Melbourne United rookie Jack White had just begun a fantastic rookie season when he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury against the Cairns Taipans in April.
Jack now faces 12 months of rehabilitation to get back onto the court and in uniform for United.
White grew up playing basketball in Traralgon, a small country town in regional Victoria before starring at a state level and then moving to Canberra to attend Basketball Australia’s Centre Of Excellence.
His development at the AIS saw numerous US colleges offer Jack basketball scholarship’s but legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski offered him the opportunity to become the first Australian to play at Duke University the decision-making process was over.
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White spent four years playing at Duke University which saw him team up with NBA superstars like Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Marvin Bagley III, Jayson Tatum and many others. Jack became team captain during his junior year and led the team to an Elite Eight appearance in his third season. Duke seemed primed to record their best result in over 5 years in 2020 behind the leadership of White and stellar play of future NBA stars Tre Jones, Cassius Stanley and Vernon Carey but the NCAA tournament would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus.
After interviewing with some NBA teams but going undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft Jack signed a three-year deal to play with Melbourne United.
We spoke to Jack about his take on his own rookie season prior to the injury, get an update on his injury and rehab as well as take look at why he chose to sign with United for his debut season as a professional, memories of playing at Duke University with NBA stars like Zion Williamson, Jayson Tatum and Cam Reddish and what teams he think will find themselves in the NBL Finals this year and what Melbourne needs to do to get there.
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Topics include;
- An update on Jack’s Achilles injury post surgery? (2:00)
- What is causing the increase in injuries in the NBL this season? (5:00)
- Jack’s take on his season before so far (9:00)
- Jack’s role with Melbourne United and how it’s different to his role at Duke University (12:00)
- Wrapping up college (18:00)
- Why he decided Melbourne United was the best team to play for in his first year as a pro (20:00)
- The Gippsland basketball connection at Melbourne United (23:00)
- The biggest learning curve from his rookie season so far (24:00)
- Highlights of his first year in the league (26:00)
- Duke coach Mike K opinion of Jack White as a basketball player (30:00)
- Thoughts of Melbourne United’s chances of making the Finals and who they will face
All of this and a whole lot more…
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
