Aggies Land High Scoring Guard
Texas A&M has picked up their first commitment in the Class of 2004. Kenneth
"Red" White, a physical 6-foot-2, 180 pound combo guard from Dallas (TX) Molina
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HS verbally committed to the Aggies earlier this week.
"Kenneth, his mom, and his summer league coach took an unofficial trip to A&M
and fell in love with the place," said former Molina head coach Jeff Stout.
"After that, A&M put the full court press on him. He called me the other night
to say that he had committed."
White, who picked up the nickname "Red" as a youngster due to the fiery color
of his hair, came into his own on the offensive end as a junior. After making
the varsity and playing a supporting role for Molina as a freshman, White moved
into the starting lineup as a sophomore and broke the school record for
assists. This past season for a young Molina team, White was asked to do more
scoring, and he most certainly delivered.
"We asked Red to put us on his back," said Stout. "And he goes on to lead the
metroplex in scoring (at 28.6 points per game). He also led us in assists,
rebounding, and steals."
"He shouldered that load and had an outstanding year."
White is a strong, yet versatile guard who is near unstoppable as a scorer. He
can sink the three, but is outstanding taking the ball to the basket.
"Red plays a power game," said Stout. "He's not a finesse player."
Naturally, on drives to the basket, White is great at drawing contact.
"Kenneth took 411 free throw attempts; that might be a national record," said
Stout, who noted that White made 305 of his attempts for 74 percent. "Most
teams don't shoot that many in a year! The kid can definitely get to the
line."
"He's got a good inside/outside game," he said. "He mixes it up really well."
Stout, who will be moving on to coach rival Bryan Adams HS next season, hopes
that the new coaching staff will continue to push White hard on the court and
in improving his game and quickness ("I think we've installed the right work
ethic in him," he said). He thinks Texas A&M is getting a steal, and feels
that White will contribute at either guard spot in college. The fact that
College Station is fairly close to home played a factor in White's decision,
who also considered schools such as San Diego State, Baylor, and Rice in the
process (Georgia Tech, Utah, and many others called too late, after White had
already committed to A&M).
"At first he had wanted to go to California," said Stout. "But then he
realized that he kind of owed it to his mom to stay close to home where she
could watch him play."
This is the second straight year that a Dallas-area player guard has committed
early to Texas A&M. Last year, Acie Law IV of Kimball HS verballed around the
same time. In fact, Law is a childhood friend of White and the two played
basketball together in middle school. Stout has no doubt they will mesh
together well in College Station.
"They're both combo guards," he said. "They'll make a great backcourt."
White, who has a 3.5 GPA in pre-AP level courses, has taken the SAT and is
awaiting the results.
Although he had played with the Team Texas AAU program since the seventh grade,
White is instead traveling this spring/summer with Texas Top Prospects. Be
sure to check back on his progress throughout the summer and his senior season.
Jed Tai is a Senior Writer with Hoopville.com