Inside The Huskies

North Dakota State Guard Has Heard from Huskies

The guard with a distinctive look has at least 20 suitors with the transfer portal set to open.

Dan Raley

North Dakota State guard Jacari White shows a little emotion at Butler in December.
North Dakota State guard Jacari White shows a little emotion at Butler in December. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

With the transfer portal set to open on Monday, Jacari White is a tall, lanky guard from North Dakota State who's made himself available and claims to already have heard from 20 schools, including the University of Washington.

Whether it's a personal choice or something involuntary, the 6-foot-3 White plays with a bald head, giving off a certain Slick Watts vibe.

While his appearance alone might make him a perfect player for Seattle, Danny Sprinkle's Husky coaching staff has to determine right away whether White -- hair or no hair -- can handle the decided step up in competition to the Big Ten.

It clearly was a problem this past winter for multiple players coming to Montlake from basketball outposts such as Rhode Island, Butler, Portland and even North Dakota, and finding the new conference a collective shock to their system, sending the UW to a last-place finish (13-18 overall, 4-16 Big Ten).

That said, White's list of pursuers who find him an intriguing player include Alabama, Boston College, BYU, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Illinois, LSU, Ole Miss, Seton Hall, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and USC. He has one season of eligibility remaining.

This past season, White was a 17.1 scorer for a 21-11 North Dakota State team, finishing with a dozen outings of 20 points or more, including three of 30 or more. He shot 45.2 percent from the floor, 39.8 percent from 3-point range.

He came to North Dakota State from his hometown of Orlando, Florida, where he first played a season of junior-college basketball.

In three seasons with the Bison in Fargo, North Dakota, he appeared in 94 games and started 61, steadily increasing his production each year. He was a second-team All-Summit League selection.

Interestingly enough, game photos of White from 2022 show him playing with a full head of hair. However, there's no ready online explanation for his baldness.

To get the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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