‘A once-in-a-generation player:’ 6-foot-8 Sadiq White looks to lead Myers Park back to glory

When Sadiq White grew 5 inches during the summer between sixth and seventh grade, he knew there may have been a basketball star inside him.

White, a young football player at the time, had been about 5-foot-11. He spurted to 6-4 his first year of middle school and starting finding a home on the hardwood. After the eighth grade, White gave up football to focus on basketball full-time as he entered Myers Park High School.

Now a junior who helped deliver the nationally-ranked Mustangs their first state championship since the school opened in 1951, White is the Class of 2025’s top-ranked player in North Carolina, according to 247Sports. The versatile 6-foot-8 forward is explosive in nearly all aspects of his game. He currently has at least 10 Division I offers, according to ESPN, including from Alabama and South Carolina.

“The feeling of being overlooked is, for sure, what pushed me,” White told The Charlotte Observer on Thursday. “Everybody got the self-doubt, but just, I’ve been able to work my countless hours in the gym with my assistant coaches.”

Early in White’s basketball days, he worried more about little things, like if he was performing basic moves correctly. He tried to just lock in on his own game and do everything he could to better himself, while not getting bogged down thinking about rankings and aspects of that nature.

On the floor for Myers Park (8-2), MaxPreps’ No. 6-ranked team in the nation, White is a prolific scorer and stout defender. He’s currently averaging 17.6 points per game for the reigning state champions, who play for a John Wall Invitational title at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The big forward’s awareness is also a key part of his game. White received a pass while standing at the top of the key during Thursday’s 80-46 blowout of Millbrook. He noticed an open teammate down low and sent a perfect pass — all within about a second or two of White initially getting the ball — to set up the score.

His presence is evident all over the floor. During that same game, White chased down his defender and stuffed his shot attempt into the backboard. Later, White was leading an offensive charge and emphatically slammed in a one-handed dunk that made the packed crowd inside Broughton High roar.

“Sadiq is a once-in-a-generation player,” said senior guard Sir Mohammed, who led the team with 25 points Thursday. “He’s very talented, and he’s getting much better.”

Myers Park, which was upset by Combine Academy in its season opener, traveled to Chantilly, Virginia, on Dec. 7 to face powerhouse Paul VI. White was a force against the nation’s top-ranked team, and his 25-point night in a 78-70 overtime loss had people in that Washington, D.C.-area gym talking.

“There’s moments within each game where he can just get you to raise your eyebrows,” Myers Park head coach Scott Taylor told The Observer. “Just flat out — how much he wants to win. He’s always been about winning, even as his role has progressively grown and changed. ... Last year, he played with three other high-major college guys, and now, he gets to be a junior with a skill-set that continues to blossom.

“He becomes more of ‘the man.’ Everybody’s getting to see a little more about his enthusiasm, and his energy, and his passion. But he’s always been about winning.”

After this four-day invitational in Raleigh, the Mustangs will return to school from winter break with the “meat” of their schedule ahead of them, Taylor said, beginning SoMeck 4A Conference play Jan. 5 against Ardrey Kell. The Mustangs are looking to become Mecklenburg County’s first repeat 4A champions since West Charlotte went back-to-back in 1991 and 1992.

White wants nothing more.

He felt he took his seniors for granted as an underclassman, and seeing their satisfaction after Myers Park’s triumph really made him realize the significance of their accomplishment. Throughout this year, White has been taking everything one game at a time and tries to soak in every moment.

Now that he’s been in the system for three years, he’s been given his space on the floor to operate. The pieces are falling into place on the court for Myers Park, and now it’s White’s turn to lead them back to glory.