White signs with Indiana

With the loss of Marco Killingsworth and Sean Kline, it seems as if it was pretty imperative that the Indiana staff try to add some frontcourt depth this spring no matter what the upcoming decision of sophomore D.J. White. It appears help is on the way as the IU today announced that 6-foot-6, 235-pound forward Mike White from Lee College in Baytown, Texas has indeed sent in a signed letter of intent to join the 2006-07 Indiana team.

White adds much needed frontcourt strength

Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson trumpeted the good news this afternoon.

"Our immediate need is shore up areas of concern, and one of our biggest concerns is the front line," Sampson said. "Mike is a little undersized as a power forward, but he is a strong, physical, hard-nosed and aggressive player who is going to fit in real well at Indiana. Mike is a great kid that has a high character and will represent Indiana well on and off the court."

This year at Lee, White averaged 19.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game and shot .590 from the field. Last year as a freshman, his numbers were also impressive, averaging 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest. After this year's campaign, White was named Region XIV co-MVP and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) third team All-American.

While at Oklahoma, Sampson had recruited White and had the Sooners in an apparent leadership position. The move to the Big Ten did faze the forward according to his coach Roy Champagne.

"Mike was looking at Purdue, Ohio State, and Nebraska in the fall, so it's not like a Big Ten school was out of the blue," Champagne said. "It's just that Indiana had the coaching change. They actually weren't recruiting him before (Coach Sampson got there). He's got a great record of getting JC players and them being very good players in his program."

Last week the coach made it clear his player is ready for the pounding of the Big Ten.

"He is 6-foot-6, 235-pound man," said Champagne. "We call him 'King Kong' --he is just a beast. His freshman year we pretty much rode him block to block and this sophomore year he has really opened up his game. Really faced up and shot that 15 to 16-footer. He ended up going 4-9 from the 3-point line and I think he has the ability to do even more of that."

White joins a recruiting class that includes 6-foot-1 point guard Armon Bassett from Hargrave Military and Terre Haute, Indiana and Hunstville (Ala.) Johnson 6-foot-5 wing Xavier Keeling. Both Bassett and Keeling are weighing decisions to stick with the Hoosiers given the recent coaching change.