White leads Team USA to U16 FIBA crown

White leads Team USA to U16 FIBA crown

By Robert Alfonso Jr.

XALAPA, Mexico – Sharman White knows how to take a challenge and turn it into gold.

The Pace Academy head coach Team USA Men’s U16 national team to another FIBA Americas championship. This was the teams seventh consecutive championship in the age group. 

It was also White’s first as the head coach of the national team.

“It is an incredible feeling,” he said. “To be a leader and a person in charge of it and to make sure the team is ready to go. It comes with some pressure.”

Team USA’s toughest game was in the finals. They used a strong second half performance in order to pull out the 99-75 win over Argentina. North Carolina’s Robert Dillingham (pictured above) was named the tournament FIBA America U16 championship MVP, after scoring a game-high 31-points. The Combine Academy product set the USA single-game U16 scoring record, while averaging 15.7 points and a team-high 6.2 assists a game for the tournament off the bench. Dillingham joined teammate Ronald Holland on the All-Tournament team. Holland, from Texas, who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the gold medal game, and averaged a tournament high 19 points a game. The Duncanville High product also pulled down 10.2 rebounds a game.

Putting together a championship team is not easy. This roster was loaded with players accustomed being the primary player on their team. However, these players accepted their role to accomplish the mission.

“Everyone was just about winning,” White said. “Guys were not worried about how much they player. They were all in.”

Dillingham was an example of this. White knew how electrifying the 6-foot-2 guard accepted the role of coming off the bench. White believed Dillingham’s skills and speed would be a game-changer in the tournament.

Winning the medal was not easy, by any means, off the court. White had to pick the best 12 players from a pool of 27. The team then dealt with travel issues because of weather. Some players had never left the country. Add this to the team needing to be tested daily for 17 straight days because of a global pandemic, which forced players to remained isolated in the hotel the entire tournament.

“Dealing with all that makes winning the gold medal gratifying,” White said.

White also has great pride in representing the country. This is the third time the nine-time Georgia high school state champion has been apart of a gold medal team. He was part of the 2015 and 2019 as an assistant. White will get to coach the U17 team for the World Cup next year.

“We have military risking their lives for our freedom,” he said. “Being able to serve your country in this matter is humbling. This is a high honor for me and it always has been. I am thrilled every time I am called into service.”