Well-traveled KU ex Tre White seeks a spot in NBA: ‘I can produce in many ways’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- White tours "14 or 15" NBA cities for workouts ahead of the 2026 draft.
- He averaged 13.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his senior season.
- White started 121 of 129 college games and shot 40.3% from three his senior year.
No college basketball player has embraced travel more than Tre White, who played for four schools — Kansas, Illinois, Louisville, USC — over the past four years and now is in the midst of a tour of “14 or 15” NBA cities for workouts in advance of the 2026 NBA Draft.
White, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound, 23-year-old Dallas native believes his ability to adjust to new situations. It’s evidenced by his starting 121 of 129 college games and averaging double-digit scoring at three of his four stops. This serves him well in trying to get at least one NBA team to either take him in Round 2 of the June 23-24 draft or sign him to a free-agent deal.
“I think it kind of gave me an advantage in a sense just because you had to do something different at each stop just to produce,” White said of impressing college coaches at four different stops in such a short period of time. He was speaking to reporters after a recent workout in Indianapolis with the Indiana Pacers.
“I feel like that helps me (in) whenever I get blessed enough to walk through the doors of any other team, I can produce in many ways,” White added.
He reiterated to reporters after a recent workout in Sacramento with the Kings that his many travels in college “helped me on the court and off the court — off the court of learning how to connect with guys quicker and seeing how that affects play on the court.
“Then on the court doing anything to get your feet in the door, get on the floor, impact the game whether that’s on the ball, off the ball, defense, being a short roll guy, catching and shooting, running the floor, whatever you need. I feel like those different stops called for different things from me, and it definitely helped in the long run,” noted White.
He capped his four-year college tour by averaging 13.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game his senior season for the (24-11) Jayhawks. He hit 45.0% of his shots including 40.3% from 3 while averaging 31.3 minutes a game in 35 games (all starts).
“Any opportunity … I’ve been blessed enough to play four years, so I feel like I’ve kind of showed my body of work already,” White said of trying to impress NBA teams. “I don’t need to come here (Sacramento) and change anything, just, come here, shoot the ball, play hard. I think I’ve shown I’m a competitor. I can space the floor and shoot. I can guard, and pretty much I’m the plug and play guy. Play the 2, 3, 4, whatever you need. Whatever team that takes that chance on me. I’ll be grateful to go to work.”
He said he’s not burned out physically after playing at the Portsmouth (Virginia) Invitational for pro prospects followed by a busy schedule taking him to those 14 to 15 teams that have included one day stops with NBA teams Washington, Toronto, Charlotte, Minnesota, Denver, Indiana, Phoenix, Sacramento, Milwaukee, New York and Golden State.
“I wouldn’t say (this is) overwhelming. I’m still excited, I’m still geeked. It’s definitely a learning experience, learning how to take care of your body during these flights and stuff, but every time you step onto this floor you know all that soreness, fatigue, anxiousness, all that go out the window, and it’s time to compete. So I’m definitely grateful to be here,” he stated to the media in Sacramento.
His strengths that he’s showing teams?
“I feel like being a leader and shooting for sure,” White said. “I feel like that opens up my downhill tactics and also getting everybody else involved, so I feel like those are my two biggest things.”
In explaining the leadership he brings … “I feel like coming in as a young guy (his freshman year at USC in 2022-23) I was always kind of hesitant talking to my teammates, but now being that older guy, I’m the guy pulling everybody in off the court, on the court.”
He was asked by media members in Indianapolis how he sees his fit with say, the Pacers.
“They’re a bunch of dogs. They play fast. They share the ball, and I feel like that’s me to a T,” White said.
He said he’s well prepared after his season under coach Bill Self’s direction in Lawrence.
“I can’t even speak on how much he helped me on the court, off the court. He was really that father role, that military role that kept you in line and ready to work,” White said, noting in the past year he’s heard he resembles “Josh Hart, Keldon Johnson, any guards who just really don’t need the ball and can impact the game on both ends of the floor.”
