D.J. White, Indiana's 2008 Big Ten Player of the Year, Announces Retirement
After 14 years of professional basketball, D.J. White has called it a career.
The former Indiana Hoosiers' forward announced his retirement on Instagram on Monday.
via D.J. White on Instagram (@waynejr_3)
A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., White was a 2004 McDonald's All-American after averaging 20 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks per game at Hillcrest High School. He decided to head north for college to play for former Indiana coach Mike Davis during the 2004-2005 season.
The 6-foot-9, 251-pound forward made an immediate impact for the Hoosiers as a freshman, finishing second on the team with 13.3 points per game en route to 2005 Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. White was limited to five games during sophomore campaign after breaking his left foot and suffering a second injury to a different part of his foot when he attempted to return to action.
Davis stepped down as head coach after the 2005-2006 season, and Kelvin Sampson became the Hoosier's next coach. Despite the change, White stayed at Indiana and was unfazed by his foot injury during his junior season.
The only Hoosier to start all 32 games, White averaged 13.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game to earn second-team All-Big Ten status. White finished his junior year with back-to-back double-doubles against Gonzaga and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament.
Indiana was beginning to pick up momentum under Sampson, entering the 2007-2008 season ranked No. 9 in the preseason AP Poll. White returned for his senior season alongside freshman Eric Gordon, who arrived at Indiana as the No. 1 recruit in the country.
The Hoosiers got off to a 17-1 start and were ranked No. 7 in the country in late January. White scored 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game to go along with 20.9 points from Gordon, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
But an NCAA investigation revealed recruiting violations involving improper telephone calls, derailing Indiana's season. Sampson resigned as head coach, and Indiana received three years of probation. Assistant coach Dan Dakich took over as head coach, and the Hoosiers lost four of their last five games, including a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament as an eight-seed.
Despite the program's upheaval surrounding him, White was named the unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year and received second-team All-American honors. White finished his Indiana career ranked 16th in scoring with 1,447 points, second in field-goal percentage at 56.2 and tied for ninth in career rebounding with 748.
He was selected in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons with the 29th overall pick. In a draft-day trade, White was sent to the Seattle Supersonics, who would become the Oklahoma City Thunder a month later. In total, White played six seasons in the NBA for Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Boston. He played in 138 total games with 11 starts, averaging 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds.
White spent the following seven years playing professional basketball overseas in six different countries. He averaged over 20 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game in his first two seasons in China from 2012 to 2014. White continued an impressive professional career, scoring in double figures each of the next four seasons in China, Spain and Italy.
White played his final season of professional basketball in 2021-2022 for Daegu KOGAS Pegasus of the Korean Basketball League. And after four years at Indiana, followed by a 14-year career, White decided it's time to retire.
"You are never ready for it to be over," White said in a message on Instagram. "But I'm ready for what's next."
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