Greencastle's White honored with Pat Aikman Scholarship

When Greencastle girls' basketball coach Brad Key looked over the criteria for the Pat Aikman Character and Leadership Award, he knew exactly who he should nominate.

Tiger Cub senior Allison White was recently named as one of five winners of the award from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, which is named after the long-time former director of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series sponsored by the Indianapolis Star.

Key was not surprised to learn of White's selection.

"With the help of my assistant coaches, we saw the qualifications for the award and she fit them perfectly," Key said. "She had all the requirements, and her statistics made her a great candidate. We are thrilled she got the award."

White averaged a team-high 10.3 points per game this winter for the Tiger Cubs, who finished with an 18-5 record and finished third in the Western Indiana Conference.

She also averaged a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game and hit 43 percent of her field goals.

White had no idea she was even nominated for the $750 award.

"I was going to gym class, and my coach was standing there and handed me this piece of paper," she recalled. "It said 'Congratulations, you've won the Pat Aikman Character and Leadership Scholarship.' I didn't really know what that was, but I was really excited. College is really expensive and every little bit helps to pay for it."

White admitted not knowing much about Aikman prior to receiving the honor.

"I researched it a little bit, and I found out he is from Greencastle," she said. "That's kind of cool."

White also played volleyball for the Tiger Cubs last fall, and is currently a member of the track team -- performing in the high jump, the 400-meter run and the 4x400 relay.

She likes all of the sports, but one of them surpassed the others this year.

"This year was my favorite year of playing basketball for Greencastle," White said. "We decided to go out and fight as hard as we could, and finishing 18-5 is a remarkable record for us.

"We had a great team dynamic," she added. "We didn't have a star player, and we all depended upon each other. It was so much fun playing with everyone this year."

This season helped White to further develop the leadership skills she already possessed.

"I really think that basketball taught me to be a leader by example," she said. "For my teammates, I wanted them to give their all and I hoped they would follow me. I wasn't necessarily the biggest vocal leader, but I think I really led by example. It was a great experience."

White plans to go to Taylor University to study exercise science with hopes of possibly becoming a physical therapist missionary.

"I want to go into the health field," she said. "I took the health careers class at Area 30 and really liked it, but didn't want to go into nursing. I took a clinical at Greencastle Physical Therapy and just really loved it. I loved their interactions with the patients, and how much they know about the body.

"I really saw it as something I could do to help people," White added. "Mission work has been in my heart for a while, and it's kind of a dream of mine that I've considered doing."

It seems hard to believe that White, who ranks in the top 10 percent of her class academically, would have any spare time as a three-sport varsity athlete to pick up a new hobby.

Somehow, she did exactly that during the past year.

"I started playing the piano at my church in the praise band," said White, who had never played the instrument before. "It was kind of weird. I learned how to play chords at home on Youtube, and I just showed up and started playing.

"It's been a really cool experience, and was something I never envisioned myself doing," she added. "Just meeting the different age groups in my church that come together to play in the band together was really great."

The IBCA -- a statewide coaches group with more than 2,600 members -- presents a grant of $750 to each recipient in the names of Aikman and former coaches Marion Crawley and Junior Mannies.

Through the years, the IBCA has awarded more than $633,000 in scholarships to Indiana students.

"I would like to congratulate you for being selected as a recipient," IBCA executive director Steve Witty wrote in informing winners of the various selections. "Thanks for your contributions to Indiana high school basketball, and best of luck as you move on to the college of your choice."

Coach Key knows it will be hard to replace not only White's scoring and rebounding on next year's team, but also her intangible qualities.

"You couldn't ask for a better player and a person than Allison," he said. "She bought into what we were saying all four years. The growth of her as a player and a person from freshman through senior years is unbelievable."

White was one of the team's three captains last season, and Key thought she performed well in that role.

"It's easy to have your team fall into line when one of your captains is one of the hardest workers," he said. "Allison was a joy to coach, especially her senior year. Because of the personality of her and our other seniors, it was a really fun group to be around. I would take an Allison White every year."