The 6-7 senior has signed with the Gophers and draws plenty of attention. But he says his goal now is to lead the Royals in assists.
Gophers coach Tubby Smith was sitting a couple of rows behind the scorer's table, watching two of his recruits play during a six-game hoops buffet at Target Center. The best team in Wisconsin was involved. There was a running-time blowout. There were nail-biters. Whistles, dunks, scribbled X's and O's.
It was the annual Gatorade Timberwolves Shootout on Saturday. A $10 ticket was good for all six games, plus admission to a future Timberwolves game (but no Vikings playoff games).
The top four teams in Minnesota's Class 4A rankings were here: Hopkins, Henry Sibley, Cooper and St. Cloud Tech, plus No. 6 Osseo and No. 10 Eden Prairie. The second-ranked team in 2A (Pelican Rapids) was here. The No. 1 team in Wisconsin's largest class (Madison Memorial) was here, as were a dozen players who have made Division I commitments.
In the best game of the day, Madison Memorial pulled out a 67-64 victory over Henry Sibley in a contest between state runner-ups from last season.
But the brightest spotlight was reserved for Royce White, the erstwhile DeLaSalle Islander and current Hopkins senior. His story is well known: dismissed from DeLaSalle last season, a family move to the Hopkins district and a spot on the top team in the state.
The 6-7 forward has signed with the Gophers, thus Tubby's presence in the stands after his Gophers had dispatched Ohio State a couple of miles away.
Right now, White's goal is not to be a first-round NBA draft pick, lead the nation in dunks or anything of the high-flying sort. He wants to lead his team in assists. Really.
"I think I'm the team leader in assists right now," he told me after Hopkins steamrolled Lake Geneva (Wis.) Badger 79-41 in a game that entailed a running clock for the final nine minutes. "Scoring is not important to me because we blow teams out, and there are times when I sit out the whole second half, like today."
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