College
White was implicated in early investigations of the University of Michigan basketball scandal because he accepted US$37,000. He was not named in later indictments and was not named as having been called before the grand jury. It was not clear how much money White received and how much was given to his friends and family to influence his decision to attend Michigan. Although White was one of several players captured on federal wiretaps and interviewed by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, he cooperated fully and did not need to hire a lawyer. He was not among the players called before the grand jury (Robert Traylor, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Maurice Taylor, and Louis Bullock) and was not found to have received large amounts of money.
White transferred to the Missouri Tigers men's basketball team due to a clash with Steve Fisher after his freshman year with the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. White left the team for what was described as disciplinary reasons. White, who averaged 9.0 points and 4.7 rebounds, had been one of the most improved players during the previous season. He averaged eleven points and seven rebounds during the final seven Big Ten Conference games. Nonetheless, he was suspended for the first semester in October 1996 for violating a team rule.
White played for the 1995–1996 Michigan Wolverines team that went to the 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a seventh seed, but lost 80–76 in the first round to the Texas Longhorns men's basketball team. He returned to the 1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as an eighth seed with Missouri, but lost 61–59 in the first round to the New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team. However, as a result of the University of Michigan basketball scandal, Michigan has forfeited all games from the 1995–1996 season. As of 2008, the second place Big 12 finish that season is the only top four placing for the Tigers since the formation of the Big 12 conference during the 1996–1997 season.
During the 1998–1999 season he became the first Missouri Tigers player to lead the team in scoring, rebounds and assists in the same season, and he placed in the top five in the Big 12 in both scoring and rebounding. That season he helped the Missouri Tigers snap the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team's 35 game home conference winning streak which had extended from February 20, 1994 to January 1999. That season he was twice named Big 12 men's basketball player of the week and made the official All-Big 12 first team. CNN/Sports Illustrated named White the Player of the Year in the Big 12. However, he lost the official conference player of the year award to Venson Hamilton, and he was only listed as a second team All-Big 12 player by the Associated Press.
After his redshirt junior season, he declared himself eligible for the 1999 NBA draft with one year of collegiate eligibility remaining, making him the first Missouri Tiger to declare early for the NBA draft. Although some speculated that he was making a mistake declaring early for the draft, he had the burden of child support and some projected him as a likely draft selection. White went undrafted in the NBA draft after surrendering his final year of eligibility. However, that year some other early draft entrants met with better success: the first four selections (Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, and Lamar Odom) also had surrendered some remaining collegiate eligibility by declaring themselves eligible to be drafted in the NBA draft and high schoolers Jonathan Bender and Leon Smith were drafted in the first round. Many other underclassmen in his draft year such as Ron Artest, Richard Hamilton, and Corey Maggette have gone on to have successful NBA careers.
Read more about this topic: Albert White (basketball)
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