NU to White: Go America East, Young Woman
New hoop coach gets ready to run.
By Paul Perillo
Though Willette White had lived all her forty-one years west of the
Mississippi, when Northeastern athletics director Ian McCaw offered her
the job of women's basketball coach, she didn't hesitate to make the move.
"What's not to love about Boston?" is her simple explanation.
But Northeastern provides much more than a simple geography
switch for White. After spending eighteen seasons as an assistant coach,
White became just the fourth head coach for the Huskies program when McCaw
hired her in August, an opportunity she's looking forward to.
"In talking to Ian, I realized there is a real commitment by the
administration toward the women's basketball program here," White
says. "They've shown in the recent past-with the upgrade of the facilities
and the changes they've made-that they're serious about staying at a competitive
level. That was very appealing for me. And I felt it was time for me to
lead my own way after being an assistant for so long."
Most of White's playing and coaching happened in the Northwest. After
her playing days at the University of Idaho ended in 1981, she shifted
briefly to the Midwest, going to Ohio State for graduate school. White
spent two seasons with the Buckeyes as a graduate assistant before moving
to Iowa State for the 19841985 season.
She returned to the Pacific Northwest as an assistant at the University
of Washington, spending eight years with the Huskies. During her tenure,
Washington compiled a 181-59 record and reached the NCAA Tournament seven
out of eight years.
White's career continued to progress: In 1993, she was named associate
head coach at UCLA, where she was responsible for coordinating recruiting
for the Bruins. Her success in that area actually held her back a bit-she
was reluctant to leave her prized pupils behind as they blossomed into
stars.
"I had plenty of opportunities to leave along the way," says
White, who turned down chances to head the programs at such schools as
Oregon, Minnesota, Maine, and Tulane. "We had some incredible recruiting
classes at UCLA, and I wanted to see them through before leaving.
"We were ranked number two in the country during the preseason
one year, and things didn't fully pan out the way we had hoped. I told
myself [that recruiting class] would be the last one I would wait for.
Once those kids were done, I would take the next opportunity I felt was
right."
White replaces Joy Malchodi, who led the program the past twenty seasons.
Malchodi attained some good results, particularly when NU followed up its
first-ever trip to the NCAAs in 1999 with a solid third-place finish in
the America East last season. She left the coaching position during the
off-season to take a new job in athletics administration.
"Willette White is a rising star in women's basketball coaching
circles," McCaw says. "She is one of the nation's top recruiters,
an outstanding teacher and coach, and will represent North-eastern and
its women's basketball program in a most favorable manner. We are very
fortunate to have attracted her to lead our program."
White is facing a couple of problems in her first season: her unfamiliarity
with the team and the graduation of Tesha Tinsley. Though there's nothing
she can do about the loss of Tinsley, who is NU's all-time leading scorer,
she has decided to retain assistant coach Karen Pinkos, in part to help
with the former dilemma.
"Karen is a holdover from Joy's staff, and she just loves NU,"
White says. "She recruited our incoming class and is obviously very
familiar with them. We have only one returning senior in Lani Lawrence,
and most of the other returners have very little playing experience.
"I've been looking for as much [video] tape on them as I can find,
so I can get a read on their abilities. I'm very excited about the recruits,
and I'm looking forward to getting started."
White has spent the first two months of her tenure trying to acclimate
herself with her surroundings and the America East Conference. In each
of the last two seasons, the league has sent two teams to the NCAAs, one
with an automatic bid and the other as an at-large entry. Though Maine
and Vermont are the perennial powers in the conference, NU has closed the
gap recently.
"I hope to implement my philosophy and system as easily as possible,"
White says. "I like to play an up-tempo style and to be aggressive
on defense. Hopefully, we'll keep our opponents off balance and get some
easy baskets."
Which would be two very welcome sights at Cabot Gym this winter.
A Klemic Dynasty Unfolds at NU
I f the name Klemic rings a bell among Northeastern sports fans, it's
understandable. After all, senior David Klemic just finished the final
year of his football career, departing as the most decorated wide receiver
in the school's history.
But the name will remain on Huskies fans' tongues for at least a few
years to come. Younger brother Paul, a freshman, is joining David in coach
Sherman Hart's men's track program.
Turns out David is as talented around the oval as he
is on the football field. And Paul-well, the sky's the limit, literally,
for this tremendously gifted high jumper. Paul Klemic exploded onto the
national track-and-field scene when he increased his mark from 6-foot-4
to 7-foot-4 in less than a year.
"We obviously knew a lot about him from Dave, but he was intriguing
because even though he wasn't jumping so high, he was doing pretty well
without the proper steps and techniques," Hart says. As Paul Klemic
began to learn his craft, the results were immediately apparent. He qualified
for the Olympic Trials in Sacramento last summer after a 7-foot-4 jump
at the national outdoor meet, thus becoming the only male high school athlete
(and one of only two high-schoolers) to do so.
"The whole experience was pretty overwhelming," Paul says.
"I didn't want to be conspicuous when I was there and tried to stay
out of everybody's way. But then I got so excited when I was talking to
these people and they actually knew who I was. They were like, 'You're
that high school kid.' It was unbelievable."
Although he didn't clear the opening 7-foot-2 height at the trials,
Paul's future glitters with promise. He is expected to compete for Hart
in the long jump and hurdles as well as the high jump, and is a favorite
to qualify for the NCAA championships.
David already handles a variety of roles for the track team, including
the long jump, high jump, the 100 and 200 meters, and the 4 by 100 relay.
At last year's America East outdoor meet, he set the conference record
in the long jump (24-foot-9.75), and finished second in the 100, third
in the 200 and high jump. The relay team also set a meet record. For his
efforts, Klemic received the Most Outstanding Performer Award, an honor
he earned at the 1998 outdoor and the 1999 indoor meets as well.
David began singing the praises of his little brother in the summer
of 1999, when he returned from a visit home in Somers Point, New Jersey,
and informed Hart that Paul had beaten him in the high jump. It was an
accomplishment not lost on the younger Klemic brother.
"Dave's been my idol my whole life," Paul says. "He's
just a great athlete. He has always been good at the long jump and the
high jump. We started off in track really young because our mom [Joyce]
was a coach in grade school. We would stay after and do some of the things,
and we thought it was fun. I played football like him, too, but I wasn't
very good at it."
Dave and Paul have another sibling at Northeastern-sister Joyce, a middler
majoring in business. She had a running career of her own until a foot
injury slowed her. Another brother, Matt, is enjoying a successful high
school career as well.
But Hart is quick to point out that the brightest star may be taking
shape at the end of the line. "Wait until you see the youngest,"
Hart predicts. "Kristin is in the sixth grade right now, but she's
going to be the best of the group."
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