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Getting Defensive

Coby White may be known for his scoring and hair, but it's time his defense gets recognized, too.
Coby White may be known for his scoring and hair, but it's time his defense gets recognized, too. (Jenna Miller, THI)

CHAPEL HILL – Mention Coby White’s name and what probably comes to mind for most people are his amazing ability at getting to the rim, how he can go off from the perimeter, his spunk on the court and his wild hair.

To some, the ‘do may trump everything else.

Ask his head coach and teammates, however, and earlier in their laundry list describing White is his defense and its importance in North Carolina’s gradual improvement on that end of the court.

White’s a baller, many say, he’s also something else.

“I think the defense starts on the ball, and that’s usually with the points guard, so Coby sets the tone defensively…,” senior guard Kenny Williams said. “Him being so versatile and him being – he’s a dog, Coby’s a dog. So, when the time comes, he’ll get up under you and make you work for everything that you get. And that just makes our whole defense better.”

The 6-foot-5 freshman averages 16.3 points per game and has hit the 30-point mark three times, but he’s also been named UNC’s Defensive Player of the Game six times, most recently in UNC’s win at Wake Forest last month.

White's defensive growth has coincided with UNC's as a team.
White's defensive growth has coincided with UNC's as a team. (Jenna Miller, THI)
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Not winning in the eight games since isn’t a slight to White at all, as Garrison Brooks has taken the honor four times, Kenny Williams twice and Cam Johnson and Seventh Woods each earning the honor as well. Carolina’s defense has progressively gotten better over the course of the season, with White’s steady climb the main reason.

“It’s been huge,” Luke Maye said about White’s defensive growth. “I think Coby’s done a great job of growing into his roll as a point guard and he’s made a lot better decisions and his play’s shown it.

“And, defensively, the defense at Carolina starts with the point guard and picking up at half court and putting pressure on their offense. And I think he’s done a great job and he’s really grown a lot and I’m excited to see how well he plays in the NCAA Tournament.”

The thing about White’s ascent is there’s not really a singular moment when UNC Coach Roy Williams saw the light go on. It’s been a steady process learned over time and experience.

“I don’t think there’s been a turning point, he’s just gotten a little bit better and a little bit better and a little bit better,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “He’s got great feet and his size. But he doesn’t mind getting up into somebody, he’s just gotta be careful because he doesn’t want to pick up senseless fouls.

“But I think he’s gotten better and better and better all year long in every phase.”

White's versatility defensively has been big for the Heels.
White's versatility defensively has been big for the Heels. (Jenna Miller, THI)

If one cares to trace when White started earning those defensive honors against power five opponents it tracks back to a home win over Notre Dame on Jan. 15. White won the award following that victory, which was also the first game Carolina played after its 21-point home loss to Louisville.

The Heels aren’t shy about recognizing that week as their turning point as a team, so that White, the new kid on the block known for offensive eruptions, was integral in getting the defensive ship righted was vital to how things have played out since.

UNC has won 15 of 17 games since, with the two losses narrowly at home to Virginia, a game the Heels led when Cam Johnson left late with an injury and trailed by the time he returned, and last Friday by a point to Duke in Charlotte. Both the Cavaliers and Blue Devils are No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament along with the Tar Heels.

“I’ve been in college for a couple years, but it’s just trying to figure out exactly what the coaches wanted you to do and then making that go from a thinking process to instinctual,” Cam Johnson said about White. “And Coby’s picking that up very quickly now and you see it. He has a lot of intangibles, he has a lot of quickness, he has size over a lot of other guards and he has a tenacity that a lot of people do not have.”

And White has become not just a dependable defender at the top of Carolina’s defense, he’s become a pretty darn good one.

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