Running back Austin White breaks family tradition to become a Wolverine
Austin White bucked family tradition when he signed with Michigan over Michigan State as part of the Wolverines’ 2010 recruiting class.
White’s mother and father both graduated from MSU, and his twin brothers, Mitchell and Myles, currently play football for the Spartans.
So why did Austin choose Michigan?
“The best advice I got was go where it feels right because you have to live at that place the next four years, not just go to school there,” White said. “When I came here I just felt it inside. There’s places with great educations and great football programs just like Michigan, but it’s really where you get that extra feeling and that’s where you’re going to be happy at, at least what I feel. And I felt that here and I still do.”
One of seven recruits who enrolled early, White will take part in spring practice next month with an outside chance to replace Brandon Minor as Michigan’s starting running back.
He comes with great credentials - three straight 1,400-yard rushing seasons and 84 career touchdowns as a prep at Livonia Stevenson - and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said the work ethic to match.
“The thing that stood out probably to me is watching him in camp, how he wanted to take every rep,” Rodriguez said. “He takes a rep at running back, you put him in at slot receiver, he wants to take a rep there. He's always jumping in front of the line, always wanting to prove himself. That type of attitude is kind of contagious.”
White said he envisions himself being a multi-purpose weapon at Michigan, running the ball and catching passes out of the backfield.
“I feel like they use the running back like I like to be used,” White said. “I like to catch passes and run the ball, and I feel like they spread the running back out into the slot. They’ll run him on routes and stuff like that. That’s something I saw and I feel like I could help the team with.”
By staying close to home, White is also helping out his family.
His father, Michael, the principal at Pioneer High School, was called to active duty in the Army Reserves last month, and White said he's been home every weekend since school started to check on his mother, Karen.
“She’s going through a little rough time, too, so it’s nice to be able to go home for a couple hours and go out to eat with her so she doesn’t feel so alone as well,” he said.
Stephen Hopkins update
Stephen Hopkins, the other running back who enrolled early, could get on the field as a true freshman, Rodriguez said.
The 6-foot, 225-pound Hopkins will play a big back role similar to Minor.
“He’s a tough, hard-nosed, downhill runner,” Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus High coach Brian Erwin said. “He’s not going to do a lot of dancing, he’s going to run with a lot of power and a lot of aggression. He likes to bring it down hill.”
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
MichiganMan5
Wed, Feb 10, 2010 : 5:06 p.m.
I agree, Michigan needs to focus on defense for about 2 more february's and then we will be back to having a more stable program but this recruitng class has helped the defense a bit to where we will stand a chance in our games now but we will be better in about 1 to 2 years
rightmind250
Wed, Feb 10, 2010 : 8:49 a.m.
The good mac teams are much better than UM right now. Central Michigan was the best team in Michigan last year. Any team with an explosive offense will give UM trouble next year. UM is a couple years away from having the athletes on defense to compete in the B10.
MichiganMan5
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 7:38 p.m.
rightmind, I never said State and Iowa were sure wins, we will proboably lose to Iowa, and state will be a good game to watch and a close finish but not beating Bowling Green?
rightmind250
Tue, Feb 9, 2010 : 5:58 p.m.
Michiganman5, Turn that number around you will be more accurate. 3-9. Every year you tater and the rest of the koolaid drinkers have visions of 9-3. OSU's coach was fired for going 9-3. Earl Bruce. Expectations have fallen quite a bit since ol richy arrived in AA. 6-6 and a bowl in Detroit would be a major improvementy for this team in 2010. Whats ol richy's excuse this year? Lloyd, Mary Sue, the bad NCAA, Domino's still sucks? uconn, bowling green, indiana, ND, Iowa, OSU? I don't see UM beating any of these teams. All these teams except indi were in bowls in 2009. Indi's coach was installing his program in year 1. Thats right, year 1. I didn't hear excuses about how he doesn't have the players. The game is in indi. They will have way to much offense for a defensless UM team. UM plays State in game 6. I see RR and his merry band of thugs, rapists, drugdealers at 1-4 going into that game. Ol richy will be lucky if he is still the coach against sparty. He and Beilein will be back in Morgantown eating corn on the cob and wiping off the barbecue sauce with their shirt sleeves and dreaming bad thoughts about their cousins by then.
MichiganMan5
Mon, Feb 8, 2010 : 8:02 p.m.
I am thinking Michigan has what it takes to go 9-3 next year, if you look at the schudule. We should be able to pull out the win over Uconn, It will be a good game in ND but our speed kills the Irish, We will beat Umass no problem, A win over Bowling Green, A 80% chance at Indiana, we got em' last year Our guys will be motivated to beat State, We could possibly beat Iowa, only 2 points last year (im still mad), Proboably lose to Penn State, We will have revenge on Illinois, Same with Purdue, A good game vs Wisconsin And THE GAME you decide that one
tlb1201
Sat, Feb 6, 2010 : 1:33 p.m.
I thought whatever Theo212 must be ingesting was only to be used for medicinal purposes! Is "9 flashes of light" anything like a thousand points of light, only smaller and faster? Richigan???! No re-naming honors or cornonations appear to be on the horizon for richrod just yet. All he has shown us so far is that he can deconstruct a pretty decent football program and mount a losing record and some less-than-desirable media attention in spite of a couple of reportedly top-25 recruiting classes. It's good to be excited, but easy on the Red Bull, Blue in SC! Too much of that stuff isn't good for you. In the meantime, lets hope things go well for all of the White family, especially the dad serving our country in the Reserves.
PE #1
Sat, Feb 6, 2010 : 11:54 a.m.
Rich Rod is not a king.
BlueInBama
Sat, Feb 6, 2010 : 9:49 a.m.
The King has this team on track! Even if we have to suffer through another losing season, so be it! The King is working his magic! This may take a few more years, but it will all be worth it once any remnant of Lloyd's awful legacy is thoroughly purged of the new Michigan. Every play should be shotgun formation, with little Vincent Smith in the backfield, and 4 wrs..... UNSTOPPABLE! Speed, speed, speed! The spread, the spread, the spread! All hail King Rich Rod! Why is this school called Michigan still? It should be RICHIGAN!
Sean T.
Sat, Feb 6, 2010 : 6:05 a.m.
Austin White may be really no better than his brothers at MSU. All three are really good ball players but how far does the apple fall from the tree?
leathercouch
Sat, Feb 6, 2010 : 5:18 a.m.
(Myles) "White was suspended from the team after he was involved in a separate incident on Nov. 22. White was cited by Bath Township Police for minor in possession alcohol and disorderly conduct. He was convicted of the minor in possession of alcohol charged, but had the disorderly conduct charge dropped because of a plea agreement. " - freep I knew i had seen that name before. lets hope that this kid knows better.
Chango
Sat, Feb 6, 2010 : 1:35 a.m.
So, who will have bragging rights at next years thanksgiving dinner? Austin or the rest of the family LOL. Good luck again Austin. I did not know he had two twin bro's playing for MSU. Pretty cool, Go Blue!
BillMK
Fri, Feb 5, 2010 : 9:43 p.m.
Good choice, Austin. It's always nice to see a youngster strive to rise above his origins (Just kidding, guys). This is a very fine family, despite their connections to the udder university....
voiceofreason
Fri, Feb 5, 2010 : 7:46 p.m.
Mr. Birkett, Why are you still writing stories about Michigan football? Apparently your editors have no problem with your bias. No wonder the newspaper industry is dying......
TruBlue
Fri, Feb 5, 2010 : 7:42 p.m.
I sure hope so. It has been miserable around here for football with UM and the lions.
JimRhatt
Fri, Feb 5, 2010 : 7:25 p.m.
I can hardly wait to see how the speed and skill in the d-backs, this year will change the games. Think totally! The offense should be awesome! The next wave of Troll-whining will be "RichRod is a bully for running up the scores on the opponents" because the offensive backups will be hungry to show their stuff, too. GO BLUE!!