NC State Men’s Basketball Head Coaching Search: Who is Mike White?

The two biggest names currently circulating in the NC State Men’s Basketball Head Coaching search are McNeese St.’s Will Wade and VCU’s Ryan Odom. However, let’s be realistic—if you’re an athletic director seeking to fill a vacancy, you likely have a list of candidates, probably ranked in tiers.

Joe Giglio of the OG Podcast shared on Sunday that if he were Boo Corrigan, he would bet that his first call would be to Georgia Head Coach Mike White, given the deep connections between Corrigan and White.

For starters, Mike White is the son of Kevin White, who was the Athletic Director at Notre Dame from 2000 to 2008 and at Duke from 2008 to 2021. Corrigan served as White’s Associate Athletic Director at Notre Dame (2004-2008) and at Duke (2008-2011).

Giglio also explained that Corrigan and Mike White are legitimately close friends.

White is in his third season as the Head Coach at Georgia. While the state of Bulldogs basketball might not be particularly exciting, White’s achievements over the past three years are noteworthy. Before his arrival in 2022, Georgia’s record the previous season was a dismal 6-26. Their last winning season was in 2017-18, with a record of 18-15. In his first year, Georgia improved their win total by 10 games, finishing at an even 16-16. Over the past two seasons, White has led Georgia to back-to-back 20-win seasons, the first time the Bulldogs have achieved this since 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Georgia is currently 20-11, with an 8-10 record in the SEC. As the #11 seed, they are set to play the #14 seed Oklahoma in the first round of the 2025 SEC Tournament. Even with a potential loss tonight, the Bulldogs might already be bound for the NCAA Tournament, currently ranked 31st in the NET.

For perspective, Georgia hasn’t participated in the Big Dance since the 2014-15 season. Back in January, the Bulldogs were ranked 23rd in the AP Poll, marking the first time they’ve had a ranking beside their name since 2010-11, and the highest they’ve been ranked since 2002-03.

Prior to his tenure in Athens, White was the Head Coach at the University of Florida for seven years, where he achieved a record of 142-88 overall and 72-52 in conference play. In his first year, the Gators reached the Quarterfinals of the NIT, but White then led them to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, winning at least one game each year. Florida’s best performance under White was in the 2016-17 season when the Gators advanced to the Elite 8, finishing the year with a 27-9 record.

During his seven years in Gainesville, Florida finished the season ranked in the AP Poll twice but found themselves ranked at various points in five of those seven years. The highest Florida was ranked under White was 5th in 2017-18.

White’s initial four years of head coaching were at Louisiana Tech, where he led the Bulldogs to three consecutive Regular Season Conference Championships. Over four years at LA Tech, the Bulldogs posted a 101-40 overall record and a 50-16 conference record.