One of the Big Sky Conference’s all-time greats is on the move
For much of the stretch run of her senior season at Montana State, mystery surrounded what the future might hold for Darian White. The three-time first-team All-Big Sky selection at point guard played her fourth season at MSU this last winter.
Would the most recent campaign mark her last season of college hoops? Would she move on to pursue professional aspirations? Or would she use the extra year of eligibility remaining to play a fifth and final season at a higher level of college basketball?
On Tuesday night, White announced her decision. The precocious, energetic 5-foot-6 floor general has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal with the implication she’ll play her final college season elsewhere.
The Boise, Idaho native completes her Montana State career with a resume that is second to none. She finishes her Bobcat career as the school’s second-leading scorer all time with 1,712 points.
She also is the only Big Sky Conference player to ever finish with more than 1,700 points, 600 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals. She earned first-team All-Big Sky honors three times and earned Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore and a junior.
White will be remembered most for her ability to impact winning. The point guard along with classmates Kola Bad Bear and Madison Jackson finish their careers with the most victories in MSU women’s basketball history (84). The trio each had impacts as freshmen on a Bobcat squad that set a Big Sky record with 19 conference victories. That team seemed destined to go to the NCAA Tournament, only to see a global pandemic call off the Big Dance two games short of their advancement.
Two years later, White captained MSU into the Big Dance. Playing in her hometown of Boise, White earned Big Sky Tournament MVP honors after leading Montana State to three wins in a row, including a 75-64 win over Northern Arizona in the tournament title game.
As a senior, Montana State shared the conference regular-season title, meaning White and her classmates contributed to hanging three banners at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
During her time at MSU, White not only blossomed as player but also as a leader and a spokesperson for the program. She is shy and quiet in nature, but transformed into one of the most vocal players in the conference, all while shouldering the burden of the spotlight and extra attention of the media.
“She’s settled in to the leadership of our team but also the bull’s eye on her back,” said Montana State head coach Tircia Binford, 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.”
Over the last four years, 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 in 2022. “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.”
Although White is in the transfer portal, it does not guarantee she will transfer to another school. The option to pursue her professional dreams as soon as possible also remains.
