Derrick White's Biography And Professional NBA Career
Derrick White's professional career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is still in its early stages but he is showing lots of promise. No one would have believed that a kid who almost ended up in a culinary school because he had no offers to play collegiate basketball after high school would suddenly find his feet in the NBA as is the case with Derrick White.
His selection on the night of the 2017 NBA Draft, as the NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, said the sentence "With the 29th pick, San Antonio selects Derrick White", established the saying that you can be whatever you want to be if you work hard enough. It summarizes the Derrick White's chase for the "American Dream" which reached its climax as he watched with his family and friends as Commissioner Silver called his name from the draft podium.
Born and raised in Parker, a town situated at the southeast of Denver, Colorado, Derrick was welcomed to mother earth on the 2nd of July 1994. Information about his family is not available in great detail but his father name is given as Richard White and his mother is Colleen White. His love for the game of basketball was evident as a young child but his small and fragile body frame remained a clog in his wheel.
He attended Legend High School in Parker, Colorado where he continued playing basketball until he graduated. Then came the challenge as despite his good stats from his high school career, White never got offers for college football. He was largely overlooked because of his small body frame with the only offer he got coming from Johnson & Wales University, a culinary school. His parents hope for the best as his father, Richard sent out his tapes to schools to have a look, but still, no offer came. Derrick White shakes hands with his dad Richard.
Weeks turned into months and White had resigned to enroll at the culinary school (at least they had a basketball court) whose coach, Jeff Culver, was interested in him. However, by a stroke of luck, Culver was appointed the head coach of NCAA Division II school, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and guess what, Derrick White became his first recruit for the Mountain Lions. He was billed to be redshirted for his freshman season to allow him to ease into the side, however, following an injury to the team's guard, White was called into the action and never looked back. He soon proved too good for the Division II that Division I teams came calling. And even though he was emotional about leaving, moving to a Division I team was a big step closer to the NBA. He moved to the University of Colorado in Boulder to play his final college season for the Colorado Buffaloes after playing three seasons for UCCS with the Mountain Lions. He averaged 18. 1 points, 4. 1 rebounds and 4. 4 assists per game in his lone season with the Buffaloes which was termed successful and in recognition of his efforts, White was selected to the first-team All-Pac-12 and also was part of the five-man All-Defensive team.
Derrick White's road to the NBA had been anything but smooth and unlike the majority of other kids around him who had the media blowing their trumpets from high school through college before they landed at the drafts, White has had to earn every single opportunity he ever got. It was so rough for him that someone joked and said that he would be the first recruit that would use the funds from his rookie contract to pay off student loans. He was drafted in the 2017 NBA Draft with the 29th overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs and by July, he signed to dotted lines and landed his first NBA contract. After making his debut from the bench against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was sent to the Spurs affiliate team in the NBA G League, the Austin Spurs. He has since been recalled to the Spurs setup but is biding his time.
