Nebraska Basketball: Andrew White Paints Ugly Picture Of Departure

By Oliver Vandervoort | Jul 16, 2016

Mar 11, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Andrew White III (3) drives to the basket against Maryland Terrapins guard Rasheed Sulaimon (0) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

Andrew White has finally opened up about why and how he left Nebraska and his story doesn’t paint a very nice picture of Tim Miles or what’s going on in Lincoln.

Up until now, we’ve only been able to guess at just how the former Kansas Jayhawk and now former Nebraska basketball player handled his transfer. Reports have circulated that White didn’t have much in the way of communication with Miles towards the end.

There have also been those who pointed out it was a bit odd he felt no desire to talk to the team before he left. White says both of those things aren’t true and the real problem was the way Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles handled a talk the two had shortly after his return when he withdrew from the NBA draft.

The shooting guard recently spoke to MLive about leaving the program and told the website he had a sit down to talk about his playing time and the direction of the program. It was during this meeting that things went south between the Nebraska basketball program and White.

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“It was interpreted as a slap in the face, as if I was saying I didn’t believe in the program, my teammates or the coaching staff,” White told the paper. “Really, I was just thinking about best-case scenario and worst-case scenario for everybody. I think that’s something a lot of people do.”

White added he expressed his concerns because he thought that was one of the veterans and that was his role. Miles reportedly responded by taking it personally and going after the kind of person White was.

“I didn’t want to be in a situation where there was a bridge burned and I wouldn’t be able to do what I dreamed of doing. So I thought it was best for both parties to move on in another direction.” He said.

Finally, White claims he asked for a day to talk to his now former teammates but the news leaked (it seems he believes Miles might have done this) and all hell broke loose. Soon after the vitriol towards the guard started and it was time for White to move on.

All of this has to be taken with a grain of salt. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the player is trying to paint a picture that makes him look like an innocent, misunderstood victim. He’s probably not even close to telling the whole story.

On the other hand, it’s unlikely he’s lying entirely about how everything went down. If he did have a private conversation with Miles where things went south, if he wasn’t planning on leaving all along, then it doesn’t exactly say great things about the Nebraska basketball head coach’s approach towards players being unhappy with his coaching or the way he runs his team.

Next: Nebraska Basketball: Something Rotten In The State Of Denmark After Andrew White Departure

Considering how many Nebraska basketball players have departed the Tim Miles regime, there seems to be at least a little bit of truth to that part of the story. We’re never going to know exactly what went down but if Andrew White ends up going to Michigan State, which is looking like more and more of a possibility then Miles and company have an even bigger hill to climb to get back to the NCAA tournament.

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