White will not return to basketball

By Matthew Cucuzza

The Santa Clara men's basketball roster jumble continues as one more player will not return for the 2009-10 season.

Junior Decensae White informed the coaching staff on March 30 of his decision to stop playing college basketball. He still has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining.

"I will finish up the academic year at Santa Clara," said White in a statement from the Athletic Department. "After the school year is over, I will then decide what my future holds."

White can retain his athletic scholarship through the end of the academic year.

"Decensae has put a lot of thought into his decision not to play college basketball anymore," said head coach Kerry Keating in a statement from the Athletic Department.

"We wish him the best of luck. I have told him my staff and I will be here in the future to help him," he said.

White played his freshman year at Texas Tech, where he averaged 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in 30 of 34 games in the 2006-07 season as a true freshman for head coach Bobby Knight. The 6-foot-6 forward joined Santa Clara in January 2008, but was ineligible to play until December 2008 because of NCAA transfer rules.

In his Bronco debut on Dec. 17, 2008 at UNLV, White played 30 minutes and collected 10 points and 5 rebounds off the bench.

He posted 24 total points over the next nine games before disappearing from the Bronco bench due to an "internal team issue," according to Keating.

White played 10 minutes and was 0-for-3 from the field in his final game for Santa Clara on Jan. 15 at Gonzaga.

Amidst the departures of White and James Rahon, freshman guard Kevin Foster put rumors of his possible transfer to rest in a statement from the Athletic Department.

"I have never considered transferring," said Foster in the statement. "My parents and I are very happy with my decision to come to Santa Clara, and I look for big things from the Broncos in the next few years."

Foster averaged 14.7 points per game for the Broncos last season, second only to senior John Bryant. The WCC Co-Newcomer of the Year eclipsed Steve Nash's single-season school record for 3-pointers made with 85.

The status of another Keating recruit, junior guard Perry Petty, remains in question as rumors about his future continue to circulate on internet message boards.

Though these rumors remain unconfirmed, Keating suggested in a recent interview with The Santa Clara that Petty's future with the team remains unclear.

"Perry's back in school and taking classes, and obviously he and I still have a lot to do to determine whether he is still part of the program or not," Keating said.

Petty played in 30 games for Santa Clara this past season, averaging 22.1 minutes and 5.6 points per game.

He shot 36.5 percent from the field and 23 percent from beyond the arc as his production trailed off toward the end of the season.

Petty could not be reached for comment for this article.

White becomes the sixth Bronco to leave the team since Keating was named head coach on April 9, 2007.

Jonathan Gunderson, Cedric Latimer, Zac Tiedeman, Andrew Zimmerman, Rahon and now White have all departed under Keating.

Gunderson, Latimer, Tiedeman and Zimmerman, all recruits of former Santa Clara head coach Dick Davey, decided to transfer after the 2007-08 season.

Rahon, a Keating recruit, announced his transfer last week.

Okechukwu Mbanugo had one year of eligibility remaining when he graduated in 2008.

Last May, Mbanugo told The Santa Clara Keating would "probably not" let him play in the 2008-09 season.

White starred at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif., where he set a single-season school record for points scored in his senior year and graduated as the school's second all-time leading scorer.

The 2006 West Catholic Athletic League Player of the Year averaged a double-double with 20.9 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game in his senior year at Serra High School.

Contact Matthew Cucuzza at (408) 551-1918 or mcucuzza@scu.edu.