Antoine White already has offers from Rutgers, Boston College, Maryland, Central Florida, Temple and Old Dominion and the 2014 New Jersey defensive lineman could be getting close to more.
“It’s going good,” the 6-foot-3, 260-pounder from Millville High School (Millville, N.J.) said of the recruiting process. “I’ve had some coaches stop by recently. Michigan came by to see me, Penn State came by, Boston College, Maryland, Pittsburgh and Temple.”
White is planning to be at Penn State this weekend and Rutgers early next month. He’s grateful for all of the early attention.
“It’s really nice to see them want to build that relationship early and get out here to see me,” he said. “It’s very humbling because these are coaches from big colleges who have seen a lot of players and a lot of talent. To have them come down to the school for me, it’s really amazing.”
And he’s especially grateful for the scholarship offers that have already come his way.
“Any college offering to pay your way for an education, that right there is definitely motivational for you to want to keep doing better and strive for better in the classroom and on the field,” he said. “Hopefully one day I can take the stress off my mom and she won't have to pay for my college. That’s definitely the biggest accomplishment out of all of it.”
Notre Dame hasn’t been to his school yet, but he receives mail from the Irish on an almost daily basis.
“They send a lot of letters to my house and to the school as well,” he said. “I just received one over the weekend talking about the college and the national championship and stuff like that. They’ve been sending me quite a few letters.
“They’d be a contender. They’re a good school academically, they’re well-known for winning a lot of football games and keeping their players out of trouble.”
White says his quickness off the ball has caught the attention of many coaches.
“That’s one of my biggest attributes, my first step,” he said. “I’m pretty good with my feet and my handwork. I try as much as I can to never give up on a play. I made a lot of plays from behind this year, which really made my highlight tape stand out. A lot of my plays were pursuit plays and a lot of my plays were tackles for losses.”
White is being recruited at different spots on the defensive line.
“Some are recruiting me as a nose tackle and some as a regular defensive tackle,” he said. “Mostly it’s defensive tackle. Some schools have talked to me about sliding out to end based on a 3-4 or a 4-3, but I’d like to be recruited as a defensive tackle.”
He’d prefer to play in a 4-3 scheme, but wouldn’t mind playing in a 3-4 if he was out at defensive end. More importantly, White will be looking at education when making a decision.
“What they offer academically,” he said. “A lot of coaches will promise you a starting position, a lot of coaches will promise you this and then, but as long as I’m promised a graduation and education, that’s my biggest thing.
“The second thing is how I feel. The environment, how I feel with the coaches and players and if it’s a good fit for me.”
It’s too early for White to have any leaders or any timetable for a decision.
“I’m probably going to wait and make sure I make the right choice. I want to be honest with whatever coach I commit to. I see a lot of recruits decommitting and stuff like that. I don’t want to be put in that position.
“This spring and summer, I’m going to take as many visits as possible to make sure I’m going to make a decision to stick with.”
