University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
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Kenny White 1992 - Basketball
Vermont's all-time leader in assists and games played, Kenny White was instrumental in the turnaround of the men's basketball program. A 2002 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, he was the first of a succession of standout Catamount four-year point guards that continued with Eddie Benton '96, David Roach '00 and then T.J. Sorrentine '05.
White and classmate Kevin Roberson were cornerstone recruits who led to UVM's improvement from a 6-21 record in 1988-89 to a 15-13 mark as juniors and 16-13 in 1991-92. The back-to-back winning seasons were the first for UVM in 16 years. Very durable and steady, he would lead the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio for three straight seasons.
Never missing a game in his career, White is one of two players to start every game for four years (Hall of Famer Mike Evelti '82 is the other). In his 114-game career, he recorded school-record 565 assists. A very good outside shooter, he is also among the Vermont career leaders in three-point field goals (181) and steals (146).
A high school legend from Staten Island, he set a then-national record with 17 three-pointers in one game (of his 75 points that night) to earn a spot in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd.
As a freshman at UVM, White earned North Atlantic Conference (now America East) All-Rookie honors and scored 11.2 points per game to go with 123 assists. The next season he led the fifth-seeded Catamounts (13-17) to their first appearance in the conference title game and his 159 assists, third in the NAC, were the second-most in a season at UVM.
His junior year, he was a key part UVM posting its first winning season in 10 years and a fourth-place finish in the NAC. He was again third in the conference in assists. Despite losing three starters to graduation (Matt Johnson, Rich Tarrant and Rahim Huland El), White and Roberson led the Catamounts to a 16-13 record as seniors. His 4.8 assists per game were second in the NAC as the team finished fourth and advanced to the conference semifinals for the second time in three seasons.
An excellent student, White earned a spot on the conference academic honor roll three straight seasons (the conference began the award his sophomore year). He won the team's academic award three times and in 1992, won the New England Coaches Association Academic Award. At Commencement in 1992, he was the recipient of the Class of 1992 Outstanding Leadership Award.
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