Ole Miss Basketball Adds ASU Grad Transfer Romello White

Ole Miss basketball continues to make a killing in the grad transfer market, this time adding Arizona State grad transfer Romello White.

Arizona State Sun Devils forward Romello White (23) shoots the ball as Oregon State Beavers forward Kylor Kelley (24) defends during the second half at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

The Ole Miss men's basketball team added another one of the nation's top graduate transfers to its 2020-21 roster with the signing of Romello White, head coach Kermit Davis announced Friday. White, a 6-foot-8 forward ranked as the No. 2 graduate transfer according to ESPN, recorded 10.2 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game for Arizona State last season.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Romello to the Ole Miss family," Davis said. "Romello is a very accomplished player that impacted winning at a high level at Arizona State. He finished second in the Pac-12 in rebounding last year and became one of the all-time shooters in conference history in terms of field goal percentage. Romello is extremely tough, fits very well in our system of play, and we can't wait to get started this summer. He has such a high ceiling in front of him that can impact the SEC in a great way."

Over three seasons at Arizona State, White started 92 of the 95 games he played for the Sun Devils. He tallied 927 points during his ASU career, averaging 9.8 ppg and shooting 60.5 percent from the floor (second on the program's all-time list). While also brought down 7.0 rpg, leading the team in offensive rebounds in each of three seasons as a Sun Devil, to go along with 16 career double-doubles.

During the 2019-20 campaign, White ranked second in the Pac-12 with 8.8 rebounds per game. The Atlanta, Georgia, native averaged 10.2 ppg and produced eight double-doubles throughout the season. On the offensive end of the court, he made 112 of his 197 attempts for the ninth-best field goal percentage in school history (56.9 percent). Defensively, he produced a team-high 35 blocks. In a 79-59 win over Georgia (Dec. 14, 2019), White put together a double-double with 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.

White helped the Sun Devils reach the NCAA Tournament as a redshirt-sophomore, playing in all 34 games and starting 32 of them. While reaching double digits in scoring 14 times during the season, he averaged 8.7 ppg to go along with 5.2 rpg. White recorded a team-high 19 points in wins over Colorado (Jan. 5, 2019) and UCLA (March 14, 2019), the latter an 8 for 10 shooting display in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.

As a redshirt-freshman at Arizona State, White played under the guidance of current Ole Miss assistant coach Levi Watkins. With Watkins on the bench as an assistant and White starting all 31 games, the Sun Devils made the 2018 NCAA Tournament. ASU climbed to as high as No. 3 in the AP poll (highest in school history) and was the last undefeated team in Division I men's basketball, starting 12-0 in non-conference play that included wins over two eventual 2018 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds (Kansas, Xavier). White shot 65.2 percent from the floor, the fourth-best season field goal percentage in school history. He averaged 10.5 ppg and 7.1 rpg, scoring in double figures 15 times. Against Northern Arizona (Nov. 17, 2017), the forward tallied a career-high 25 points. White also led the team with 79 offensive boards and 23 blocks.

Signing with Arizona State from Wheeler High School just outside Atlanta, White was the ranked the No. 77 player in the country according to ESPN's recruiting rankings.

White is the second graduate transfer to join the Rebels for the 2020-21 campaign alongside Dimencio Vaughn, who earned First Team All-MAAC accolades twice during his career at Rider. The pair joins a talented bunch of newcomers that includes Jarkel Joiner, Shon Robinson, Matthew Murrell and Robert Allen. Joiner, an Oxford native who led the WAC in scoring (18.6 ppg) during the 2018-19 campaign, is eligible to play this season after sitting out the 2019-20 season following his transfer from Cal State Bakersfield. A top 100 recruit who reclassified to the 2020 class, Robinson redshirted his first year on campus and will use his 6-foot-11 frame to add size in the post. Murrell, the No. 38 recruit in the country (highest ranked recruit in school history), will be an incoming freshman after spending his high school senior season at IMG Academy. Meanwhile, Allen will have to sit out a season after transferring from Samford, where he averaged 12.0 ppg over the past two seasons.

Story via. Adam Kuffner / Ole Miss Athletics 

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