Boys basketball: White tabbed for Bentonville West boys basketball job

Greg White has been named the first boys basketball coach at Bentonville West High School. He has been the boys coach at Gravette the past two years and has 14 years experience as a coach, including 10 as a head coach. He currently has a career won-loss record of 138-92.
Greg White has been named the first boys basketball coach at Bentonville West High School. He has been the boys coach at Gravette the past two years and has 14 years experience as a coach, including 10 as a head coach. He currently has a career won-loss record of 138-92.

BENTONVILLE -- Greg White admitted he "felt like a kid waiting for Christmas morning" when he woke up Friday.

That's still eight months away, but his gift already awaits. The 38-year-old White has been chosen to become the first boys basketball coach at Bentonville West, pending approval from the Bentonville School Board next week.

Greg White

AGE 38

COACHING EXPERIENCE 14 years, 10 as a head coach

NOTABLE Has spent the last two seasons at Gravette, where the Lions finished 13-14 overall and 7-7 in 4A-1 Conference play. … Has an overall won-loss record of 138-92 over 10 seasons, with previous stops at Springdale George, Shiloh Christian, Caddo Hills and Morrilton Sacred Heart. … Also spent three years at Springdale High as an assistant under Brad Stamps.

"I just can't tell you the excitement," White said. "I know it's there. I get to open everything.

"From day one, you get to set the tone. You're the thermostat in the house, and I get to set the thermostat of the program. That's really cool."

Bentonville athletic director Scott Passmore made the announcement Friday, and the school board can finalize White's hiring during its meeting Monday evening.

White was chosen out of 22 applicants for the position. Passmore interviewed six people and chose White out of the three finalists, with the other two being Watson Chapel coach Matt Busch and Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo's Dick Rippee.

"We're excited about the whole process," Passmore said. "I can't wait for Monday night to go before the board and get him approved, so I can bring him over and introduce him to his new players and present him as our new basketball and our first basketball coach at Bentonville West.

"It was a tough decision. We had some excellent candidates. We took our time and made sure we had the best person for West, and coach White was the guy we came out with."

The 38-year-old White brings 14 years coaching experience to the Wolverines, including 10 years as a head coach. He has spent the last two years at Gravette, where the Lions finished 13-14 overall and 7-7 in 4A-1 Conference play this season.

His coaching tenure included stops at Shiloh Christian, Springdale George Junior High, Caddo Hills and Morrilton Sacred Heart, where his combined won-loss record is 138-92. Now he takes over a West program whose first game won't be played until November.

"What attracted me to the job was the chance to build a culture," White said. "When you're hired at places, you go in and you want to put your thumbprint on it, whether it's changing jerseys or changing slogans. Here, we're at the ground floor, and that's something that really intrigued me.

"I get to lead the troops out from day one. We get to start things and build. It's a little bit of excitement and nervousness, making sure I have everything planned and ready, but I'm ready to hit the ground and run."

Something else in White's favor was his experience with the 7A-West Conference, where the Wolverines will begin play next season. He was an assistant at Springdale High under Brad Stamps, now an assistant at Fayetteville, when the Red'Dogs finished as the league runner-up in 2013, then shared the regular-season conference title and reached the Class 7A state championship game in 2014.

"I think coach White did an outstanding job in explaining how he was going to build this program from the ground up and how he was going to build up excitement around Bentonville West," Passmore said. "Also, I've been able to watch him through what he has done when he was in the 7A-West with Springdale and also what he's doing at Gravette."

In other coaching news on Friday, Shiloh Christian announced J.D. Dudley will be taking over the girls basketball program, replacing former coach Mat Stewart.

Dudley had been the head junior high boys coach and was the boys and girls tennis coach, where he won two state championships.

Sports on 04/16/2016

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