To the Hoop!
To the Hoop...
Thundering Herd...
To the Hoop!
As one of the most hard-working, energetic coaches in the country, Greg White posted a 20-9 record in his first season and won the North Division of the Southern Conference. While he will continue to pass the praise to his players, White coached, and coached hard for 40 minutes every game last season.
With only 10 players in uniform and no true "big man," White pieced together a championship team out of a group of players that exceled in their own ways. White has a soft spot in his heart for seniors. As a result, White expects the seniors to show the leadership needed to win games. The members of last year's senior class each had their own memorable seasons.
Keith Veney set the NCAA record for three-pointers in a career(409)and
single game (15). 
John Brannen led the league in scoring (20.9 points per game) and was the Southern, Conference Tournament MVP.
Sidney Coles moved from hi.s comfort zone at forward to point guard where he led the league in steals and was second. in assists.
After the team. posted the school's best record in a decade, White and his staff put together top recruiting class in the Mid-American Conference and the 40th. ranked class as judged by ESPN.
His love of Marshall basketball is worn on his sleeve. White is a motivater
and dynamic public speaker. The fact is, if you looked. back through the
distinguished and storied history of Marshall University basketball, you
would be hard-pressed to find a person more dedicated to the program than.
White. First as a fan, then as a player, twice later as an assistant coach.
and now as head coach, White, 38, has poured his heart and soul into the
Thundering Herd basketball program. On April 8, 1.996, White's lifelong
dream came true when he was named as head 
coach for the Thundering
Herd.
It was White, a native of Mullens, WV, who followed in the footsteps of his boyhood idol Mike D'Antoni, also a Mullens native, and came to Marshall in the fall of 1977. Fresh from a stellar career as West Virginia High School Player of the Year, White's freshman average of 38.8 minutes per game established. a rapid tempo that has remained to date. White culminated his playing career at Marshall with a school standard, and previously a Southern Conference record, of 701. assists. He was named to the league's All-Freshman team and twice named all-conference. Among his performances in his 113 consecutive games was a record.-settin.g 18 assists in one contest (versus CCNY). Tabbed as the player who brought Marshall into the Southern Conference in 1977, White now will be asked to bring the Thundering Herd into the Mid-American Conference as head coach in 1997. One only has to look into White's eyes to find the enthusiasm he holds for his alma mater when he says, "I'm from West Virginia and I played at Marshall. I've been. preparing for this opportunity all my life. Nobody can sell Marshall basketball better than me."
A Marshall Athletic Department Hall of Fame inductee in 1993,
White has gone full circle from player to coach. He signed a five-year contract,
thus fulfilling the university's search for more than just a head coach.
"We wanted a good coach, but we needed more than that," said Marshall
President Dr. J. Wade Gilley. "We were looking for someone willing
to commit himself to building and maintaining a strong basketball program
at Marshall. University for a period of at least five years." With
White, Marshall found someone who had made that commitment years ago.
AS A COACH
White brings both head coaching knowledge and big time basketball experience
to the Marshall sidelines. His most recent stop prior to taking over the
Marshall program was a one-year stint at UCLA. At UCLA, White teamed with
Charleston, WV, native and Bruins head coach Jim Harrick. White's time with
the Bruins as an assistant coach helped pinpoint the expectations and pressures
of coaching at 
the major college level. Of course, coaching at any level
is demanding and pressure packed. White's 10 years of experience at both
Pikeville College and the University of Charleston add to his strengths
in both of those areas. At Pikeville, White inherited a team that had one
win the year prior to his arrival. From 1984 through 1989 White guided Pikeville
College to a 51-84 record. The 1990 through 1995 campaigns saw White compile
a 68-70 mark at Charleston. His Charleston teams won one West Virginia Conference
regular season title and one conference tournament title. In 1992, White
was honored as West Virginia Conference Coach of the Year. White's coaching
resume also includes two stops at his alma mater as an assistant. In 1981-82,
White was a student assistant coach with the Thundering Herd and then followed
as a volunteer assistant in 1982-83. White returned to Marshall as an assistant
coach for the 1989-90 campaign.
AS A PLAYER
In his four years in a Marshall uniform, White started 113 consecutive games and dished out a school record 701 assists. He also etched his name in the history books with a single-game record of 18 assists. During his Marshall career, White scored 1,024 points and led the team in assists each of his four years. His free throw percentage of 86.4% (260 of 301.) ranks second best in school history. In April of 1981, White played in the prestigious Portsmouth Invitational. Basketball Tournament. As a high school player, White starred for the Mullens Rebels and was twice named to the All-West Virginia Class AA team.. His senior year, White was honored by the Morgantown Touchdown Club as its Player of the Year. During his three seasons as a varsity player, White scored 1.,281 points in 66 games, an average of 1.9.4 per contest. He culminated his prep career by appearing in all-star games in Sharon, PA, Buffalo, NY, and. Akron, OH.
PERSONAL
White was born March 31, 1959, in his hometown of Mullens, WV. He is married to Dr. Donna Slayton, and the couple has one son,, Hunter. White earned a B.A. in marketing from Marshall University in 1982 and a master's in sports administration in 1993,, also from Marshall. During the summers, White operates one of the largest camps in the country. They are camps that deal with not only basketball, but several. important aspects of life. This past year, White's camps drew over 750 campers in just two weeks. White also headed up the prestigious UCLA camps in 1996.
From The Parthenon by ROBERT McCUNE, sports editor
Thursday evening, eight individuals will step into the limelight; all shooting for the same goal, and MU senior guard Keith Veney will be among them. Veney has been selected from college basketball players nationwide to participate in the Ninth Annual College Slam Dunk and Three-Point Shoot-out Championship in Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN.
Veney will step up to the three-point line and five ball racks to take his 60 seconds of fame and glory. He'll take 25 shots at the basket, racking up one point for each shot made off the first four ball racks.
Every shot he sinks off the fifth rack will yield two points. After two rounds of this, four of the eight participants will advance to the semi-final and final rounds.
To Veney, this accomplishment is just a sign of hard work paying off. "I am very excited," he said. "It's a sign of hard work. I have worked hard all through my career and now all of the hard work is just paying off."
Veney holds the NCAA record for three-pointers in a career with 409. On December 14, 1996, Veney finished with an NCAA record 15 three-pointers in a single game against Morehead State. His 51 points in that contest was the most points scored by a player in a single game this season in the country.
Competing with Veney will be Louisville's DeJuan Wheat, Tulsa's Shea Seals, Massachusetts's Carmelo Travieso and Illinois's Kiwane Garris. Also participating will be Oklahoma's Nate Edrmann, Cincinnati's Darnell Burton and Iowa State's Dedric Willoughby.
Veney, however, isn't concerned about the level of competition. "They're all basketball players just like I am," he said. "We're all ball players shooting for the same goal. I expect to see some good competition and everyone just trying to go out and win."
Preparing for the shootout will be both a mental and physical process, Veney said. "Mentally, I am just going to go out and shoot the ball just like I shoot any ball," he said. "Physically, I am not used to shooting off of racks, so I am going to practice doing that,"
Veney said that a good performance in the contest could give him an even better shot at the pros following graduation. "There are going to be scouts and some real important people there. I hope to turn some heads."
The competition will air live on ESPN Thursday at 9:30 p.m.
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