Courtesy of Morgan State Athletic Communications
This is the latest in a series of interviews with Morgan State senior student-athletes to celebrate their accomplishments and honor their service and dedication with a Senior Spotlight.
The NCAA canceled all winter and spring sports for the remainder of the academic calendar year. In response to the cancellation of the annual athletics banquet, this would give our senior student-athletes a sense of accomplishment and closure.
The latest student-athlete is wideout Deontaye White. A native of Baltimore, Md., White was a standout both on the field and in the classroom
During the 2019 season, White started in every game and finished the season as the team's third leading receiver with 19 catches for 287 yards. He also had three carries for 33 yards and averaged 11 yards on three punt returns.
White was named to the 2020 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of college football players from all divisions who maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better throughout their college careers.
He earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a 3.4 GPA.
White appeared in 30 career games at Morgan, and recorded 47 catches for 551 yards (11.7 avg) and averaged 18.0 yards per kickoff return. He was also a member of the 2019 AFCA Good Works Team and earned Academic All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference honors in 2018 and 2019.
White discussed his time academically and athletically at Morgan State.
Questions are in bold, and are followed by White's responses.
On Graduate School…
I was a journalism major, but that wasn't working out for me so I'm trying to get in an MBA program. Right now, I work for a real estate development company and I want to keep expanding with that. I want to buy properties and get into property management. That's why I went out and got some work experience to try to understand exactly what I want to do before I return to school.
How are you and your family doing?
We've been great. We're just doing what everybody else has been doing... sitting in the house trying to figure out anything to do. I've been building a garden in the backyard for my mother and I've been working on different wood projects. I built a dresser and a shoe closet just to find anything to do and keep myself going.
On Father's influence...
Growing up I use to hang around my father a lot. I used to go to basketball and football games, and he would talk about how good he was. I never really believed it until I saw one of his VCR tapes and it made me realize what he was talking about. He was just that guy, so I always looked up to him and wanted to be like him on the football field and as a man. He takes care of his family, does what he has to do, and is the smartest person I know when it comes to understanding money and bills.
How would you describe your career?
Every day was different. I came in as a walk-on which was a whole different ballgame, because as a walk-on you don't have that much pull. You don't get to make any decisions, you just have to do what they tell you to do. You have to work three times harder just to get where the scholarship players are. After I became a scholarship guy, things got better and I started to see things from a different perspective. They called me the "President" because I use to try to make everything happen for the team. Everything that we needed to be done I use to take it to the coaches to try to make it happen. I watched the program go from [academic probation] then we got out of it because [Andrew] Mcgee came in. I just watched the program transform. On the football side, I feel like I could've done some more things but it's bigger than football now. But outside of football, I felt it helped me develop as a person tremendously.
What did earning a scholarship mean to you?
It meant a lot to me because I always felt, on an athletic level, I could compete with anybody. I don't think anybody is better than me and I don't think I'm better than anyone else. I just knew I could compete with anybody. It wasn't about athletics for me, it was about getting the exposure I needed to get that scholarship, so I always showed up on time, I made sure I went to every class and meeting, and I made sure I didn't miss a workout. I just did the right things. I had to do the same in the classroom to get the scholarship. It meant a lot to me.
How has being part of the football team shaped you?
Just being around the guys every day you just find a different type of love with them. You just grow every day with the ones you call your brothers and it's like a brotherhood and I really can't be anywhere else. It helped me grow in ways I can't even explain because without some of the guys on that team I wouldn't be where I am at right now. When I was feeling down, there was always someone there to pick me up. On the field we had some differences, that's why the record shows that, but off the field, I couldn't ask for a better group to be around. I think that's what people need. I don't think anyone should have anything by themselves.
How have you grown in your four years as a player and student?
Everyone comes from different walks of life, different paths. Everyone comes from different backgrounds, but once we all got in there on the team, we're all in the same meetings. You start to understand one another, you start to understand where they come, you start to understand what they believe and how they grew up. Then I realized, all that doesn't matter when you form a bond and you vibe. Where you come from before doesn't matter how they treat you now. So, when I came there were guys from Florida, down south, and we do things completely different but once you got to that common ground it was like nothing was stopping us. Everything was like one. You just learn about different people; different backgrounds and you create bonds with people you never thought you'd create a bond with. I feel like that helped me grow. I got friends for life from that team.
Favorite game you played during your career?
Homecoming 2018. We played Savannah State and Manasseh Bailey blocked a punt and I ran it back. It was homecoming, we won and it just was a crazy atmosphere for that game. I remember It like it was yesterday. I also forced a fumble during a kickoff, and we scored off of that.
On his relationship with the players and coaches during his four years...
The players I definitely built a bond with. Those were the ones that never changed when I got there. I got respect for the ones that stayed, [Bruce] Trigg, Malachi [Washington], Carl [Garnes], [Brian Gentry], Manasseh, Lamont [Hill], Rico [Kennedy] Ian [McBorrough] the list goes on. For us guys to keep building that bond and bringing players in and putting them under our wing as brothers that were the best type of relationship. As far as coaches, I'm not one of those guys that will leave if a coach leaves. At the end of the day, the players make the team. All coaches can do is coach, they can't play for you. So my focus was on getting better with the players. As far as the coaching changes throughout my four years, that's just part of the process to me. But I did come across some good coaches like coach [Isaac] Williams, coach [Antonio] James, and coach [Joshua] Firm.
How do you feel the coronavirus will affect the team heading into the 2020-21 season?
From what I heard they're still getting in meetings; they're still getting in film time and workouts. I know guys who are working out every day. Simeon Gatling is working out every day, three times a day. I just know they're going to be ready regardless. I know coach Wheatley is telling them just because we're in a pandemic doesn't change what might happen in the future, so you just have to be ready for anything. I'm not worried about what might happen in the fall because I know they're still putting in the work right now some way. We might not hear about or see it but I know it's getting done.
Right now I'm working on my first project... this six-story building in downtown Baltimore by Lexington market. We're putting it together and going to turn them to 15 apartment floors and commercial on the bottom so that's what I'm locked into right now. I'm trying to understand the commercial real estate business. I want to get into residential, but right now I want to start with commercial. I want to understand the whole real estate game and how to leverage properties money, and work with banks. I want to say in the next six years I can start to branch out on my own and start buying, selling, and managing properties myself.
Any other comments?
With all this going on… I'm a big HBCU guy and I feel like all black people should go to an HBCU. I have nothing against PWIs but it's nothing like being around your people. I say if any top recruit or Morgan recruit is watching this, you can't go wrong with an HBCU. Some things may be harder because we don't have the funding or the resources, but that's the beauty of it because you learn how to do something other people don't when you got to do it yourself. And I feel once we change the culture and get some of the top athletes, then eventually all athletes come to HBCU things are going to change because that's where the money is. We control the money, but we keep putting our money elsewhere. It might not be physical money, but just being able to get a scholarship is money within itself, but you're worth something to that school.
Previous Morgan State Senior Spotlights
Roi Wallace
Stanley Davis
Diamond Hunter
DeAndre Harris
Dezyree Morales
Malachi Washington
Cheer Bears
Jihayah Chavis
Chelsea Mitchell