The University of Florida has hired Michael White as head men’s basketball coach, director of athletics Jeremy Foley announced on Thursday.
White, the 2014-15 Conference USA Coach of the Year, comes to the Gators after leading Louisiana Tech to a 101-40 record (.716) over the past four seasons, including three straight conference championships. Born in Dunedin, Fla., White brings a wealth of SEC experience to the Gators, as a four-year starter at Ole Miss and later an assistant coach for seven seasons under two different head coaches on the Rebels’ bench.
“I have an incredible amount of respect for the University of Florida, and I am so excited to be a Gator,” White said. “Not only is Florida home for me, but the tradition and success that the Gators have built make this an incredible opportunity. I know about the great home court advantage in the O’Connell Center, which is a testament to the fans and the Rowdy Reptiles. There’s an unbelievable commitment to excellence athletically and academically at UF, and it starts with the leadership of Dr. Fuchs and Jeremy Foley. I look forward to returning to the SEC where I have a lot of great memories, and I can’t wait to create many more alongside The Gator Nation.”
White has agreed in principle to a six-year deal at an average of $2 million per year.
“Michael White is someone who came to the top of our list very quickly and he checks all of the boxes we were looking for,” Foley said. “He is a winner who has a high level of integrity, plays an up-tempo style of play and has the respect of his peers and the basketball community. He has experience in coaching, recruiting and playing in the Southeastern Conference and has a strong pedigree. He has a certain authenticity with people and is not afraid of challenges.”
“Coach White brings with him a distinguished career and an extraordinary record of success,” UF President Kent Fuchs said. “I have no doubt he will uphold high standards on and off the court, and am delighted to welcome him to the Gator Nation.”
| Current SEC Coaches in First Season at School | ||||
| School | Coach | Season | Overall | SEC |
| Alabama | Avery Johnson | 2015-16 | ??? | ??? |
| Arkansas | Mike Anderson | 2011-12 | 18-14 | 6-10 |
| Auburn | Bruce Pearl | 2014-15 | 15-20 | 4-14 |
| Florida | Michael White | 2015-16 | ??? | ??? |
| Georgia | Mark Fox | 2009-10 | 14-17 | 5-11 |
| Kentucky | John Calipari | 2009-10 | 35-3 | 14-2 |
| LSU | Johnny Jones | 2012-13 | 19-12 | 9-9 |
| Ole Miss | Andy Kennedy | 2006-07 | 21-13 | 8-8 |
| Mississippi State | Ben Howland | 2015-16 | ??? | ??? |
| Missouri | Kim Anderson | 2014-15 | 9-20 | 3-15 |
| South Carolina | Frank Martin | 2012-13 | 14-18 | 4-14 |
| Tennessee | Rick Barnes | 2015-16 | ??? | ??? |
| Texas A&M | Billy Kennedy | 2011-12 | 14-18 | 4-14 (B12) |
| Vanderbilt | Kevin Stallings | 1999-2000 | 19-11 | 8-8 |
Under White’s leadership, the Bulldogs have also advanced to the NIT in each of the past three seasons, including quarterfinals appearances in 2014 and 2015. In all three NIT appearances, Louisiana Tech posted a road victory over a major-conference opponent, toppling Florida State in 2013, Georgia in 2014 and Texas A&M in 2015 on their home floors. White gets the job done in friendly confines, as well, as he departs the Bulldogs with a 30-game home winning streak intact. He will be one of four new head coaches in the SEC next season, as Alabama, Mississippi State and Tennessee will have new bench bosses, as well.
White brings to Florida a high-energy, fast-paced system that allows players to flourish. In four seasons at LA Tech, the Bulldogs averaged 74.2 points, 7.4 3-pointers made, 14.0 assists, 8.4 steals, 4.9 blocked shots and 16.1 turnovers forced (seventh in the nation during that span).
The Bulldogs’ amazing team and individual feats during White’s time leading the program are a testament to the style of play that White coaches. In addition to three straight conference championships, he coached the 2015 C-USA Player of the Year, a 2015 AP All-American, two WAC Newcomer of the Year winners, the 2014 C-USA Sixth Man of the Year, multiple All-Defensive Team nods, the 2014 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and LA Tech’s all-time assists record-holder (listed in detail at the end of this release).
Every season under White’s watch, multiple players landed on all-conference teams, including three – Raheem Appleby, Kenneth “Speedy” Smith and Alex Hamilton – in 2014-15. Smith was also named the 2014-15 Conference USA Player of the Year
In total, four players earned all-conference honors nine times over the course of four seasons. In addition, White’s players earned
In 141 games as the LA Tech head coach, 11 different players turned in a total of 69 individual 20-point performances, led by Appleby with 29 games scoring 20 or more and topping the 25-point mark 12 times. Appleby, a three-time all-conference selection at LA Tech, concluded his career with 1,770 points scored (13.9 average), sixth on Louisiana Tech’s all-time scoring list, just ahead of Karl Malone.
| Florida First-Year Coaching Records (Since 1950) | |||
| Coach | Season | Overall | SEC |
| Billy Donovan | 1996-97 | 13-17 | 5-11 |
| Lon Kruger | 1990-91 | 11-17 | 7-11 |
| Don DeVoe | 1989-90 | 7-21 | 3-15 |
| Norm Sloan | 1980-81 | 12-16 | 5-13 |
| John Lotz | 1973-74 | 15-11 | 9-9 |
| Tommy Bartlett | 1966-67 | 21-4 | 14-4 |
| Norm Sloan | 1960-61 | 15-11 | 9-5 |
| John Mauer | 1951-52 | 15-9 | 7-7 |
Over the course of a four-year career at Louisiana Tech that coincided with White’s tenure, point guard Smith totaled a school-record 858 assists and holds the nation’s best total over the past four seasons. Smith was also the country’s single-season leader with 267 assists in 2014-15 and rated second in the nation in 2013-14 with 278, the Bulldogs’ single-season record. Smith tallied 22 games with double-digit assists, including a school-record 15 vs. Central Arkansas in 2012.
White’s players have mastered effectively scoring – his team has led its conference in points scored each of the past three seasons – while also valuing possession. Louisiana Tech has led Conference USA in assist-to-turnover ratio both seasons since joining the league and has been conference leaders in turnover margin each of the past three seasons. The Bulldogs have also led their league in either field goals made or 3-point field goals made all four seasons under White.
This aggressiveness is not confined to the offensive end of the floor, either. The Bulldogs have ranked in the top 10 nationally in steals each of the past two seasons, nabbing 303 (8th) in 2014-15 and 339 (4th) in 2013-14. LA Tech also finished 15th in the country last season with 15.6 turnovers forced per game and eighth in 2012-13, causing 17.4 per game.
But White also gets the job done in the one stat that matters most – wins and losses. Since joining C-USA in 2013, Louisiana Tech has the league’s best record, both in conference play (28-6; .824) and overall (56-17, .767). He has led the Bulldogs to 16 wins vs. RPI Top-100 teams, with LA Tech finishing 54th or better in the RPI rankings each of the past four seasons.
Making his head coaching debut at age 35 in 2011-12, White took one of the youngest rosters in the nation to its first Western Athletic Conference Tournament final in program history, upsetting both Utah State and top-seeded Nevada along the way. The Bulldogs finished 18-16, a six-game improvement over the previous season, while Appleby earned the first of his three career all-conference nods and Trevor Gaskins also earned all-WAC recognition. Appleby’s 446 points that season also rated fifth-most all-time by a LA Tech freshman.
During his second season in the bench, the Bulldogs reeled off a program-record 18-game winning streak and appeared in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings for the first time in 28 years. The Bulldogs saw an 11-win improvement in White’s second season, finishing 27-7 overall, and a 12-win bump in conference action as a 16-2 mark earned the Bulldogs a WAC co-championship. The 16 conference wins also set a school record, and White was named the Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year, the United States Basketball Writers Association District VII Coach of the Year and NABC District 6 Coach of the Year, while Appleby and Smith both landed All-WAC honors.
In 2013-14, Louisiana Tech moved into Conference USA, but White’s squad did not miss a beat as the Bulldogs matched the program record with 29 victories, including an eight-game road winning streak, finishing 29-8 and 13-3 in C-USA action to share the league crown. LA Tech averaged 81.0 points per game and finished in the top six nationally in scoring margin (third), steals per game (fifth) and turnover margin (sixth), while also landing in the top 20 in scoring offense (t-12th) and assists per game (17th). After one of the greatest seasons in program history, White was named the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches (LABC) Major College Coach of the Year, while Smith and Hamilton both earned All-Conference USA recognition.
This past season’s 27-9 effort also produced a 15-3 conference record as the Bulldogs won the regular season C-USA championship by a two-game margin. LA Tech, whose 2014-15 roster included five players from the state of Florida, sported a perfect 17-0 record on its home court. In conference play, the Bulldogs’ 158 steals were 31 more than the second-ranked team’s total. The Bulldogs were well-honored for their efforts with three players – Smith, Appleby and Hamilton – earning all-conference recognition, the most Bulldogs to receive the honor since the 1991-92 season.
Last season, ESPN’s Jay Bilas noted that White is one of the nation’s best young coaches: “White is a superstar and has done a remarkable job at Louisiana Tech. He has this in his blood.”
Prior to getting his first head coaching job at Louisiana Tech, White spent seven seasons from 2004-11 on the Ole Miss coaching staff where he developed a reputation as one of the top assistant coaches in the country. After two seasons coaching under Rod Barnes, White was retained when Andy Kennedy took over the program in 2006. In White’s five seasons working in Oxford under Kennedy, they helped lead the Rebels to 20 wins and an NIT berth four times, including two runs to the NIT Final Four, and SEC West titles in 2007 and 2010. In addition to recruiting responsibilities, White also worked closely with the Rebel guards. While White was on staff, Terrico White earned the 2009 SEC Freshman of the Year award and Freshman All-America accolades in 2009.
Prior to his stint on the Ole Miss staff, White spent four years at Jacksonville State from 2000-04, three as an assistant coach and the final season as associate head coach. During his time at the school, Jacksonville State posted the only 20-win season in its Division I history and recorded the program's first-ever win in an Atlantic Sun conference tournament game.
Though born in Dunedin, White lived all over the country before his family settled in New Orleans where he played high school basketball at Jesuit High School. He signed with Ole Miss, where he was a four-year starter at point guard for the Rebels in the late 1990s.
As a four-year starter for the Rebels from 1995-99, White helped lead Ole Miss to consecutive SEC West Division titles in 1997 and 1998, three straight NCAA Tournament berths from 1997-99 and the program's first ever NCAA Tournament win, topping Villanova in the first round in 1999. He was a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection and a member of the 1999 SEC Good Works Team.
After being invited to the Utah Jazz's summer training camp following his college career, White spent the 1999-2000 season playing professionally for the IBL's New Mexico Slam and in England before returning to Ole Miss in the spring of 2000 to complete his B.A. in business.
White's passion for and knowledge of college basketball came naturally, growing up around the game as his father, Kevin White, served as athletic director at Notre Dame, Arizona State, Tulane and Maine. Kevin White is currently the AD at Duke. Michael's younger brother, Danny, played basketball at Towson and Notre Dame, and is now the athletic director at the University of Buffalo. Youngest brother Brian is an associate athletic director at Tulsa.
He is married to the former Kira Zschau, an all-SEC volleyball player at Ole Miss, who also has a law degree from the university. The couple has two daughters, Rylee and Maggie, twin boys, Collin and Keegan, and a son, Dillon.
White Coaching Timeline
| 2000-04 | Jacksonville State | Assistant Coach/Associate Head Coach |
| 2004-11 | Ole Miss | Assistant Coach |
| 2011-15 | Louisiana Tech | Head Coach |
| 2015 | Florida | Head Coach |
Louisiana Tech Player Recognitions under White
| 2011-12 | Raheem Appleby | Second-team All-WAC |
| WAC Newcomer of the Year | ||
| Trevor Gaskins | All-WAC Honorable Mention | |
| WAC All-Defensive Team | ||
| 2012-13 | Raheem Appleby | First-team All-WAC |
| Alex Hamilton | WAC Newcomer of the Year | |
| Michale Kyser | WAC All-Defensive Team | |
| Kenneth Smith | First-team All-WAC | |
| WAC All-Defensive Team | ||
| 2013-14 | Alex Hamilton | Third-team All-Conference USA |
| Michale Kyser | C-USA All-Defensive Team | |
| Kenyon McNeail | Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year | |
| Kenneth Smith | First-team All-Conference USA | |
| C-USA Defensive Player of the Year | ||
| C-USA All-Defensive Team | ||
| 2014-15 | Raheem Appleby | Second-team All-Conference USA |
| Alex Hamilton | Second-team All-Conference USA | |
| Michale Kyser | C-USA All-Defensive Team | |
| Kenneth Smith | AP All-American Honorable Mention | |
| C-USA Player of the Year | ||
| First-team All-Conference USA | ||
| C-USA All-Defensive Team |
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