Forget the individual stuff, Royce White has just one goal for his final season of high school basketball. “Win the state,” he told Sports Headliners.
He and his Hopkins teammates open their schedule on Tuesday night at Patrick Henry, the first of two games with the city conference power. White is looking forward to the season, hoping his first year with the Royals will end with a state Class AAAA championship.
White transferred to Hopkins after last season at DeLaSalle where he made news mostly because of his extraordinary play. It was a confident and personable White who talked about the coming season following Tuesday night’s Gopher game at Williams Arena. His approach will be to “prepare” to avoid any issues and he undoubtedly knows people will be watching him with greater interest than ever now that he’s committed to Minnesota.
The 6-7 forward, who weighs about 215 pounds, is a five star college prospect, according to rivals.com. A “sky’s the limit” type of talent, White is the Rivals No. 19 prospect in the country and No. 2 small forward.
Ken Lien, the Mr. Basketball Committee chair, has seen White play more than a dozen times. “He’s a big, strong athletic kid who has gone from being a post player as a sophomore to having a pretty good offensive shot, although he needs improvement,” Lien said. “He can post up players well. He has the ability to play pretty good defense because he’s athletic but he hasn’t decided he wants to play hard every minute, every play.”
With the NBA already scouting him and a summer that included attending LeBron James’ camp, there is no doubt White can realistically set a goal for playing one day at the highest pro level. But for now he must focus on his senior season and any thoughts of what’s next are more appropriate for his coming Gopher career.
White signed a National Letter of Intent with the Gophers last month. His second college choice? None, he said on Tuesday night.
Remaining home for college means the opportunity to stay close to family and also play for coach Tubby Smith. The 7 and 0 Gophers will have all their most important players back next season when White is a freshman. He’s planning to be a Gopher for awhile and part of a team that could have exceptional success. And, yes, he admitted, he can be better defensively, a Tubby Smith must-do.