John Thompson III and Georgetown picked up a big commitment over the weekend as Paul White, a 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, IL, announced that he will be a Georgetown Hoya beginning in the fall of 2014.
White, the #57 player in ESPN’s 2014 Top 100 recruiting rankings, made his second visit to Georgetown this weekend, and simply knew that this was the school and program for him. White told Joe Henricksen of the Chicago Sun Times: “While on my visit here it made me realize this is the place for me. I felt that comfort level I was looking for with the coaching staff, the players and the environment here. It’s a wonderful school with a great basketball tradition and atmosphere. This was the place I could easily see myself going to school and playing.”
Ironically, Georgetown’s recruitment of White seriously picked up when Tavaras Hardy joined the coaching staff this past June. Hardy came to Georgetown after spending seven years at Northwestern. It was while at Northwestern Hardy developed a relationship with White, and that relationship transitioned over to Georgetown.
More than anything, however, it was Jeff Green that may have sold White on Georgetown. While Green did not have any direct involvement with his recruitment, Thompson III equated his style of play in Georgetown’s system to the kind of player he foresees White eventually becoming: “They showed film of Jeff Green, a player they believe has capabilities similar to what I have. They showed how he excelled in their system and in their style of play.”
Unfortunately for White, he broke his arm at the Nike Peach Jam Tournament in July, but that didn’t deter the interest of other major programs such as DePaul, Minnesota, Miami, and Connecticut.
White joins forward Isaac Copeland, wing LJ Peak and point guard Tre Campbell in Georgetown’s 2014 recruiting class -- Copeland is #47 and Peak #54 in ESPN’s Top 100 recruiting rankings.
Prior to his visit, White tweeted on Thursday afternoon:
On my way to DC for my Georgetown visit. I hope the #Hoyas show me love!
— Paul White (@pdubbb13) September 12, 2013
Then, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, he tweeted:
Georgetown be crackin'.
— Paul White (@pdubbb13) September 15, 2013
I’d say he enjoyed himself this weekend. Below is White’s junior season AAU mixtape: