BRIAN T. SMITH: FABIAN WHITE JR. EXEMPLIFIES KELVIN SAMPSON’S SELFLESS UH PHILOSOPHY.
Fabian White Jr. perfect example of selfless players Kelvin Sampson recruits to Houston
There was comfort in the chaos.
Kelvin Sampson’s most valuable Cougar couldn’t take the court and No. 2 Houston was struggling to shake off No. 15 Cleveland State.
Ohio State had already fallen to No. 15 Oral Roberts in overtime during the first round of the NCAA Tournament. No. 13 North Texas would eventually knock off No. 4 Purdue in OT.
But Sampson possessed what his opponent did not.
UH’s coach knew that he could call on a senior forward who had already endured and overcome much more than this.
Fabian White Jr. was exactly what the shaky Coogs needed.
To ignite a first-half spark that eventually became a 31-point blowout.
To reach March Madness’ second round for the third consecutive time when the tournament was held, on a night when do-everything guard DeJon Jarreau was lost to injury and UH needed another trusted name to keep giving the ball to.
The 6-8, 225-pound forward from Atascocita scored six straight points — free throws, jump shot, jump shot — and handed his team an 11-point lead that turned into a second-round matchup against No. 10 Rutgers on Sunday inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“I remember one timeout, I said, ‘We’re not going to go through these guards. We’ve got to get them settled down. We’re going to go through Fabian,’ ” Sampson said Saturday during a Zoom media interview.
White is a 2021 second-teamer who spent two seasons as a starter on two of the best UH teams since the early 1980s.
White spent the coronavirus pandemic recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and could have missed the entire 2020-21 campaign, during a time when optouts and missed seasons are instantly understood.
White captures everything about the T-E-A-M at the heart of a gritty and passionate 25-3 squad that could be forced to try and reach the Sweet 16 with Jarreau forced to watch from the sideline again.
“When I tore my ACL, I didn’t even know if I was going to play this year. It’s really a blessing,” said White, who scored 12 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field, sank all four of his free throws and grabbed five rebounds in 19 minutes against Cleveland State. “A lot of prayer, a lot of hard work really, to get back. I have my confidence in my teammates and they just keep pushing me to play the best that I can play.”
Sampson often answers a question by telling stories.
One question. Multiple stories within the same answer.
He told several fascinating stories that described White’s on-court evolution. And if you really know your UH basketball, you know that one of the best things that Sampson’s Coogs do is turn “normal” recruits into critical components of annual Sweet 16 contenders.
“The first time I saw (White) in high school, he played on the same high school team with Carsen Edwards, the kid who went to Purdue,” Sampson said. “Which means that the only time Fabian touched the ball is if he got a rebound. And if he did touch it, it was on the post.”
Anyone can recruit, Sampson said. The key is evaluating, projecting and developing.
UH’s coach envisioned White as a face-up forward, ignoring the temporary fact that White wasn’t a shooter, and instead focusing on his smoothness at the free-throw line.
“He was a dunker, a rebounder, a runner, a center,” Sampson said. “When I say a five, I mean a five/six. He wasn’t a four/five. He was a five and it leaned toward the six.”
White worked on his outside touch, extended his range and began developing a corner 3pointer. When UH needed calming — and made shots — as halftime approached Friday night, the Coogs turned to the increasingly smooth forward who plays more and more like a modern four.
“It’s like walking into a fight and you know you’ve got something in your pocket to take care of yourself. There’s a confidence there,” Sampson said. “When you can shoot the basketball, you’ve got confidence that when that thing rolls off your fingertips, you’re confident that it will go in. It gives you a swagger that you can’t teach. And I think that’s where Fabian has made his biggest improvement, he’s developed a swagger.”
UH lost the completion of its promising year last season when the spread of COVID-19 abruptly shut down the sports world.
White entered his senior season with an ACL tear and watched the Coogs reach No. 5 in the country without him.
Now, the Sweet 16 is again one win away.
“It’s a peaceful, comforting feeling that you can bring Fabian White off the bench,” Sampson said.
If Jarreau can’t go, someone will have to step up. If Jarreau plays against the Scarlet Knights, someone else will still have to step up.
UH keeps getting bigger under Sampson. White keeps moving forward with the Coogs. Together.
“It feels good just to see the turnaround this program has made,” White said. “We went from not even making the tournament to losing in the first round of the NIT to now it should be our fourth consecutive (NCAA) Tournament appearance. … It’s everything coach Sampson talked about while he was recruiting me and it’s just a blessing to see all of it unfold.”