Over the weekend, Wake Forest basketball added another player to the program: Charlotte transfer Andrien White. White, a 6-foot-3 guard, played three seasons at Charlotte; he will sit out the 2018-19 season, and have one year of eligibility remaining in 2019-2020.
Andrien White tells me he will transfer from Charlotte. Sit one, play one.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 30, 2018
This is a homecoming of sorts, too: White hails from Richmond, Virginia, but played prep basketball at Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Rundown
During Andrien White’s time at Charlotte, the 49ers have been a bit of a mess. The program won just 33 games over the last three seasons; head coach Mark Price was fired midseason, last December, too. However, White was a steady offensive contributor over that run.
White played in 87 games and made 73 starts. In 2017-18, he averaged 15 points, good for second on the team, and eclipsed the 1,000-points career benchmark. A career 38 percent three-point shooter, White has splashed 169 career triples, including 67 during his freshman season when he was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team.
He comes from a family of shooters, too; his older brother is former Syracuse wing Andrew White. This also isn’t the first shooter Danny Manning has pulled as a transfer from Charlotte: Keyshawn Woods was a solid two-year player for the Demon Deacons, too.
During his junior season, White shot 33 percent (0.82 points per possession, 41.8 eFG%) on spot-up possessions, according to Synergy Sports. That dropped from 2016-17, when he played off-ball more frequently: 1.07 points per possession (57.1 eFG%). As a sophomore, nearly 42 percent of White’s possessions were spot-ups, which dipped to 28.4 percent in 2017-18.
Only 40 percent of White’s field goal attempts in the half-court this season were off the catch (0.96 points per possession, 48.1 eFG%), per Synergy. That number was above 54 percent two seasons ago (1.21 points per possession, 60 eFG%).
Make things easy
Charlotte ranked No. 267 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency (woof), per KenPom, this season. But White posted an individual offensive rating of 106 points per 100 possessions, which is solid. That’s helped by White’s ability to get to the line.
According to KenPom, White — who attempted nearly 10 free throws per 100 possessions — drew 5.5 fouls per 40 minutes — a top-200 number in Division I.
Defensive Upside
Another note of intrigue for Wake Forest: Andrien White is an opportunistic defender. White has 137 career steals in over 2,200 minutes — 2.4 steals per 40 minutes. He ranked 68th nationally in steal rate — 3.4 percent — in 2017-18, per KenPom.
Two years down the road
When he becomes eligible in two seasons, Wake Forest should have an interesting rotation mix for White to join. Brandon Childress will be a senior; that should also theoretically be Chaundee Brown’s (7.6 points) junior season.
A critically-important freshman class arrives in Winston-Salem this summer, too — led by top-25 prospect Jaylen Hoard. White will get to practice and then eventually team up with two incoming rookies in the backcourt: 3-star guards Jamie Lewis and Sharone Wright Jr.
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