Shun White
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Shun White (born Shun Terrell White on December 9, 1985) plays running back for the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen in the NCAA college football tournament. For most of his first three seasons at Navy, White has been serving as a mere back-up to the more experienced slot backs in the team while at the same time learning some other fundamental moves from them. But although Navy hasn't gone to him on a more consistent basis, White has shown that he's got game and that he is capable of carrying the load if the offense asks him to.
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[edit] Personal Life
Shun is the son of Vera and George White. Shun, in essence, is a second-generation rusher as his father was a former highly decorated fullback at then-segregated Manassas High in Memphis in the late 1960s. George went on to accept a scholarship to Division II Mesa State in Grand Junction, Colorado but never got the chance to play after he went back home to care for his ailing grandmother. But George and Shun are not the only ones in the White household to play a sport in college as his brother, Terrico, has signed to play basketball at Mississippi.
Back in high school, Shun was part of a triumvirate of players playing on the backfield that was collectively known as Earth, Wind and Fire, named after the renowned R&B group of the same name. Shun was the "Fire" because according to his high school coach, he was the strongest, hardest runner in the team.
[edit] High School
White attended high school at Raleigh-Egypt where he was a two-sport athlete and a team captain for both of Pharaohs' football and track teams. White, a three-year letterwinner on the two sports he played, helped his track team win the state championship and was selected on the all-state team during his senior year. On the football field meanwhile, White played under coach Fred Halley and was a four-year starter at the slotback and fullback positions. He thrive in the Pharaohs' offensive scheme which like Navy, uses triple-option. He cranked up his game in his last two seasons, rushing for 1,300 yards as a junior before gaining about 1,700 as a senior and making it to the 2003 all-state selection. In addition he was named as the team MVP and an All-Region pick.
Outside of his athletic career, White also did pretty well with his academics as he was a member of the National Honor Society and the Science Club. About four years after his graduation, White's No. 28 jersey was retired during a halftime ceremony.
[edit] College
Because of White's speed and remarkable play in high school, several universities offered him scholarships, namely Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Wake Forest. He impressed the Bulldogs the most after recording the fastest time at the school's football camp. Unfortunately, because of his lack of ceiling, then head coach David Cutcliffe and the other BCS schools wanted him to play on the opposite side of the field as a defensive back. He refused all offers and waited for a team that would tap him to play his natural position. He eventually said yes to Navy as the Middies assured him that he would get playing time as a slot back for then coach Paul Johnson.
[edit] 2004
Redshirted.
[edit] 2005
As a freshman, White played behind the likes of Trey Hines, Zerbin Singleton, and Reggie Campbell at the slot back spot. He made three appearances during the year, making his collegiate debut against Tulane where he rushed for an 8-yarder. He also played against Army and made his postseason debut at the Poinsettia Bowl where he rushed twice for 13 yards and caught his first career pass for 29 yards.
[edit] 2006
Although White remained as a back-up during his sophomore year, he gained more minutes than the previous season. In the season opener against East Carolina, White carried the ball six times for 49 yards and ran for his first career touchdown in the 28-23 win over the Pirates. He was limited to only four carries for a combined 49 yards in his next two outings before rushing twice for 39 yards and his second collegiate TD in the 1-point loss to Tulsa. He also rushed twice for 25 yards and caught a 15-yard pass at Connecticut before carrying thrice for 13 yards in the win at Air Force. He made his kick return debut against Rutgers, returning once for 16 yards in the shut-out loss to the Scarlet Knights. He also contributed 44 yards on four carries in the loss at Notre Dame then helped his team rebound with a win at Duke after rushing 5 times for 85 yards and a then-career long 39-yard scoring run. He was limited to 22 yards on 4 carries by the Eastern Michigan defense but exploded the following week with his first 100-yard game against Temple, rushing a season high seven times for 114 yards and 2 TDs, establishing a new career long of 50-yard TD in the final quarter. He duplicated his numbers back in EMU in the 12-point win against Army before closing the year out with season highs of 7 carries and 116 yards against Boston College in the 1-point Meineke Car Care Bowl loss.
He finished his sophomore season as the fourth leading rusher with 578 yards on only 48 carries with 5 TDs in 13 games.
[edit] 2007
White was listed as a starter during the preseason but eventually relinquished the spot to the veterans Campbell and Singleton. In the season-opener against Temple, he led the team in rushing with 122 yards on only 8 carries and also caught a pass for 37 yards in the 30-19 victory on the road. In the two straight losses at Rutgers and against Ball State, he had 7 and 8 carries, respectively for a combined 82-yard output but racked up a season high 45 yards receiving on two catches against the Cardinals. After being limited to a 5-yard catch in the 3-point win against Duke and being sidelined with a left ankle injury against Air Force, White came back to carry the pigskin six times for 23 yards and a score in the 3-point victory at Pittsburgh. The following week against Wake Forest, he registered his second-career multi-touchdown performance when he ran seven times for 63 yards with TDs from 7 and 12 yards out. The following week against Delaware, he rushed five times for 28 yards, caught a nine-yard pass from Jarod Bryant, and recorded a 29-yard kickoff on a reverse from Campbell in the first quarter, but his efforts went to naught as the Midshipmen were upset, 52-59.
At Notre Dame, White began a streak of games with a TD after scoring an 8-yard TD and finishing the game with a season high 10 carries for 56 yards in the 2-point victory. At North Texas, he broke his personal best in rushing yardage after gaining 131 on 7 carries with a new career-long 64 yard TD in the high-scoring 74-62 Navy win. At Northern Illinois, he ran eight times for 53 yards with a 15-yard touchdown and caught a pass for 9 yards in the 35-24 win before finishing the regular season with only 5 rush yards on 3 carries in the 38-3 win over Army. In his second Poinsettia Bowl appearance, White recorded his first-career touchdown reception on a 10-yard forward pitch and finished the game with 9 carries for 57 yards as the Midshipmen came up 3 points short of Utah. White concluded his junior year as the team's fourth leading rusher with 620 yards on only 78 carries with seven TDs in 12 outings. He also caught 8 passes for 118 yards.
[edit] 2008
During the spring, White starred on the track team and fielded the fastest times in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash events with a time of career best times of 10.62 and 21.67, respectively at the Patriot League Championships. He eventually finished the tournament as the 200-meter champion (21.72) and was second in the 100-meters (10.77).
On the gridiron, with the departure of Campbell and Singleton, White moved on top of the depth chart at the slot back position. In his season debut as full-time starter, he torched the Towson defense with a school-record 348 yards and score on runs of 33, 87 and 73 yards to help give new coach Ken Niumatalolo his first win. In the process, White broke Eddie Meyers' record of 298 set in 1981 against Syracuse. His performance got him the nod as the Walter Camp National Player of the Week, the USA Today Player of the Week, and a nominee for the AT&T Player of the Week honors. The following week, White rushed for a second straight 100-yard game with 128 yards on 13 carries although Navy came up short, 23-35. Entering week 3 of the season, White joined senior fullback Eric Kettani and 43 others in the 2008 Doak Walker Award watch list.
[edit] Highlights
| Shun White opens 2008 by rushing for 348 yards and TD runs of 87, 73,and 33 yards against Towson. (from CBS) |
[edit] Career Stats
| Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
| Year | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2005 | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 29.0 | 29 | 0 |
| 2006 | 48 | 578 | 12.0 | 53 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2007 | 78 | 620 | 7.9 | 64 | 7 | 8 | 118 | 14.8 | 37 | 1 |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2008
- Doak Walker Award watch list
- USA Today Player of the Week (vs. Towson)
- Walter Camp Football Foundation national player of the week (vs. Towson)
[edit] 2007
- Scout.com All-Service Academy Football Team Honorable Mention
