Oct. 3, 2002
Burlington, Vt. -
Former men's basketball standout, Kenny White '92,
Vermont's all-time leader in assists and games played is among 11 former
University of Vermont student-athletes who will be inducted into UVM's
Athletic Hall of Fame this Friday, October 4, 2002.
The inductees will be lauded at the 34th annual Athletic Hall of Fame
Celebration and Dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Burlington. The dinner will
be held on Friday, October 4, 2002 with a reception at 7:30 p.m. and the
induction dinner beginning at 8:00 p.m. A portrait-hanging ceremony will be
held at 6:00 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Room in Patrick Gymnasium. For ticket
information, please contact the UVM Athletic Ticket Office at 802/656-4410.
White was instrumental in the turnaround of the men's basketball program.
He was the first of a succession of standout Catamount four-year point
guards that has continued with Eddie Benton '96, David Roach '00 and now
T.J. Sorrentine '04, the reigning Kevin Roberson America East Player of the
Year.
White and classmate Kevin Roberson were cornerstone recruits who led to
UVM's improvement from a 6-21 record in 1988-89 to a 15-13 mark as juniors
and 16-13 in 1991-92. The back-to-back winning seasons were the first for
UVM in 16 years. Very durable and steady, he led the conference in
assist-to-turnover ratio for three straight seasons.
"Kenny White, by himself, raised the bar in our program as to how hard
someone needs to work to be successful," commented UVM head coach Tom
Brennan. "His work ethic rubbed off on others and that turned our program
around."
Never missing a game in his career, White is one of two players to start
every game for four years (Hall of Famer Mike Evelti is the other). In his
114-game career, he recorded school-record 565 assists. A good outside
shooter, he ranks among the Vermont career leaders in three-point field
goals (5th - 181) and steals (4th - 146).
A high school legend from Staten Island, he set a national record with 17
three-pointers in one game (of his 75 points that night) to earn a spot in
Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd.
As a freshman at UVM, White earned conference All-Rookie honors, averaging
11.2 points per game to go with 123 assists.
As a sophomore, he quarterbacked the fifth-seeded Catamounts (13-17) to
their only appearance in the conference title game and his 159 assists,
third in the NAC, and the second most in a season at UVM.
White led Vermont to its first winning season in 10 years and a
fourth-place finish in the NAC as a junior. Again, he ranked third in the
conference in assists. Despite losing three starters to graduation White
and Roberson led the Catamounts to a 16-13 record as seniors. White's 4.8
assists per game were second in the NAC as the team finished fourth in the
standings and advanced to the conference semifinals for the second time in
his three seasons.
A terrific student with a dual major in History and Political Science,
White earned a spot on the conference academic honor roll three straight
seasons. He won the team's academic award three times and in 1992, won the
New England Coaches Association Academic Award. He was the receipient of
the Class of 1992 Outstanding Leadership Award at Commencement Ceremonies
in 1992.
Following graduation from UVM, White earned his Master's Degree in Applied
Physiology in 1999 from Columbia. White is currently the strength and
conditioning coach at Stony Brook University. Prior to his move to Stony
Brook in 1999, he held the same position at St. Bonaventure from 1997 to
1999 and also served as an assistant men's basketball coach at New York
University in 1994-95.
