| Royce White | |
|---|---|
| College | Iowa State |
| Conference | Big 12 |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Position | Power forward |
| Jersey # | 30 |
| Class | Sophomore |
| Major | Liberal studies |
| Height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Weight | 270 lb (122 kg) |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | April 10, 1991 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| High school | DeLaSalle (freshman-junior) Hopkins (senior) |
| Former school(s) | Minnesota |
| Honors | |
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| Championships | |
| Class 4A MSHSL (2009) Class 3A MSHSL (2006) |
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Royce Alexander White (born April 10, 1991) is an American college basketball power forward with the Iowa State Cyclones basketball team who is playing his redshirt sophomore season for the 2011–12 team. He previously was a high school basketball star in the state of Minnesota and had committed to play for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team. He has endured disciplinary issues that have necessitated transfers in both high school and college.
White was the 2009 Minnesota Mr. Basketball and a two-time Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) championship team member. He was a Class 3A MSHSL champion in 2006 with DeLaSalle High School as a freshman and a Class 4A MSHSL champion in 2009 with Hopkins High School as a senior.
White originally committed to be a member of the 2009–10 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team. However an October 2009 incident at the Mall of America led to his suspension for the season. His suspicion in a university laptop theft and trespass incident in November led to his withdrawal from the University of Minnesota. White eventually transferred to Iowa State University, where he began playing college basketball in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I season. His success at the college and professional level is highly anticipated.
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Born in Minneapolis,[1] White went to DeLaSalle High School for his freshman to junior years. For his senior year, White went to Hopkins High School. He was rated as the 2nd, 8th and 10th best high school power forward in the national class of 2009 by Rivals.com, ESPN.com and Scout.com, respectively.[2][3][4] Rivals ranked him 19th overall, while ESPN ranked him 35th.[2][3] He had dozens of collegiate scholarship offers,[5] including Minnesota, Creighton, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State, Purdue, Texas, USC, and Wisconsin.[4] White was one of 20 2009 Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans,[6] and he was recognized by the St. Paul Pioneer Press as a First-Team All-State honoree.[7]
As a freshman, White made a jump shot that gave his team the lead for good in the middle of the second half to put his team in the 2006 Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) 3A championship game.[8] The team went on to win the championship. Following his sophomore season where he led DeLaSalle to a 19–8 record, White participated in the 2007 LeBron James US Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio and The Nike Global Challenge at the University of Portland.[5] As a high school junior, he was suspended for the first two games of the 2007–08 season at DeLaSalle and later dismissed from school after the team struggled to an 11–10 start.[5] After transferring to Hopkins, he won the Class 4A MSHSL Championship in 2009, giving him his second state championship.[1] Hopkins finished 10th in the final USA Today national poll.[9]
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royce White PF |
Minneapolis, MN | DeLaSalle (MN) Hopkins (MN) |
6 ft 7 in (201 cm) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Apr 23, 2008 |
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| Scout: Rivals: ESPN grade: 94 | ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 10 (PF) Rivals: 19, 2 (PF) ESPN: 35, 8 (PF) | ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout and Rivals may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, an average of the two was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:
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White pleaded guilty to theft and disorderly conduct after being suspended for the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in October 2009 for an incident at the Mall of America.[10] In the October 13 incident, he was initially accused of taking $100 worth of clothes and of fifth-degree assault when he allegedly pushed a mall security officer to the ground twice, but he claimed the security officer was charging at him and he was defending himself.[11] The suspension was for competition and travel, but at the discretion of head coach Tubby Smith, White could attend practices.[12] According to his grandfather, he attended some Gopher practices in December.[13]
White was initially a suspect in a November laptop computer theft incident,[11] but he was not formally charged with trespassing until January.[12] When he was charged in the incident involving allegations of laptop theft from a university dorm, he left the University of Minnesota in February 2010.[10][14][15] He had unofficially announced his departure from Minnesota via YouTube in November,[16] but had not formally notified the athletic departement.[17] Despite his legal difficulties, White achieved better than a 3.0 grade point average in his first semester at Minnesota.[18] While suspended from the team, he spent some of his extracurricular time on his music career.[19]
Following his departure from Minnesota, White initially gave up on transferring to continue playing college basketball.[20] He is considered to be an National Basketball Association Draft first round talent.[21] Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg became acquainted with White during his tenure on the staff of the Minnesota Timberwolves.[22] By the summer of 2010, he weighed 250 pounds (113.4 kg).[22] At one point, White was expected to transfer to Kentucky.[23]
Because White did not officially depart Minnesota until the middle of his second semester, he was academically ineligible to receive a scholarship from any Division I school in 2010.[24] The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) usually requires a two semester residency for transfers.[25] He transferred to Iowa State prior to using any of his athletic eligibility at Minnesota and applied to the NCAA for a waiver to be eligible to play during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season,[7] but the NCAA denied his waiver.[18] Iowa State appealed the decision,[26] but their appeal was denied.[27]
At Iowa State, White joined a team that included several transfer students.[28] He was voted as the 2011–12 Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and then won the first Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week award of the season following his November 12 double-double debut performance against Lehigh with 25 points and 11 rebounds.[29][30][31] White had a double-double in his second career game as well three nights later against Drake with 21 points and 14 rebounds.[32] Then on November 25 against Providence, he recorded 16 rebounds.[33] On December 3, against 15th-ranked Michigan he recorded a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds as well as 4 steals.[34] White ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 Conference in points, rebounds, assists, blocked shots and field goal percentage.[35]
White's parents are Rebecca White and Keiven Tucker. He has three younger siblings and is a distant relative of Dave Winfield.[1] His grandfather, Frank, who won a national intramural basketball championship, attended University of Minnesota with Winfield.[36] As of November 23, 2011, he had a 10-month old son with Angelic Aguilar.[36]
Some of the music career related activities while away from basketball included YouTube videos under the name "whiteandbrownrecords".[19] During his two and a half years away from competitive basketball, he also learned to play the piano.[37]