Men's Basketball

Walk-on White receives NCAA waiver, will be eligible to play against Holy Cross

Syracuse walk-on guard Christian White has received a transfer waiver from the NCAA and will dress for Friday night’s game against Holy Cross, SU Athletics announced via Twitter on Monday afternoon. He’ll be eligible for the entire season, SU Athletics confirmed.

SU Athletics spokesman Pete Moore did not know the exact type of waiver, but said it is likely related to White being from the Rochester, New York area. The NCAA will sometimes permit waivers to player who transfer closer to home, Moore said.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior point guard was originally ruled ineligible for the 2014-15 season due to NCAA transfer rules after coming to Syracuse from Monmouth. Four walk-ons joined SU before the season started, but head coach Jim Boeheim said before the season that White would be the most likely to play out of the group if eligible.

“I think if Christian was not sitting out, he would probably have the best chance to play,” Boeheim said at Syracuse’s media day on Oct. 17. “He’s played in college, he’s a point guard and he’s a pretty good point guard but he’s sitting out this year.

“If he wasn’t, I think he’d get an opportunity probably this year to play.”



White has been participating in practice as SU currently has only one true point guard in freshman Kaleb Joseph and junior forward Michael Gbinije has played sparingly at the position.

Asst. sports editor Phil D’Abbraccio, [email protected], contributed reporting to this article.





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