Donald S. White (April 22, 1898 – July 12, 1983)[1] was an American college basketball player and coach. Raised in Lebanon, Indiana, White was a standout basketball player at Lebanon High School and led them to consecutive state championships in 1917 and 1918. He attended Purdue University and played for their basketball and baseball teams.[2][3] As a senior in 1920–21, White led the Western Conference (now known as the Big Ten Conference) in scoring and his Boilermakers to a conference championship. He was named first-team all-Western Conference and was also declared a consensus All-American by the Helms Athletic Foundation.[4]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 22, 1898 Lebanon, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 12, 1983 (aged 85) Kosciusko County, Indiana, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Career information | |
| High school | Lebanon (Lebanon, Indiana) |
| College | Purdue (1918–1921) |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career | 1923–1963 |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1923–1935 | Washington University |
| 1936–1945 | Connecticut |
| 1945–1956, 1962–1963 | Rutgers |
| 1956 | Thailand national team |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
White became a head coach after his playing days. He served as head coach at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Connecticut, and Rutgers University.[5][6] He won or tied seven conference regular season championships throughout his career: three at Washington University, one at Connecticut, and three at Rutgers.[5] White compiled an overall career record of 301–332.[5]
Internationally, White was chosen by the U.S. State Department to establish a basketball program in Thailand.[7] He was the national basketball team head coach in the 1956 Summer Olympics,[7] placing 15th out of 15 squads.
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington University Bears (Missouri Valley Conference) (1923–1935) | |||||||||
| 1923–24 | Washington University | 10–9 | 8–8 | 4th | |||||
| 1924–25 | Washington University | 10–8 | 10–6 | 3rd | |||||
| 1925–26 | Washington University | 7–9 | 7–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1926–27 | Washington University | 5–10 | 2–8 | 9th | |||||
| 1927–28 | Washington University | 10–12 | 8–10 | 5th | |||||
| 1928–29 | Washington University | 11–7 | 7–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1929–30 | Washington University | 8–8 | 6–2 | 1st | |||||
| 1930–31 | Washington University | 6–12 | 5–3 | 1st | |||||
| 1931–32 | Washington University | 10–9 | 3–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1932–33 | Washington University | 11–6 | 5–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1933–34 | Washington University | 7–11 | 4–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1934–35 | Washington University | 7–11 | 6–6 | 4th | |||||
| Washington University: | 102–112 (.477) | 71–68 (.511) | |||||||
| Connecticut Huskies (Independent) (1936–1937) | |||||||||
| 1936–37 | Connecticut | 11–7 | |||||||
| Connecticut Huskies (New England Conference) (1937–1943) | |||||||||
| 1937–38 | Connecticut | 13–5 | 4–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1938–39 | Connecticut | 12–6 | 6–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1939–40 | Connecticut | 9–7 | 6–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1940–41 | Connecticut | 14–2 | 7–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1941–42 | Connecticut | 12–5 | 6–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1942–43 | Connecticut | 8–7 | 5–3 | 2nd | |||||
| Connecticut Huskies (Independent) (1943–1945) | |||||||||
| 1943–44 | Connecticut | 10–9 | |||||||
| 1944–45 | Connecticut | 5–11 | |||||||
| Connecticut: | 94–59 (.614) | 34–14 (.708) | |||||||
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Independent) (1945–1948) | |||||||||
| 1945–46 | Rutgers | 13–7 | |||||||
| 1946–47 | Rutgers | 7–12 | |||||||
| 1947–48 | Rutgers | 14–9 | |||||||
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Middle Three Conference) (1948–1952) | |||||||||
| 1948–49 | Rutgers | 14–12 | 3–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1949–50 | Rutgers | 13–15 | 3–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1950–51 | Rutgers | 7–14 | 3–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1951–52 | Rutgers | 6–13 | 1–2 | 2nd | |||||
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Independent) (1952–1956) | |||||||||
| 1952–53 | Rutgers | 8–13 | |||||||
| 1953–54 | Rutgers | 11–13 | |||||||
| 1954–55 | Rutgers | 2–22 | |||||||
| 1955–56 | Rutgers | 3–15 | |||||||
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Independent) (1962–1963) | |||||||||
| 1962–63 | Rutgers | 7–16 | |||||||
| Rutgers: | 105–161 (.395) | 10–5 (.667) |
| ||||||
| Total: | 301–332 (.476) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "DONALD WHITE (1898–1983)". Mocavo. Social Security Death Index. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ "Men's Basketball All-Americans". PurdueSports.com. Purdue University. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ Oshman, Jackie (2014). "2014 Purdue Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Letterwinners. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ "NCAA All-Americans". apbr.org. Association for Professional Basketball Research. 1999. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Donald White Coaching Record". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ "2014–15 Washington University Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Yearly records. Washington University in St. Louis. 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ a b "Donald White". Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 18, 2015.