James White (basketball)

Infobox Euroleague Player
name = James White
nickname =


caption = James White outside of Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana in August 2006
position = Shooting guard
Small forward
height_ft = 6
height_in = 7
weight_lbs = 200
league = Turkish Basketball League
team = Fenerbahçe
nationality = American
birth_date = birth date and age|1982|10|21
birth_place = Washington, D.C.
highschool = Hargrave Military Academy
college = University of Cincinnati
draft = 2^nd round, 31^st overall
draft_year = 2006
draft_team = Portland Trail Blazers
career_start = 2006
career_end =
former_teams = San Antonio Spurs (2006–2007)

James William White IV (born October 21, 1982 in Washington, D.C.) is an American professional basketball player for the Turkish Basketball League champion Fenerbahçe Ülker. He is a 6'7", 200 lb. guard/forward. White signed a four year contract with Turkish champions Fenerbahçe on 8 September 2007, that will play in the 2007-08 Euroleague. [ [http://www.fenerbahce.org/icerik/haber/8890/ White sign for Fenerbahçe] ] [ [http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/15753/180/item Fenerbahce brings on forward White] ] He earned the nickname Flight 75 due to his leaping ability. [ [http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/white_james00.html Profil on gobearcats.com] ]

White is well-known for his athleticism and his ability to dunk. Since high school, his most famous dunk has been the between-the-legs dunk, with many variations. He is also known for his ability to jump from the free throw line and dunk a basketball with both hands. 'Flight' White was a runner-up in two notable dunk contests: behind future Florida and New York Knicks power forward David Lee in the 2001 McDonalds High School Slam Dunk Contest, and behind North Carolina's David Noel in the NCAA College Slam Dunk Contest during the 2006 Final Four weekend.

High school career

He earned McDonald's All-American honors as a senior at Hargrave Military Academy in 2000-01. He was ranked among the top three small forward prospects in the country by The Sporting News. Named Maryland high school Player of the Year as a junior at Newport High School in Kensington in 1999-00, after averaging 23.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Led school to the state private school championship, and he was a sprinter on the track team. He dunked for the first time as a 12-year old and has beaten former UC standout DerMarr Johnson in slam dunk competitions.

College career

White played his freshman year at the University of Florida in 2001-002 helping the Gators to a 22-9 record. He saw action in all but two games, making a pair of starts and averaged 20.5 minutes of playing time. He posted averages of 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds.

He transferred to the University of Cincinnati, and after sitting out in 2002-03, he became a starter for the Bearcats in his three years with them, including his senior year when he averaged 16.3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.8 blocks.

2003-04 season

Made his UC debut in mid-December vs. Middle Tennessee, scoring eight points in 19 minutes of action. Tallied 14 points in the win over Miami (27 December 2003), while also dishing out four assists. Moved into the starting lineup vs. DePaul (11 January 2004), replacing injured Armein Kirkland, and became a fixture. Tallied 12 points, five rebounds and three assists vs. Louisville (21 January 2004). Had 12 points and four rebounds at Wake Forest (15 February 2004). Lettered this past spring for the C-USA champion UC track and field team. Qualified for NCAA Regionals in the high jump and triple jump. Named C-USA co-Player of the Week after averaging 14.5 points, 8.0 assists and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 69 percent from the field in a pair of UC wins (Feb 23-29). Scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, both then-career highs, in the win over Saint Louis (25 February 2004), also recording seven assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Dished out a career-high nine assists at Charlotte (28 February 2004). Scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists in the C-USA semifinal win over Saint Louis (12 March 2004).

He started the final 21 games of the season and took on a larger share of the ball-handling responsibilities in the final eight contests. Became team assists leader (3.6) who averaged 4.8 assists over the final eight games. He dished out seven assists and gathered six rebounds in the NCAA Tournament opening round win over East Tennessee State (19 March 2004).

2004-05 season

Scored 10 points, all in the decisive game-clinching scoring run, in the season opening win over Valparaiso (19 November 2004). Scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the win over Miami (Ohio) (27 December 2004). Tallied 15 points vs. Louisville (15 January 2005) on 4-of-5 shooting, and also recorded eight rebounds and seven assists, while holding UofL All-American Francisco Garcia to seven points. Scored a career-high 25 points, on 9-of-12 shooting, and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win over Houston (1/29/05). Played all 40 minutes of the Charlotte game (5 February 2005), finishing with 18 points, five rebounds and six assists. Tallied 14 points, leading UC's second-half comeback with 12 points, in the win over UAB (19 February 2005). Scored the game-winning basket vs. Memphis (5 March 2005) when he grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a short jumper from the baseline with 16.2 seconds to play and finished with 11 points and tied a career high with 11 rebounds. Tallied 15 points and had six rebounds in the NCAA Tournament opening round win over Iowa (17 March 2005). Became team leader in assists (3.1) and scored in double digits 19 times.

2005-06 season

Scored 21 points in win over Murray State (19 November 2005), making a steal and dunk in the final seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime. He scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and had seven rebounds, and three steals in the win over Vanderbilt (10 December 2005), sinking a career-high four treys. Rallied UC from a five-point deficit in the final two and a half minutes of the win over LSU (23 December 2005), hitting back-to-back 3-pointers at the 2:27 and 1:51 marks and a pair of clinching free throws at 0:17. Tallied a season-high 23 points vs. North Carolina (30 December 2005), matching personal bests with four 3-point field goals and four steals. Tallied 22 points, making 4-of-6 treys, and hit a 3-pointer to put UC in the lead with 2:57 to play in the win over Providence (17 February 2006), also grabbing seven rebounds. Scored 17 points, going 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and had four assists vs. Seton Hall (28 February 2006).

He became team scoring leader (15.9) who has reached double figures in all but four games. Topped the 1,000-point mark in career scoring with 1,209 points, 1,027 scored during his three seasons as a Bearcat to become the 44th member of UC's 1,000-point club. Leads the team in free throw percentage (.839) and is second in steals (1.1), assists (2.1), blocks (0.8) and third in rebounding (5.0). Named to the Las Vegas Holiday Classic all-tournament team after averaging 18.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in the four wins.

NBA career

He was selected in the second round (31st overall) by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2006 NBA Draft, and his rights were immediately traded to the Indiana Pacers for the rights to the Pacers' pick at #45 overall (Alexander Johnson), and second-round draft choices in 2007 and 2008. White was cut by the Indiana Pacers on October 30, 2006, with coach Rick Carlisle saying his release was the most difficult cut he's been involved with in his coaching career. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in eight pre-season games. White signed a two-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs on November 3, 2006. [ [http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/white_061103.html Spurs Sign James White] ]

In December 2006 the Spurs assigned White to play in their NBA Development League affiliated team the Austin Toros. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich stated that the reason for the move was that the in-season schedule does not allow much time to practice and the veteran-heavy team does not allow any spare minutes for White. He continued to receive his salary from the Spurs while playing for the Toros. Toros coach Dennis Johnson stated that White received regular playing time. [ [http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA121706.11C.BKNspurs.notebook.36e0fd8.html Spurs notebook: White heading to NBDL team] .]

On March 26 2007, White made his NBA debut with the Spurs against the Golden State Warriors, scoring 9 points and grabbing 3 rebounds in 14 minutes during his first game. White also got the first NBA start of his career on April 16, 2007 against the Memphis Grizzlies. White responded by scoring 17 points, a career high, in 39 minutes of play. He averaged 8.2 PPG in 6 games for the Spurs. He was waived during the off-season by the Spurs on July 23, 2007 [ [http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/white_070723.html Spurs Waive James White] , "nba.com", posted July 23, 2007] but did receive a NBA championship ring.

Fenerbahçe

On 8 September 2007, White joined his close friend Will Solomon when he signed a four-year contract with Turkish champions Fenerbahçe [ [http://www.fenerbahce.org/eng/detay.asp?ContentID=1278 James White joins Fenerbahce] ] who played in the 2007-08 Euroleague quarter finals. White averages 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game during the regular season and 7.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game in total averages. On March 22 2008, White won dunk contests against Curtis Withers, Quinton Hosley and Richard Chaney in the Beko Allstar Slam Dunk Contest with raceway dunk. [ [http://fanatik.ekolay.net/Fanatik/Default.aspx?aType=Detail&articleID=103577&catid=28 White the Flight] ]

External links

*NBA-profile|james_white|James White
* [http://www.fenerbahce.org/basketbolerkek/detay.asp?ContentID=10072&ContentCategoryID=38 Player profile on fenerbahce.org]
* [http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=ulk&pcode=THC Player profil on euroleague.net]
*basketball-reference|name=James White
* [http://dunkers23.googlepages.com/jameswhite James White dunk]

Notes and references