Michael White Last College: Ole Miss, '99 Position: Head Coach Birthdate: 03/02/1977 Email: mikew@latech.edu

After Michael White was named the 17th head coach at Louisiana Tech on March 30, 2011, he used his first busy offseason to make a roster face-lift that included the addition and subtraction of seven players, or in other words half the team. Ten of White's 14 players would be either freshmen or sophomores entering the 2011-12 season, and would be expected to contribute immediately to his fast-paced, dribble drive offense and a pressuring man-to-man defense intended to cause mayhem for the opposing teams. To add to the growing pains, this style of basketball would be a complete 180 from the year before for those returning players.

Despite leading the eighth youngest team in the country as one of the youngest head coaches in the country at 35 years of age, White declared that reaching the NCAA Tournament every year was the main target for the program. People believed in his vision, but very few outside the Bulldog locker room believed it could happen in the very first year, and it almost did.

Thanks to a sparked stretch-run that included a 5-1 finish to the regular season, coach White and the Bulldogs carried that momentum into the WAC Tournament as the fifth seed. The first matchup in the quarterfinals was perennial conference power Utah State. LA Tech pulls off the upset, 72-70. Next matchup in the semifinals was top-seeded and WAC regular season champions Nevada. LA Tech pulls off another upset, 78-73.

Then in the blink of the eye, the Bulldogs found themselves in the WAC Tournament finals for the first time since joining the league back in 2001. In their third game in three days, LA Tech ran up against New Mexico State and was unable to pull off the trifecta upset in order to gain the automatic berth into the field of 68.

LA Tech came within 40 minutes of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the program's first time since 1991, finishing 18-16 on the season which was a six win improvement from the year before.

Prior to coming to Tech White spent the previous seven seasons on the Ole Miss coaching staff and developed a reputation as one of the top assistant coaches in the country.

A finalist for the 2009 Coaches Award presented by BasketballScoop.com - honoring the top assistants in the college game - White was instrumental in the Rebels' rise to prominence in the Southeastern Conference as he helped lead the program to four postseason berths and a pair of SEC West titles in the past five years. The Rebels won 20 or more games four of the last five seasons.

White was very well-known in the recruiting circles nationwide, especially in the Southern region of the country. He helped Ole Miss land three recruiting classes ranked in the Top 25 in the country by numerous recruiting publications, including the 2005 class that was ranked as high as No. 7 by Hoop Scoop.

In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, he worked closely with the Rebel guards, including helping Terrico White who earned the SEC Freshman of the Year award and Freshman All-America accolades in 2009. Ole Miss had five guards named all-SEC during the last five seasons and eight different guards that made seven or more three-pointers in one game during that stretch.

Prior to his stint on the Ole Miss staff, White spent four years at Jacksonville State, helping coordinate the Gamecocks' recruiting efforts for three seasons. White had five recruits named all-conference in four seasons at Jacksonville State. During his time at the school, Jacksonville State also recorded the winningest season in its Division I history in 2002-03 while also recording the program's first-ever league tournament victory.

A native of Dunedin, Florida, White played high school basketball at Jesuit High School in New Orleans before signing at Ole Miss where he was a four-year starter at point guard for the Rebels in the late 1990s.

During his time in a Rebel uniform, he helped lead Ole Miss to consecutive SEC West Division titles, three straight NCAA Tournament berths and the program's first ever NCAA Tournament win 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 between 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 as he grew 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 new athletic director at the University of Buffalo. Youngest brother Brian is an associate athletic director at Louisiana Tech.

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, and twin boys, Collin and Keegan.