Former Georgia basketball star Herb White of Decatur is perhaps the Bulldogs’ most knowledgeable fan, and he is not discouraged by their late-season slide this year.
"We’ve lost some close games, but the wins over Kentucky in Athens and Arkansas at Fayetteville were impressive," he said. "And, the losses to Tennessee, Florida and Vanderbilt were cliffhangers we nearly won. I believe we struck oil when we hired Mark Fox as coach. I’ve talked to several NBA scouts who think highly of Fox."
White also likes the fact that Fox is winning with native Georgians in the lineup: Trey Thompkins of Atlanta, Travis Leslie from Decatur, Dustin Ware from Powder Springs, freshman Donte Williams of Ellenwood and Marcus Thornton of Dublin.
Incidentally, White is famous for being one of the best dunkers in basketball history.
The immortal NBA star Wilt Chamberlain, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times said: "There was a white boy who played for Atlanta around 1970 who could dunk better than anyone I’ve ever seen." He was referring to White, who starred at Georgia from 1968-1970 and was named the MVP his senior season.
One night in front of a full house in New York’s Madison Square Garden, White’s levitations so captivated the crowd that he got a standing ovation. White now works for the Georgia Public Broadcasting Company in Atlanta.
And before Georgia ends its regular season against LSU on March 2, I would like to promote a halftime exhibition featuring Herb White – "The Elevator from Decatur" and the world’s greatest dunker still dunking at age 62.
• Dan Magill is a contributing columnist for the Athens Banner-Herald. E-mail: tennishof@sports.uga.edu.
