BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ & SAM LANCE
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA — The summer AAU season is well underway at this time of year, but the sting of a semi-final state loss during high school ball still has four-star prospect Billy White III as focused as ever.
“I don’t want to feel like that again,” White told ZAGSBLOG. “So this off season and this AAU season, I’m just working out against better competition, playing against better competition, getting ready to go dominate the high school season. And hopefully win a state championship.”
While winning is the main goal for White this summer, the 6-foot-7, 175-pound forward out of Veterans Memorial (TX) has some personal accolades in mind as well.
“I want to try to join Team USA,” White said. “And then, obviously, you want to always get the ranking as high as you can. Your ranking doesn’t matter, but you always want to just prove who you are, who you say you are.”
So far this AAU season, White has averaged 14.2 points on 37.5% shooting from long distance in eight games with ASAK. He particularly had a great live session in Council Bluffs (IA), scoring 20+ points twice and tallying a points-rebounds double-double against ETG Midwest.
“I’m an elite-level shot maker and shooter,” White said. “That’s a big reason I get recruited. I rebound really well and I can defend my position, as well as multiple positions. I think I’m really translatable to the next level. That’s why I get recruited so highly.”
3SSB Session 2 highlights! pic.twitter.com/qp73hsNy1X
— Billy “Blanco” White III (@Billy_White_III) May 19, 2025
White had a number of coaches courtside to watch him during the live period. Specifically, White drew Kentucky’s Mark Pope, LSU’s Matt McMahon, Texas’ Sean Miller, Texas A&M’s Bucky McMillan, UNLV’s Josh Pastner and Virginia’s Ryan Odom in addition to assistants from Kentucky, SMU and Tennessee. TCU is another school White said is involved in his recruitment, along with a long list of other offers.
The four-star has taken unofficial visits to SMU, TCU, Tennesee, Texas under coach Rodney Terry and an official with Texas A&M while Buzz Williams (now Maryland) was head coach. Williams has reoffered since moving over to Maryland. White said he’s looking to take a visit to SMU “in the next month or so,” and then five or so officials in the fall.
He broke down some of these options to ZAGSBLOG:
Kentucky: I’m talking to coach [Mikhail] McLean. He came down to Corpus, I want to say, two weeks ago for a visit at my school. Really cool guy. Really translatable and he’s real transparent with me. Any question I have, he answered it. He told me what I need to work on in my game, as well as my strengths. Just a conversation with him, he said him and another assistant really liked my game. And I think Coach Pope was here. Coach Pope is going to come watch. And he just said if Coach Pope likes what he sees, then there’s a high chance they’ll offer me.”
SMU: “SMU shows a lot of love. I mean, I’m on the phone with them every week it seems like. I get recruited by coach [Jeremie] Hart and coach [Chris] Capko. Those are my two main recruiters. Really cool people. They’ve both been to visit. I’ve been on campus. Coach Andy [Enfield], the head coach, he loves my game as well, said that I fit in with the program. And he sees me being an impactful player as soon as I step on campus.”
Virginia: “So I just started talking with Virginia, and then coach Darius [Theus], there’s a whole new staff. So I mean, they just called me last week. The head coach was also here I think yesterday and today as well. They just said they liked my game. I shoot the ball at a high level, I rebound. I have great positional size. And they just see me being an impactful player in their conference. So I mean, they’ve been reaching out a lot over this past week.”
Texas: “I can tell [Miller’s] really interested in me and I’m really interested in the program. Obviously, I’m from Texas so that’s high on my list. He’s been to Corpus twice. I mean, not too often do the head coaches come all the way to Corpus because there’s not really a whole lot of us that are recruited that highly. But he’s been down there twice with coach Ulric [Maligi], who’s my main recruiter. He likes my game. He’s been to I think both of my games here. So it’s just good to see that the relationship is definitely mutual, and we both have a respect for each other. I’m excited to continue to get recruited by them.”
Texas A&M: “They reach out a lot. I really like them. [McMillin] was just at this game as well. So the guy that — my main recruiter is coach [Frank] Haith. He was at Texas and he went to A&M. I talked to coach Bucky once. He likes my ability to shoot the ball and that’s what he tries to implement into his program. So he feels like I’ll fit in perfectly just how well I shoot the ball with my size. He seems like a really cool guy. And I’m excited to get on campus, hopefully.”
LSU: “So I get recruited by coach [Jeff] Moore and coach [Casey] Long, and then I talked to the head coach as well. They were both at this game, too. They’ve been to my school. They just basically told me I’m one of those guys that they eye in the ’26 class to come on and make an impact early. They said I’m getting highly recruited, and they know that, but they want me to go somewhere where they know I’m going to play and be an impactful player. And that’s what they want me to do at LSU. So I’m really drawn to that, because obviously you want to play. But I just got to keep building that relationship and we’ll see where it goes.”
TCU: “Coach [Duane] Broussard, that’s my guy. One of my closest coaching relationships that I have. He was the first guy to call me on June 15 my sophomore summer. So that’s just showing me how interested they are in me. He was one of my first early big-time offers as well. He’s been to Corpus maybe four times. So I mean, just showing the relationship is definitely, like, he’s definitely there. I was supposed to go on an official, but we rescheduled it for this next upcoming year. He likes my game. He likes how I play on the basketball court. He likes the kind of kid I am. And so I’m just talking with him and coach [Jamie] Dixon. I’ve been to the camp as well and the campus. They like me, and they see me being an impactful player in the Big 12. So they want me there bad.”
Tennessee: “I used to get recruited by coach [Rod] Clark, but he just went to Indiana. I’ve been on campus to Tennessee. Love the atmosphere, love the arena. The fan base is definitely for Tennessee. I saw that when I went. And it’s just a really good program. They had a pretty good run in the tournament, and they do well with guys on my side. Coach [Rick] Barnes produces guys my size to the NBA, and that’s something that I’m definitely looking to do. So just the whole Tennessee culture is something I’m really interested in.”
White is the No. 39 recruit in the 2026 class per 247Sports. He is looking for a great connection with the coach of his next program.
“I’m going to be away from my parents and from my home,” he said. “So just going somewhere where I’m going to develop and grow is definitely what I’m looking for. And then somewhere where I’m going to go an be an impactful player. I don’t want to waste my college years not playing or anything like that, so I want to make sure I go somewhere where it feels like home and I can make an impact early.”
Photo via 247Sports.
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