{{Short description|American basketball player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Herb White | image = | width = | caption = | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 2 | weight_lb = 195 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|06|15}} | birth_place = Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. | high_school = Decatur (Decatur, Georgia) | college = Georgia (1967–1970) | draft_year = 1970 | draft_round = 8 | draft_pick = 133 | draft_team = Atlanta Hawks | career_start = 1970 | career_end = 1971 | career_number = 34 | career_position = Point guard | years1 = {{nbay|1970|full=y}} | team1 = Atlanta Hawks | highlights = }}
'''Ralph Herbert White''' (born June 15, 1948) is an American former basketball player during the 1970–71 season for the Atlanta Hawks. At 6'2" and 195 lbs., he played as a point guard.
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, White attended Decatur High School in Decatur, Georgia. He was voted the number one high school player in Georgia by the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' in his senior year.
He went to the University of Georgia and as a senior in 1969–70, the starting forward averaged 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for the 13–12 Bulldogs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/alltime-starters.html |title=Georgia Official Athletic Site – Men's Basketball |access-date=March 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310232258/http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/alltime-starters.html |archive-date=March 10, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He was drafted in the eighth round (133rd overall) of the 1970 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.<ref name=bbr>{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/whitehe01.html|title = Herb White NBA Stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=28 November 2024}}</ref> He played in 38 games, starting five, serving primarily as a backup to fellow rookie and future Hall-of-Famer Pete Maravich. He was also Maravich's roommate on the road.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1023432/index.htm |title=Nba Dunker – 08.27.01 – SI Vault |website=si.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310234020/http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1023432/index.htm |archive-date=2014-03-10}}</ref> For the season, his only one in the NBA, he averaged 2.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. His most productive game came on December 29, 1970, as he scored 10 points against the Detroit Pistons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/whitehe01/gamelog/1971/|title = Herb White 1970–71 Game Log}}</ref>
Known for his great leaping ability, White's nickname was "The Elevator from Decatur". He was cited by Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain as the greatest dunker he ever saw during pregame warmups. He once received a standing ovation from the Madison Square Garden crowd for his pre-game dunking show.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vault.si.com/vault/2001/08/27/the-rating-game-belly-up-to-the-bar-as-sis-writers-take-their-best-shots-at-the-most-overrated-people-places-and-things-in-sportsand-celebrate-the-most-underrated-ones|title = The Rating Game BELLY UP TO THE BAR AS si's WRITERS TAKE THEIR BEST SHOTS AT THE MOST OVERRATED PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS IN SPORTS—AND CELEBRATE THE MOST UNDERRATED ONES}}</ref>
White was drafted into the U.S. Army in March 1971. He later played and coached professional basketball in Europe and in Mexico.<ref>{{cite web | last=White | first=Herb | last2=Colby | first2=Len | last3=Healy | first3=David G. | title=Biography: Herb White | website=The Education Forum | date=2006-03-29 | url=https://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/6453-biography-herb-white/ | access-date=2023-01-07}}</ref>
In 2013, White received the most nominations for the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution's'' list of the 10 greatest dunkers in Georgia high school history.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-high-school-sports/2013/01/12/herb-white-the-elevator-from-decatur-headlines-ajcs-all-time-dunkers-list/ |title=Herb White, the Elevator from Decatur, headlines AJC's all-time dunker's list | Prep Zone: High School Sports |access-date=March 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311002446/http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-high-school-sports/2013/01/12/herb-white-the-elevator-from-decatur-headlines-ajcs-all-time-dunkers-list/ |archive-date=March 11, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
White served as a Senior Account Representative for Georgia Public Broadcasting from 1991 to 2009. In 1993, he and producer Tom Vardase brought high school sports programming to GPB, securing funding for the initial season of ''Prep Sports +'', which went on to become the longest-running high school sports show in the country. In 1997, they negotiated the rights to the Georgia state high school football semifinals and finals, GPB's high school sports programming has expanded to include the boys and girls basketball championships and the wrestling and cheerleading championships.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scoreatl.com/stories/gpb-ramping-up-basketball-coverage/|title = GPB ramping up basketball coverage | Score Atlanta}}</ref>
In 2004 White began to do research for a documentary about the Georgia Intersholastic Association. The GIA was the black high school league in Georgia during the era of segregation, as the all-white Georgia High School Association excluded black teams and athletes from competing in their events. From his experiences as a young teenager playing against black basketball players in summer pick-up games White knew that the black players were superior to most of the competition he encountered in the all-white GHSA. He also had an immediate affinity for the less structured and dynamic style of play preferred his newfound African/American friends. His intention in creating the documentary was to recognize the athletes, coaches and teams of the GIA that had played their contests in almost total obscurity due to the newspapers and other media ignoring the noteworthy accomplishments of those in the GIA. One of the former GIA coaches told white "it was like we were invisible" so White named his documentary "As If We Were Ghosts". He secured the involvement of two talented, Independent producers that he had worked with at GPB on other projects. Nwandi Lawson and Bruce Burkhardt worked tirelessly on the film for very little compensation. Ron Bivins, a former GIA athlete and Atlanta businessman donated generously for several years to keep the production moving forward. The documentary premiered on June 13, 2022. It was received very favorably by the public and recognized as an overdue setting right of a decades long injustice to thousands of Georgia's black citizens. White raised over $4 million in corporate funding for high school sports on GPB prior to his retirement in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gpb.org/as-if-we-were-ghosts/about |title=About the Producers {{!}} Georgia Public Broadcasting |website=www.gpb.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713182032/http://www.gpb.org/as-if-we-were-ghosts/about |archive-date=2010-07-13}}</ref>
White resides near Lake Chapala Mexico with his wife, Wanda.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/wanda.h.white | website=facebook.com | access-date=2023-10-28| title=Wanda Honea White}}{{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {{NBA player statistics legend}}
===NBA=== Source<ref name=bbr/>
====Regular season==== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" |- ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG |- | style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1970}} | style="text-align:left;"|Atlanta | 38 || 8.3 || .405 || .564 || 1.3 || 1.2 || 2.4 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{basketballstats|bbr=w/whitehe01}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Herb}} Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:American men's basketball players Category:Atlanta Hawks draft picks Category:Atlanta Hawks players Category:Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Georgia Bulldogs basketball players Category:Point guards Category:Sportspeople from Valdosta, Georgia