CENTERTON — Greg White admits he is proud of the job he has done in his time as Bentonville West’s boys basketball coach, but he also believes the time has come to try something a little different.
White, 46, becomes the latest coach to leave a 6A-West Conference school since the season started when he announced his resignation to become the coach and assistant athletic director at Thaden School and reunite with Scott Passmore, the person who hired White to become West’s first basketball coach.
“I saw a couple of things happen during the offseason that kind of stirred some interest,” White said. “Seeing Coach (John) Calipari leave Kentucky for Arkansas — people questioning that move and hearing him talk.
“There’s also the chance to work for the athletic director who hired me and believed that I could go to a Class 6A program and build something. I’m proud of what we’ve done at West. I think we surprised a lot of people with the success we’ve had in the amount of time we’ve had. I’m leaving the program proud because it’s in a great spot.”
White compiled a 133-93 overall record and a 66-50 mark in conference play during his 8 years at West. The Wolverines finished 17-14 and 9-7 this season. He was the 6A-West Coach of the Year in 2023 after West went 26-4 and won the league regular-season crown with a 14-2 record and reached the Class 6A state tournament semifinals.
Now he heads to Thaden, a private school in Bentonville that makes the leap from Class 1A this year to 3A next season. He takes over a Barnstormer program that finished 6-23 overall and 3-13 in the 1A-1 West under Nick Bower, who left in April to take the girls coaching position at Eureka Springs.
“We’re excited to welcome Greg White to Thaden School,” Passmore said. “It was a great opportunity for Thaden to combine these two jobs and a great opportunity for Greg White to join us, not only as a coach but as an administrator within the athletic department.
“We’ve made a commitment to developing and growing a successful athletic program. We think he can do a part in enhancing this part of our athletic programs. I was able to witness him first hand as a coach and a leader, and he’s open-minded and creative. That’s the kind of mindset you need when you’re hiring a program builder.”
White becomes the fourth boys basketball coach to leave the 6A-West since the season ended, following Dick Rippee at Bentonville, Lamont Frazier at Rogers and McKenzie Pierce at Fort Smith Northside. His departure also means that only two West head coaches — Bryan Pratt in football and Anthony Cantrell in softball — remain since the school first opened.
Now White goes from coaching teams in spacious Wolverine Arena to taking Thaden to its games at the Arkansas Athletes Outreach facility in Rogers — which also serves as the home court to Ozark Catholic, Providence Academy and Haas Hall-Bentonville. White, however, believes the future is bright for the Barnstormers.
“It’s a chance in my career to try to build something special without having to pack up and move,” White said. “One of the things I’m excited about is we’re going to build an on-campus arena at some point. Getting to be a part of that is appealing to me.
“When I really became serious about this job, I looked at the great Bob Hurley Sr. and what he did in New Jersey. He had no gym; he played in the basement in a lot of places. I looked at what people would say ‘why would you leave this,’ but mainly it was for the challenge to go build a program again and to be proud of something from the ground up.”