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M.S.C. Hermann Trophy winner turns down MLS Superdraft opportunity
O’Brian White has a Facebook – and uses it too. He can tell you how to cook a traditional Jamaican meal and although White admits he’s not faster than Usain Bolt, he is one of Bolt’s biggest fans.
White walks to classes, talks in a soft voice with a Jamaican accent and puts out a firm handshake. To many, he’s the average 23-year old living the average college life.
But in the world of collegiate soccer, he’s known as something a little more than average. He’s the best NCAA Division I soccer player in the country and the title isn’t self-acclaimed.
In 2007, White, a junior at the time, pieced together one of the most successful seasons a UConn men’s soccer player has ever had. He ended the year as the leader of all NCAA Division I players in points with 53 and goals with 23.
His biggest accomplishments started to come at the end of last year. In December 2007, White was named Soccer America’s Player of the Year. In January 2008, White was awarded the Missouri Athletic Club Herman Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in collegiate soccer. To finish it off, he was also named National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Player of the Year, completing the so-called “trifecta” of Player of the Year awards.
“I look it at and I know it’s a kind of respect but I don’t get complacent with it,” White said. “I take it as expectation and I have to match that. There’s no pressure on that, it’s just I have to win the game. It doesn’t matter if I score or if my teammates score, I just want to win.”
White seemed to have his future in line. He was in great shape to leave UConn and enter the MLS SuperDraft with two of his teammates, get drafted with a high pick and make a lot of money.
But instead he decided to come to Storrs, to don the white and blue for his senior season.
“He had a chance to leave and make a half-million dollars and he came back to college,” said soccer head coach Ray Reid. “How many kids in college make that kind of decision?”
White came back to UConn for several reasons, his number one being to graduate college with a degree. Combine that with the fact that White would also get another shot at a national championship with a UConn team that was heavily favored to win it all last year, and it’s clear why White is back for another year.
“I look it as I want to graduate,” White said. “I don’t want to leave and then come back. We have a very good team this season, so I knew I could come back and get a chance at it again. We really came up short last year, and I had another year so I was like, ‘Why not? Why not give it a shot?’”
Ever since he was young, White has been in love with soccer. As a boy, his uncle often took him to the local field in Jamaica and played soccer with him.
And even to this day, White thanks his family for helping him become the player he is.
His family noticed he was good at soccer and continually pushed him to work at it. It’s this deep background of the game that makes White feel the way he feels about soccer.
“[Soccer] means a lot to me,” White said. “Your mind is off everything and just on soccer. It allows you to be yourself.”
While White’s main focus right now is to get his fellow Huskies to the national championship, he’s back to dealing with the responsibilities of being a full-time student-athlete.
One of those responsibilities is interacting with thousands of other UConn students.
“Sometimes just being around campus and bumping into people, it feels good,” White said. “It’s flattering. I always try to stop and have a conversation with them and tell them I appreciate their support and everything and I try to encourage them to come to the games.”
In terms of classes, White is studying to finish his sociology major and his communications minor.
Outside the classroom, White lives in an apartment with teammates Akeem Priestley and Josh Ford. It’s in his apartment where White’s other passion, cooking, starts to come out.
He and Priestley, who have been friends since meeting at age 13 in Jamaica, love to cook traditional Jamaican cuisine which includes everything from jerk chicken to fish with rice to dumplings.
“We bring our heritage here,” Priestley said. “We try and give it to the Americans. We do that sometimes, invite over the teammates. Everyone loves the Jamaican food.”
While White’s return to college life may seem busy and hectic, his decision to do so was happily received by coaches, teammates and fans.
At the end of the day, however, the only person his decision ultimately affected was White himself.
But he seems to think that he made the right decision.
“I love the campus and everything,” White said. “To get a chance to play on this team again and just to be here and play for the fans and everybody at UConn is really great. UConn has been really good to me, so I thought it would be good to come back and represent.”
Originally written by Mark Gauthier.
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