University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Mike White
August 15, 2022 | Men's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Days before Mike White took his final exam as an Ole Miss undergrad, the former Rebels men's basketball point guard, a four-year starter, got his first job in coaching, at mid-major Jacksonville State. It wasn't a glamour job at a blue-blood program, but it was a start.
From 2003-04, White worked with and learned under Michael LaPlante. From there, White went back to his alma mater as an assistant from 2004-11, before getting his first head-coaching position, in 2011, at Louisiana Tech. Then came a long run at Florida, from 2015-22.
In March, White was hired as the Bulldogs' new coach. Between building his staff and spending endless hours recruiting, White hasn't had a ton of time to get to know the Athens area, but he very much likes what he's seen so far. During a recent Quick Chat, White talked about exploring his new home, what kind of player he was, his start in coaching, and much more.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: You'd obviously been to Athens a number of times before, as a player and a coach, but did you have much of a feel for it before taking the Georgia job?
White: The past seven years playing here (as Florida's coach), and of course the time we played here when I was at Louisiana Tech, but also the times that we played here as a player and an assistant at Ole Miss, each one of those stops was one night — shootaround, pregame meal, game, and get out.
Frierson: What has it been like to get to know a new place, one of the great college towns in America?
White: It's been incredible. I've been to a lot of great college towns and I've lived in some great college towns, considering what my father did for a living while raising us. [White's father, Kevin, worked in athletics administration for many years, including as athletic director at Notre Dame and Duke.] There's not a better college town in the country, there's just not, that I know of.
There's the great downtown area, the surrounding areas are beautiful, and you can feel the support and pride of Bulldog Nation while you're in Athens. It's very evident why so many people are so excited about being here.
Frierson: How would you describe yourself as a player?
White: I was playing football on the basketball court. I was very much a role guy — pass to the good players and get out of there. I fouled a bunch and hoped that they wouldn't call a lot; I knew I was limited and I certainly maxed out as a player. [White started 109 of 117 games at Ole Miss, averaging 5.1 points and 3.2 assists per game.]
For me, in college, it was about winning. It was about, how can I help Ole Miss be the best program and the best team that we can be. And we had a really good formula and a high level of basketball character and connection, and we did some special things there. But I certainly knew that I was very much a role player.
Frierson: I looked it up and you had seven career blocks.
White: That's hilarious.
Frierson: Is there one that you actually remember?
White: No, I can't imagine that those were tallied correctly. I don't remember any of them [laughs].
Frierson: Basketball in the NBA has evolved so much over the last decade or so, with the emphasis on analytics and the 3-point shot. How much of that is trickling down to the college game? And what is it like being a coach amid all of the changes?
White: I think certain coaches will flaunt how analytically driven that they are, but we're all into it. We all want layups and 3s. How do you get layups and 3s? That's the real question.
The game has certainly evolved; if I could credit one organization with that level of how much the game has changed, at least offensively, it would be Golden State and what they've accomplished and how they've played over the last decade. We've tried to emulate a lot of that stuff over the last few years and we'll continue to do so, as well as some things other NBA organizations are doing. It's a new brand: a higher skill level, a lot of times five guys being beyond the arc that can shoot it, more skilled 5s, of course, and less calls and more continuity, less sets and more concepts.
The game continues to evolve and I think it's made for more exciting games to watch. We're all stealing as coaches and we're trying to steal from that level as much as anywhere else.
Frierson: Did you always know you wanted to get into coaching?
White: I figured it out late. I've said this a few times, it was on the bus my senior year, coming back from a road game. I realized that time was running out and I was going to give it a shot, to play professionally, while also realizing that it was going to be very difficult for me to be an NBA guy.
I just thought at that point, when the ball stops bouncing for me, what else do I know? I'd poured so many hours and years into this game, and I just couldn't see myself leaving the game. And that's what happened.
I was cut three times in the next few months, twice by the same organization in Albuquerque (N.M.), called the New Mexico Slam, and once by a team in England. I begged my way back into Ole Miss with two classes left to finish, and I returned in the spring of 2000 to get my undergraduate degree in general business.
I realized that as soon as I got my diploma I was going to get into coaching. ... Michael LaPlante was at Auburn as Cliff Ellis' right hand and he got the Jacksonville State job. He called me and offered me the job over the phone and I said, "I have one more exam on Friday, is it OK if I drive over on Saturday?" And I met him in the office at Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon.
I remember, we had an unofficial visit on campus that day and we literally walked around campus. It was me, Mike and the recruit, and it was the first time any of us had seen it. And the rest is history.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.