Jack White expected to be in Las Vegas this time of year playing in the NBA Summer League. But the COVID-19 pandemic that has turned the world upside down has the Duke alumnus back home Down Under in Australia.
“This is the longest stretch I’ve been back home,” said White, who participated on a Zoom call Monday with reporters covering Duke.
The 6-foot-7 forward will be staying a bit longer now that he’s signed a three-year deal with Melbourne United of the Australia’s National Basketball League. The Olympics and the NBA remain his dreams, but the NBL is a pro league that allows him to keep developing his game.
“Every time I’ve come home in the summer between college seasons, I’ve been able to work out with them and they’ve been very welcoming of me,” White said. “So I already had an existing relationship with him as well as a fair chunk of the players. I really just felt like it all kind of came together pretty well for me and I was pretty lucky.”
White wasn’t a star at Duke, starting only seven of 30 games as a senior. He averaged 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in 15.6 minutes a game, but he was a go-to guy for the media. He was respected team leader as a two-time team captain and two-time All-ACC Academic choice.
Win or lose, good minutes or limited playing time on his part, he could always offer perspective and insight on the team. In four years at Duke, he saw some future millionaires stop by Durham for a year on their way to millions. The one-and-dones included Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, Marvin Bagley, Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett. And then there are the guys lost in the locker room that transferred out, among them Chase Jeter.
That makes him a worthy judge of a locker room. What are his thoughts on NCAA taking steps toward granting athletes name, image and likeness financial rights? Overall, he likes it, but he acknowledges that are a lot of steps to iron out to apply it all sports and programs without Duke’s brand name.
“If you think of our team last year with Zion and me (2018-19), that’s a good example,” White said. “His brand of name, image and likeness is an elevator level compared to mine. It depends on the individual and how he handles that. Zion is one of the best guys I’ve been around. I don’t think it changes his relationship with anyone. I don’t think he’d be dismissive (of other players).
“It would be like the professional world. In the NBA, (Zion) has multi-million dollar shoe deal and there are guys with a 10-day contract. So he’s got to balance that.”
White graduated in May, and his analytical thought befits his sociology degree.
“It’s more a less the beauty of the sport. Everyone is running their race. Everyone has different things come to them at different times. To answer the question, it depends on the individual and how they act. If it is me, am I going to salty because he gets all this stuff? That can definitely interfere with team chemistry. But it depends on individuals.”
White’s name carries more weight in Australia. His Duke scholarship is one reason, but White also has international experience representing the Aussies. He played on Australia’s 2019 World University Games team that won a bronze medal in 2019.
He’s also competed for in FIBA tournaments for Australia’s Under-19, Under-17 and Under-16 teams.
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Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://www.shanahan.report/a/forty-four-underground-railroad-legacy-facts
http://shanahan.report/a/myths-that-grew-out-of-1970-alabama-game-with-usc
http://shanahan.report/a/mystery-solved-in-thornhill-and-namath-myth
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and biographer; “History writes people out of the story. It’s our job to write them back in.”
https://www.augustpublications.com/
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