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White signed with Melbourne in July 2020 and then spent the next 7 months preparing for his rookie season.
He debuted in United’s season opening win over Adelaide and gave us all a glimpse of why he was such a favourite of Coach K and the Cameron Crazies in Durham, North Carolina.
Starting for Dean Vickerman, White had 7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and an incredible 5 blocked shots in his first ever professional game. His athleticism, hustle, energy and team-first mentality were on full display and it’s clear that United have added a really nice young piece who can contribute right away as they chase another championship.
The former Duke Captain caught up with NBL Media on Tuesday to talk about his preparation for the season, why he’s so competitive, what we haven’t yet seen from him and how this Melbourne team can come together to achieve their goal in NBL21.
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Q. When you were finalising your deal with Melbourne back in July, what sort of conversations did you and your agent have with Dean Vickerman about your role for this season?
There was definitely an opportunity there first of all. I wanted to come into a team and have the opportunity to play and compete, and first and foremost just compete for a championship.
I guess what was a positive for me, was me being able to train with the guys in years’ past. I’ve been coming back to Melbourne in College offseasons and was fortunate enough to be able to train with the fellas in the past two or three years, and that just gave me a level of comfort with the coaching staff, the players – of which the majority of them are still around. So, to make that kind of transition in a weird time, pretty much as smooth as it could have been for me coming back, that was definitely a bonus for me.
But just somewhere to come in and play hard, be around guys that I can learn a lot from, guys that have achieved the things that I want to tick off in my career.
You know you have Dave [Barlow] and Chris [Goulding], Mitch [McCarron] and Shea Ili; guys that have represented their country and been Olympians, and that’s definitely something I want to do. So just to be in a high level environment, obviously Jock Landale coming in late as well, but just to be in a competitive environment, a place where I’m going to be challenged, and where I’m going to improve and get better.
Q. And it’s been a very long preseason with the season being pushed back. For someone new to the team and new to the league, has that been a blessing in disguise or did it drag on too long?
Maybe a little bit too long honestly. You know with season’s being cut in March, it felt like forever since we’ve been able to play a real game. So I think me, along with the rest of the fellas were definitely a bit antsy and trying to get these games going.
But definitely a blessing in disguise for sure in terms of me getting up to speed as well as the new guys; Mason and Baba and all those guys – Scotty Hop. And as well for guys to get rid of some niggling injuries and make sure they’re fresh and ready to go when the season starts.
So positives and negatives about it, but just happy to be finally playing and starting off my first professional season.
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Q. What did you enjoy most about the extended preparation for the season and was there any one teammate who kind of took you under their wing and taught you a lot that’s really helped?
I wouldn’t say it was just one. I feel like all the guys were really good with me, making me feel comfortable, bringing me up to speed with all the plays and just giving me the confidence to go out and play and compete.
But definitely Dave Barlow in my position. I learned a lot from him coming into the group and obviously being around Chris just watching how he scores and moves without the ball is something that I really want to take some stuff from. And then just watching Shea Ili defend; it’s unbelievable.
I feel like something that’s really great about our team is everyone really has something they can bring at a high level, and for me I just try to be a sponge as much as I can and soak in all the information and knowledge that each individual guy brings.
I think that’s been the beauty about our team; it hasn’t been just one guy that’s taken the lead. Eleven, twelve guys deep, we’re all competing every day and bringing stuff to the table, so it’s been a very high-level environment and something that I’ve really enjoyed.
Q. One of the things Coach K said about you when you signed with Melbourne was that you’re a “great competitor – not a good one – a great, great competitor.” And we’ve seen that already from you both in the preseason game in Cairns and last Friday in Adelaide. If you had to break it down, what makes you such a great competitor?
I think just my will to win. Honestly, I really just want to win; I hate losing. So I think that’s really where it comes from.
I’m not really sure when that started for me, but I think being a Vic Country kid kind of played into that a little bit. You know, having a chip on our shoulders coming into national championships as a junior. You know really being around that mark where we can take it out but it’s not given to us, has been something that has stayed with me throughout my career.
I guess too, being in really competitive environments where I need to compete, I need to earn what I get, is something that has definitely helped. And just the knowledge that winning is the thing that people value most, so anything I can do to win, whether it’s on offence, defence, whatever it is off the court, I’m going to try to do it.
Q. A trademark of some of those Duke teams you were on was not just the high level talent, but everyone knowing their role and playing to their strengths, which is important with new guys coming in each year. I see a lot of that in this United team. How do you compare how this team has come together to some of those Blue Devils teams?
Yeah definitely similar in a lot of ways. Obviously with a lot of talent, trying to work out how guys fit can sometimes be a challenge, but I think the common denominator between this year and years’ past with Duke is just being that everyone has really bought into the team values.
Our little team mantra this year is ‘Share’ and we have a little acronym for that with certain things that we value ourselves with our culture. That is definitely something that was consistent at Duke. You know being all in and buying in and having no egos. That really just helped teams come together. One night might be my night to score a lot of points; another night I might not get the ball and that many opportunities. I think that’s kind of how our team’s going to be.
We’re so deep and as I said before, eleven, twelve guys can all bring something to the table and if it’s one guy’s night, then we’re gonna get him the ball and put him in situations to be successful, and that I think really makes us tough to guard and tough to play against. We’re just so good down the roster that you never really know how it’s gonna go night in and night out.
Q. It was a little overlooked because of the hype around Josh Giddey, but that was your pro debut also. Any nerves coming in, especially starting?
Nah, not really. At that point I was just excited to get going. Honestly, my job is pretty easy when I’ve got Mitch McCarron, Chris [Goulding], Jock Landale and Scotty Hopson out there with me.
My job’s pretty simple; just space the floor, play hard, talk, defend and rebound, and just trust my instincts. And that’s what the guys have drilled into me. Just go out there and play, play hard and good things will happen.
I really just tried not to overcomplicate things and that made the nerves settle a little bit. I was really just excited to play and try to get our first win as a group.
Q. On Friday, we saw the athletic Jack White, the hustle guy Jack White, the defensive minded Jack White and the unselfish Jack White – all hallmarks of your game and what you’ve built your reputation on to this point in your career. What didn’t we see on Friday that you also bring to the table?
I think my ability to space the floor. That was probably the thing that I was kicking myself about the most. I had great looks from the three-point line but I just wasn’t getting them to go in unfortunately; that’s just how it is sometimes.
I’m confident in my shot and so are all the fellas and coaching staff, so I’ve just got to continue to shoot good shots and believe in the law of averages that it’ll even itself out. That was probably the main thing, but I was just happy to come away with the win honestly.
Q. Talk to me briefly about how tough it’s been, being away from home and how good it is to be back in Melbourne, albeit briefly, this week?
Yeah it’s been a bit of a challenge. For me, I’m in a bit more of a fortunate situation where obviously I don’t have kids [and] my partner is still in the U.S., so I wasn’t really trying to organise flights for family to potentially come up to Queensland if we were going to be staying there for an extended period of time or anything of that nature. So, for me, I guess more just concerned for the other fellas who are in a bit more of a difficult situation.
But now that we’re back in Melbourne, it just feels great. Get some practices under our belt at our training venue at MSAC and just have a bit of continuity in our schedule because it’s been all over the place; a bit of uncertainty in the air, which honestly is something that all teams are going to have to face and all teams pretty much have faced so far.
But I think with our team, we’re going to able to handle that adversity really well, whatever comes our way and just roll with the punches. I think whatever team can do that the best year will have the best chance of coming out on top.
Q. You guys face Cairns on Monday – a team that also bowed out in the semi-finals last year and just got embarrassed on their home floor against the Hawks. How do you guys keep that momentum from the second half against Adelaide and embarrass them again?
I think for us it all starts with our defence and our energy. I think we can really make it hard for teams to score and that can be a bit deflating at times. And then that just flows nicely into our offence and we get some easy buckets. Obviously we have shooters all around the floor. Chris was able to make some big threes for us and kind of push that lead out really efficiently.
I think for us, we’re just going to focus on taking their keys out of the game and make other guys have to step up and really play a big role for them.
But we’ll definitely look to get [win] number two on Monday. Would be a big statement for us going to their home floor after they’ve had a bit of a rough start. They’re going to look to bounce back and we’re going to try and cement that second win, so I think it will be a really good clash.
Q. Finally, there are already big expectations on this team as title favourites. I’m sure as a group you obviously share that expectation. Are you guys actively keeping a lid on that or do you embrace that mantle?
I guess we embrace it in a way. I wouldn’t say that’s in the front of our minds every day – it’s definitely in the back as a goal that we want to tick off and a goal that we want to achieve.
So it’s definitely there, but I think for us, the best focus we can have is just taking care of the day to day, especially knowing that things can change pretty quickly in this league with things like border restrictions and movement in schedule.
So I think just trying to make the most of every day will give us the best opportunity to achieve that long term goals in a few months. So just really trying to make the most of each game, each practice. Each opportunity that we have to be together and get out there on the floor, just try to make the most of it.
