It has been a great ride for 6’1 Maliek White. The George Wythe point guard is currently playing with the River City Reign 17U team, and experiencing a break out. River City Reign is a feature team sponsored by Reebok and Allen Iverson, so they have a little pressure to perform on their shoulders, however with players like White on the roster they are in good hands.
Just one year ago not many people had heard of Maliek White. The River City Reign program was still getting its feet under them but the program saw they had a player they could hang their hat on. Maliek did not disappoint, through a 60 game AAU schedule last year Maliek got better each time out.
Through the high school season Maliek White led his high school team to its first ever state title. In the state championship game, White was unbelievable finishing with 35 points and scoring any which way he pleased. White has always been a known commodity on the local level, but with that performance he boosted his stock. He was named the conference, region, and state player of the year.
With his stellar senior season performance, Maliek’s stock just shot up. As the season progressed, he went from having Big South offers to CAA offers and now he just recently picked up Cincinnati and Boston College offers.
It’s just the tip of the ice burg for White. During the Virginia Top 80, a grouping of Virginia’s 80 best players for a one day exposure camp, White embraced match ups with Matt Coleman and Justice Kithcart. White showed off a tenacity and a will to get the job done.
As you notice Virginia point guard start to trickle throughout college basketball, one thing that they all have is toughness. Andrew Rowsey, Troy Caupain, Frank Mason, Cat Barber, etc…are all mentally tough and play with a huge chip on their shoulder. White has this trait, in fact his toughness may be his best trait. The mentality of his play is, “get the job done no matter how pretty.”
State Player of the year, State Champion, High Major offers, I would say Maliek White has gotten the job done. It’s good that others are finally noticing.