One Area That Is Being Overlooked In Jacari White's Ascendance With The Cavaliers

The one area more people need to pay attention to when evaluating Jacari White

Feb 18, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Jacari White (6) celebrates after a victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Jacari White has been a spark all season, coming off the bench and scoring at a high level. He did it yet again on Tuesday night at home against NC State and contributed 15 points on 4-6 shooting from the field and accounted for 47% of the points off the bench for the Cavaliers. He has found his groove offensively since injuring his wrist against Maryland in December. 

However, there is another element of his game he has taken to another level while recovering and finding his offensive game has been on the defensive end. He has continued to challenge players with his perimeter defense and make it tough to score on him. When you take a closer look at the defensive analytics, White finished with a 57.7% stop rate and finished with a 95.8 defensive rating score against some of the best guards in the conference. That includes Quadir Copeland, who had an off night and went 1-5 from the floor, only scoring three points. Also, Tre Holloman scored six points on 2-8 shooting. He had the second-highest rating of all guards who played at least 15 minutes on Tuesday. His play on the perimeter has made it tough on teams to score against the Hoos, and the interior defensive presence they have makes it almost impossible. Head coach Ryan Odom talked about his play on that end of the floor and how it has elevated the team. 

"He (Jacari) is an important player on defense for us. There's no question about it. He gives us another guy on the perimeter that can pressure the ball, the court, in our press, then also can defend and chase guys that can really shoot off of screens. He's pretty good at pick-and-roll defense as well, and I thought the play of the game for him was that defensive rebound that he came up with. And one of the things that we talked to our team about was that you have to be ball tough against NC State. They're just going to knock it out of your hands. They're good at it. He pulled that one in, and all of a sudden we were off to the races,” said Odom. 

The Cavaliers will continue to play elite teams the rest of the way, but have several players they can lean on and depend on to fill the void and make sure they can shut teams down. White's improvement there, along with his shot making and efficiency from beyond the arc, will only see him get more opportunities in games. White has been a gem of a find for Coach Odom after coming over from North Dakota State. His defense will be something to watch moving forward.