
Pleading guilty to theft in Maine
Being charged with selling alcohol without a license at the now-closed St. Lucie Golf Range, which he operated after closing the private school. State regulators had warned him twice.
He was not charged, but a video posted online in 2015 shows Woodbury physically attacking a parent at Southern Maine Community College, which then banned him from campus.
Woodbury's time at The Nation Christian Academy was fraught with investigations by multiple state and federal agencies, including the:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Florida Department of Children and Families
Florida Department of Education
Multiple Treasure Coast city and county law enforcement and government agencies
TCPalm also exposed a history of lawsuits, evictions, code violations, failure to pay rent, and multiple people and organizations severing ties with Woodbury for various reasons.
The Nation Christian Academy private school
The 20-year-old school closed in March 2019, five months after TCPalm began its investigation into Woodbury threatening a student-athlete in an audio clip that went viral on Oct. 30, 2018.
In the recording that was uploaded to YouTube, Woodbury calls international student and basketball player Marvens Petion "retarded," says he (Woodbury) "controls everything" and can "take everything" and "end everything" for Petion — and send him back to his native Haiti.
https://youtu.be/2mwwxOj4B2Q?si=RxTZrmF6xI0exmhr
TCPalm’s investigation into the school’s postgraduate football program revealed it was operating an unlicensed group home that was overcrowded with unsafe transportation and inadequate nutrition and education. In response, the Florida Department of Education investigated, found myriad violations, and ended the school's public funding.
The Marketplace of Port St. Lucie evicted The Nation due to failure to pay rent.
Most students transferred to other schools, but Woodbury moved about four dozen international student-athletes to a North River Shores apartment, which was not licensed as a group home.
Woodbury dissolved the school and vacated after the Department of Children and Families began investigating. Most foreign students returned home without a diploma or even transcripts.
Email feedback and information to cheryl.smith@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Mike Woodbury revives The Nation Basketball college program
