White works and waits to see what the future holds

Took a week off to recharge...did you miss me?

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With National Signing Day looming in a couple of weeks, stories of commitments and re-commitments are becoming more and more commonplace.  It makes a story like Stephen White's a little bit poignant.

White is a senior on St. Thomas' basketball team (no need to clarify with 'boys'; STHS is an all-male parochial school run by the Basilian Fathers) and aspires to continue to play beyond his high school days.  This would have been his third varsity season as an Eagle.  Would have been.

White suffered a knee injury last year that required surgery during the summer and, while healing nicely, has cost him his senior year on the varsity squad.  In the process it may have cost him, or at least detoured, his hopes of playing basketball in college.

White, a 6'3" swing man in high school, had committed to West Point, the Army academy, and had planned to play basketball there.  It's hard enough for a completely healthy high school student to get accepted at West Point, much less one whose surgically-repaired knee creates questions for a governing body who, frankly, are concerned with much more about White's future endeavors on their behalf than basketball. 

So Stephen White waits and works to rehab.  He'll need a medical waiver from the US Department of Defense to still be accepted.  And though he comes from celebrated political stock (his dad is former Houston mayor Bill White), that may not carry enough influence to earn the necessary paperwork.

So he mulls his options, most of which are either a secret he keeps or unknown to even himself, and turns his focus to trying to help his current teammates from the sidelines. 

St Thomas' 2009-2010 squad has turned out to be a fairly good one, in spite of being incredibly young and under the direction of a new head coach.  Danny Evans replaced Neil Laminack before the season began and has led the Eagles to a 21-12 record with four games remaining. 

Led by sophomore Christian Sanders and senior Chase Kammerer (an Air Force commit), they lead District 3-6A in TAPPS.  In their classification, they could potentially make a deep run in the playoffs.  The shadow Prestonwood Christian looms on the far horizon, but the Eagles would have the size, if not the experience, to match up with the Lions.

White just hopes that his team gets to play long enough to think about facing PCA, because that may be his only opportunity to actually play this season.  His doctor has told him that, if the healing progress continues, there is an outside chance he could be released to play in late February.  That would coincide with a state semifinal or championship game.

Everything hangs in suspended animation for the time being for Stephen White.  And while we celebrate those athletes who are solidifying their plans for the future, we also should be reminded of the ones who can't do it...at least not quite yet.