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drian Autry’s face lit up like a Christmas tree during Syracuse’s preseason media day while rewinding Sadiq White’s practice tape through his head. He gushed over the plays the 6-foot-9 forward regularly makes look simple, like lurking on the weak side before emphatically blocking a layup attempt, then sprinting downcourt to violently throw down a fast break alley-oop.
For Autry, watching White — ESPN’s No. 28 overall freshman and No. 6 forward in the class of 2025 — is like watching one of SU’s great forwards of the past. The third-year head coach has been searching for his own version of Derrick Coleman or Carmelo Anthony, a star forward who excels on both ends of the floor.
With White, Autry might’ve finally found his signature prospect. His uncontainable smile said it all — as if he knows something we don’t about White’s future.
“He’s had some amazing plays that we haven’t had in the gym in a while,” Autry told The Daily Orange on Oct. 15. “He’s different.”
The worst-kept secret in Syracuse the last two years is that Autry didn’t have the players he actually wanted. SU’s 2023-25 groups played out of sync because of how they were constructed — poorly and without cohesion. But by all accounts in the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, this season’s roster features players who fit Autry’s desired scheme for the first time in his three-year tenure.
Nobody exemplifies that more than Sadiq White.
A blood-born desire to posterize you on one end and an addiction to blocking your shot on the other; it’s almost like White was genetically engineered to play for Autry. The head coach wants Syracuse to play fast and ferociously, traits White has carried all throughout his basketball career.
White dominated the North Carolina high-school basketball circuit and the national scene at IMG Academy. He gained status as a top-five-ranked freshman power forward, per 247Sports. He says he’s ready to live up to the hype as one of the best recruits of the Autry era and spearhead the culture change Syracuse desperately needs — aka, the return to the “Orange Standard.”
Time will tell how quickly White will make his mark, but those around him believe he’s destined to be the commit who elevates Autry’s program into a serious contender. So does he.
“To be able to run the floor at my size and just being able to finish with my athleticism, I feel like there’s nobody in the country who can beat me,” White said. “I feel like it’s a gift from God.”
“Our fans are going to fall in love with Sadiq,” SU assistant coach Dan Engelstad said on Oct. 15. “That’s the biggest thing we’re going to see differently here at Syracuse this year — that ability to go from one end of the floor to the other so fast. It’s going to be a fun brand of basketball.”
Engelstad credited White’s commitment to the tight relationships he developed with Autry and his staff. White, a five-star recruit, announced his decision on May 29, 2024, choosing SU over a litany of programs such as Alabama and Tennessee.
“They cared about me as a person first, and then it was basketball,” White said of choosing Autry and Syracuse. “And that just meant something that no other school had done for me.”
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In all fairness, after watching him play, it’s easy to get hooked on White’s soft-spoken but uber-confident personality. That’s how IMG head coach Sean McAloon felt. When White was previously at Myers Park High School, a top-ranked basketball program in Charlotte, North Carolina, McAloon noticed his ability to guard all five positions while taking over games offensively.
Even more striking, though, was how White carried himself. McAloon saw him scream impassionately while ripping the ball away from point guards and blocking shots into the crowd.
“That rage he plays with was what drew me to him,” McAloon said of White.
Like many top-flight high school hoopers, White opted to go to private school for his senior year of high school, moving south to Florida to join IMG. McAloon remembers White’s first day of outdoor conditioning workouts in summer 2024, where the forward led the team as if he’d been there for years. He was soon entrusted with a major role on a stacked IMG squad that also featured BYU star AJ Dybantsa.
“There’s a reason why, for a good portion of the year, we were the No. 1 team in the country,” McAloon said, specifically referring to White.
White dropped 12.2 points per game and grabbed 6.1 rebounds per contest in 2024-25, where he helped IMG to the country’s No. 1 overall ranking last December. McAloon marveled at White’s masterful inside finishing ability, saying he could use him effectively in the post game while also using his speed on cuts to the basket — plays on which he was virtually unstoppable in high school, McAloon said.
And if you met him at the rim? Good luck.
“Some of the things that I saw Sadiq do around the rim with his size, just his anger at ripping rims off, there’s not many kids who can do what he can do,” McAloon said. “There were a ton of times where I’d turn around after he would do something insane in a game, and be like, ‘My God, what just happened?’”
Design by Sophia Burke | Digital Design Director, Photographs by Leonardo Eriman
As impressive as his offense was, the head coach views White’s tenacious defense as his calling card. McAloon said that, just about every game, he would ask White to identify the opposing team’s best player and “shut them down.” He rarely failed. The verdict concerning White’s defensive makeup is simple: He can guard any player, anywhere. Point guard, small forward or 7-foot center. It doesn’t matter. White will clamp them all game.
They’re all qualities a Syracuse player hasn’t possessed in quite some time.
“I can let my offense just be my offense, and fall in love with the defensive side of the game first,” White said.
White entered IMG looking for a better path to the pros, and McAloon says he exited as a coach’s dream player.
About a week before Syracuse’s first exhibition game on Oct. 25, ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg walked into SU’s basketball facility. Greenberg took Autry under his wing when the two coached together at Virginia Tech, and they remain in close contact.
In his third time visiting an Autry-led Syracuse team, Greenberg noticed a difference with this year’s group. It started when he saw White streaking downcourt as the Orange pushed the ball in transition. Again and again, he watched as White perfected a litany of finishes at the rim. Seamlessly displaying Autry’s desired up-tempo playstyle, White was the one who SU ran through that day.
“I was so impressed watching in practice with how hard he practiced and how high his competitive spirit is,” Greenberg said. “He didn’t take plays off. He was a willing listener. He wanted to make the right play. And he’s a matchup nightmare.”
Greenberg thinks White is one of many reasons this year’s Syracuse team will be Autry’s best. He said SU’s investment into its 2023-25 rosters wasn’t enough to construct a postseason-caliber roster.
But ahead of this season, Greenberg said, the Orange forked up the funds. It’s part of why, now, they have a highly-touted Swiss Army knife like White at their disposal, an archetype of a player who hasn’t graced the Dome under Autry thus far.
“(Director of Athletics) John Wildhack did a great job of giving Adrian the resources,” Greenberg said. “And I think Adrian did a really good job of going out and recruiting winning players and competitive people.”
Some of the things that I saw Sadiq do around the rim with his size, just his anger at ripping rims off, there’s not many kids who can do what he can do.Sean McAloon, IMG head coach
Greenberg echoed Autry’s feelings about White being crucial for Syracuse’s success. Autry wants the Orange to get out on the fast break and not have to revert to a zone defense — instead, he yearns for all-around defenders who can shine in man-to-man. White’s priorities when he steps onto the court are exactly what Autry hopes for in an ideal basketball player. Just ask White himself.
“Man, we’re going to be disruptive defensively, that’s been the No. 1 thing,” White said. “We going to limit teams offensively and then just run our offense and execute, play together as a team. And get in transition, have a lot of highlights and just have fun together.”
His teammates agree. Freshman guard Luke Fennell said White’s energy on the defensive end is infectious. Fellow freshman Aaron Womack, White’s roommate, said the forward’s long arms and quick change of direction make him far and away “one of the best defenders on the team.” Womack said that, as an offensive player, it’s frightening to go up against White. You’re typically left thinking about which way he’ll beat you.
“He’s moving faster than I was in my first year here,” SU forward Donnie Freeman said of his fellow IMG alumnus White. “So he’s going to be good, for sure.”
You get the point. Everybody within SU’s basketball facility has their popcorn ready for White’s much-anticipated freshman campaign. Arguably no one is more excited than Autry.
Because helping a player like White — Autry’s ideal archetype for a basketball player — reach his potential would provide a blueprint for other ferocious beasts like him to flock to Syracuse.
“I just want to leave my mark and have my name ring bells for a long time here at Syracuse,” White said. “I feel like my energy from Day 1 is going to set the tone.”
Photograph by Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
Published on October 30, 2025 at 12:01 am