Well respected Houston Associate head coach Quanna White was appointed head coach at Louisiana on Monday.
White, 44, has been preparing to be a principal for the past eight seasons during Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, one of the best coaches in the sport.
“This is an opportunity that I do not take easy, and I am completely committed to building a championship culture that reflects pride, passion and relentless work ethics for this large university and society,” White said in a news message.
Louisiana went 12-21 this season. Coach Bob Marlin was fired after a 3-9 start and Derrick Zimmerman ended the season in an interim role.
Dr. Bryan Maggard, Deputy President of Intercollegiate Athletics, feels that he landed a solid coach in white.
“A proven winner, both as a player and coach, Quannas is a man with high integrity, character and faith,” Maggard said. “He is an elite recruiter and is considered one of the best player development coaches in the industry.”
White played two seasons at Oklahoma – when Sampson was Sooner’s coach – and helped Oklahoma reach the 2002 Final Four and 2003 Elite Eight.
As an assistant coach, White spent two seasons at Tulane (2014-16) and one at Western Kentucky (2016-17) before joining Sampson’s staff at Houston. During his time with Cougars, the program reached the 2021 Final Four, 2022 Elite Eight and Three Sweet Sixteens.
Houston (27-4) is ranked as No. 2 in the country this season and is shown to be a No 1 seed for the third straight season.
Sampson was pleased to see that White was hired and was given the opportunity to lead a program.
“That’s what you want to happen, that they leave you and they run their programs,” Sampson said. “It’s a dream come true for Quannas and I couldn’t be happier.”
White plans to bring the winning formula to Lafayette in the hope of making Ragin ‘Cajuns a force in the sunbelt.
“To the players, the fans, the alumni and the Ragin ‘Cajun family – get ready,” White said. “We will play with toughness, discipline and heart. We will compete at the highest level and find a way to win! Together we will create something special, something that lasts and something that makes the whole Louisiana proud.”
Marlin was in his 14th season when he was dismissed. He led Louisiana to the NCAA tournament in 2014 and 2023.
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