BOISE, Idaho — When Darian White starts turning the corner and charging into the paint, it is trouble for her opposition.
Just ask Velaida Harris.
Weber State’s head coach was fresh off her first Big Sky Tournament victory in Monday’s first round as the 10th-seeded Wildcats stunned No. 7 Sacramento State to advance to the quarterfinals.
And for the first 15 minutes of WSU’s game against the Bobcats, Weber clogged the lane and stifled the Montana State offense, helping WSU take an early lead.
But White and the Bobcats raced to a 12-1 run to take a 36-33 halftime lead before dominating the second 20 minutes on the way to an 81-60 victory that wasn’t as easy as the final score would indicate.
What changed from the point when WSU held a 31-19 lead to Montana State celebrating its third straight trip to the Big Sky Tournament semifinals?
“I think Darian White responded,” Harris, WSU’s fourth-year head coach, said. “It was her ability to get downhill on us. And when she didn’t score, her ability to create from that was huge. She does that to a lot of people.”
Getting down hill, getting into the paint, penetrating, kicking to open teammates, finishing at the rim…that’s part of what makes White the best point guard in the Big Sky Conference. But that’s only a fraction of what she does for Tricia Binford’s Bobcats.
“This young lady to my left, what she does on both ends of the floor, she still doesn’t get enough credit,” Binford said while addressing the media following her team’s quarterfinal victory over Weber. “She carries us and picks up everybody on both ends and I thought she was fantastic taking over in the second half.”
White is Montana State’s primary ball handler. She is Montana State’s primary score and primary facilitator. She is also the most aggressive and fearsome on-ball defensive player in Big Sky women’s basketball.
“She can get after you for 94 feet, full court press if that’s what Trish wants to do with her and she’s so disruptive, so competitive,” former Montana head coach Mike Petrino said last season after playing the Bobcats in a rivalry game. “It’s impressive all she does for them.”
More than what White does tangibly on the basketball court, it’s been her personal blossoming into a steadfast leader who can handle the bright spotlight that has been thrust upon her despite her quiet, unassuming personality that is most impressive.
White, a Boise native and a star since the day she first laced up her sneakers for a Bobcat team that went 19-1 in Big Sky play a few years ago when she was a true freshman, is now one of the most visible players in the West in mid-major college basketball.
“She’s settled in to the leadership of our team but also the bull’s eye on her back,” said Binford, MSU’s 17th year head coach who was an All-Big Sky point guard herself during her college days starring at Boise State in the mid-1990s.
“We understand we are going to get a great game from everybody and she is going to be a huge focus on that. She’s really challenged herself to evolve her game for things opponents have tried to take away.
“But more than anything, it’s her evolution to be able to handle all the attention she gets, both from opposing defenses and from the media. The spotlight has been on her and she’s handled it so gracefully.”
To watch White pick up the opposition full-court or guard doggedly in the half-court or use her phenomenal explosion to break off defenders when she’s running the show offensively is a stark dichotomy to watching her carry herself off the court. The 5-foot-6 junior is demure and reserved when she doesn’t have a basketball in her hands and her constantly cheerful demeanor seems to belie the aggressive competitor she transforms into when she hits the hardwood.
“She is always smiling,” Binford said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her in a bad mood. She’s a competitor so the look when she is competing is so much different than when she’s just smiling. The kid doesn’t have a bad day. The kid does not have a bad practice. When she steps on the floor, she is going to try to out compete you every time. And off the court, she never stops being positive.”
Many believed White deserved to earn Big Sky Conference MVP honors after guiding her team within a game of sharing the regular-season Big Sky title with Idaho State. Her 15.8 points per game ranked second in the league this season and her 4.3 assists per contest ranked third. Despite being one of the slightest guards in the league, she ranked 25th in the conference in rebounding at 5.0 boards per game.
She is the league-leader in steals at 2.6 per contest, one of the best marks in the nation at the Division I level. And she’s got her team on the brink of their first championship game appearance since she arrived at Montana State.
“She’s a great player and we are the same grade so I’ve gotten to compete against here the whole time,” Idaho junior Beyonce Bea, a first-team All-Big Sky performer, said earlier this season. “It’s always a good battle between our two teams, it always has been. It’s always a very physical game. She does a great job leading her team, honestly, so I enjoy playing her and her team as well.”
White’s freshman year, the Bobcats didn’t get a chance to go dancing for the second time under Binford because the global pandemic cancelled the pending championship matchup with Idaho.
On Wednesday evening, White and the Bobcats get another shot at the Vandals, a team that took out MSU in the Big Sky Tournament semifinals last season. The second women’s semifinal tips at 8 p.m. on Wednesday from Idaho Central Arena.
White also has the added dynamic of playing in front of some of her hometown faithful, many of which cheered on the Bobcats Tuesday night and are sure to return on Wednesday. As is her standard mode of operating, White remains focused on the end goal and the task at hand.
“It’s really exciting being here in Boise,” White said. “I went out today and saw some friends and old coaches that I didn’t know were coming. Like I’ve said in previous years, we can’t focus on things like that. We come here for a business trip and we want to win a ring. We have to stay focused on what we want.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
