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Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- qbwhite@central.uh.edu
| ABOUT QUANNAS WHITE | |
| Hometown | New Orleans, La. |
| College | Oklahoma '04 |
| Family | Married – Wife, Leah Daughters – Jordyn, Anaiah Sons – Asher, Asa |
| COACHING EXPERIENCE | |
| Year | Team, Position |
| 2023-25 | Houston, Associate Head Coach |
| 2017-23 | Houston, Assistant Coach |
| 2016-17 | WKU, Assistant Coach |
| 2014-16 | Tulane, Assistant Coach |
| 2005-14 | Louisiana Dynasty AAU, Head Coach |
| 2003-04 | Oklahoma, Graduate Assistant |
| CHAMPIONSHIPS WON | |
| 2024-25 | • NCAA National Finalist • Big 12 Champions • Big 12 Tournament Champions |
| 2023-24 | Big 12 Champions |
| 2022-23 | American Athletic Tournament Champions |
| 2021-22 | • American Athletic Champions • American Athletic Tournament Champions |
| 2020-21 | • NCAA Final Four • American Athletic Tournament Champions |
| 2019-20 | American Athletic Champions |
| 2018-19 | American Athletic Champions |
| NBA DRAFT SELECTIONS | |
| Year | Experience |
| 2024 | Jamal Shead Toronto Raptors Second Round | #45 pick |
| 2023 | Jarace Walker Indiana Pacers First Round | #8 pick Marcus Sasser Detroit Pistons First Round | #25 pick |
| 2021 | Quentin Grimes New York Knicks First Round | #25 pick |
| 2018 | Melvin Frazier Jr. Orlando Magic Second Round | #35 pick |
| PLAYING EXPERIENCE | |
| 2007-08 | Rio Grande Valley Vipers (NBADL) |
| 2005-06 | Austin Toros (NBADL) |
| 2001-03 | Oklahoma |
| • 2002 All-Big 12 Newcomer Team |
|
| • Member of OU's 2002 NCAA Final Four & 2003 NCAA Elite Eight teams | |
| • Two-year letterman | |
Follow Coach Quannas White on X
Quannas White joined the University of Houston Men’s Basketball program as an assistant coach in April 2017 and was elevated to associate head coach in June 2023.
White – whose first name is pronounced Kwah-Nus – is no stranger to Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, playing for him for two seasons during their time together at Oklahoma from 2001 to 2003. He also entered the professional ranks following his playing career as the Sooners’ graduate assistant in 2003-04.
During his time at Houston, White has been a part of teams, which have posted a 243-55 overall record, including an 123-22 mark in conference play, with nine conference titles (seven regular-season, three tournament) and advanced to seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including the 2025 NCAA National Championship Game and the 2021 NCAA Final Four.
The program has also reached national prominence by being ranked in the Top 25 in the Associated Press and USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for eight consecutive years with Top 10 showings in each of the last five seasons.
Following the 2024-25 season, White left the program to become the head coach at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, La.
at HOUSTON
In 2024-25, White helped led the Cougars to one of the greatest seasons in program history.
The Cougars – who finished #2 in both national polls – set a school single-season record with 35 wins and advanced to the NCAA Tournament National Championship Game before falling to Florida inside Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Houston won 31 of its final 33 games to end the season and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the seventh time in program history with a resounding 69-50 win over #6/6 (2) Tennessee during the Elite Eight in Indianapolis on March 30.
The Cougars swept the Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships in their second year in the league and set school and league records with a 19-1 mark in conference games. Houston became the first school to join a major conference and win the regular-season title in each of its first two years in the league in more than 100 years.
In 2023-24, Houston advanced to the program’s fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, a school record.
The Cougars posted a 32-5 overall record and captured the Big 12 regular-season championship by two games over its closest competitor in its first year in the league, despite starting 1-2 in conference play.
Although several student-athletes were lost with season-ending injuries throughout the year, Houston recorded its third straight 30-win season – a school record – and was ranked in the Top 10 of both national polls for the entire campaign.
Point guard Jamal Shead was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year to become the first player in league history to win both honors in the same season. Shead was a unanimous consensus First-Team All-American and was recognized as National Defensive Player of the Year by the Naismith Awards, National Association of Basketball Coaches, Field of 68 and Andy Katz.
In 2022-23, White helped lead the Cougars to a 33-4 overall record and a 17-1 record in American Athletic Conference play.
The Cougars ranked among the nation’s Top-Six leaders in both national polls for the entire season and spent eight weeks at No. 1 for the first time since 1984.
Houston captured the American Athletic Conference regular-season title for the fourth time in a five-year stretch and swept the league’s postseason individual awards
The Cougars competed as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1983 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 or farther for the fourth straight season.
Following the season, guard Marcus Sasser was taken in the First Round of the NBA Draft with forward Jarace Walker. It marked the first time since 1984 that a pair of Cougars were chosen in the First Round.
In 2021-22, White helped lead the Cougars to an unforgettable campaign.
Overcoming injuries to two key personnel shortly before American Athletic Conference play started, the Cougars posted a 32-6 overall record, swept the league’s regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
It was only the fourth time in school history in which the Cougars swept a conference regular-season and tournament titles and the first time since 1991-92.
White played a key role in the Cougars’ historic 2020-21 season.
With a 67-61 win over Oregon State on March 29, the Cougars returned to the NCAA Final Four, the program’s sixth Final Four appearance in school history.
Facing COVID-19 protocols throughout the season, the Cougars posted a 28-4 overall record and 14-3 mark in American play. The Cougars were ranked in both national polls for every week during the year and ended the campaign at No. 6 in the Associated Press and at No. 3 in the Ferris Mowers Coaches’ poll.
Houston capped the regular season with a thrilling, buzzer-beating win over Memphis inside the Fertitta Center and carried that momentum into the postseason.
The Cougars won three straight games in as many days to capture the American Athletic Conference Championship title inside Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, for the program first conference tournament title since 2010.
From there, Houston entered the NCAA Tournament bubble in Indianapolis. With wins over Cleveland State, Rutgers, Syracuse and Oregon State, the Cougars advanced to the program’s first NCAA Final Four since 1984.
Guard Quentin Grimes was named The American Player of the Year and collected similar honors at The American Championship. For his performance in the NCAA Tournament, guard DeJon Jarreau was named the Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player.
In 2019-20, the Cougars compiled a 23-8 overall record and a 13-8 mark in American Athletic Conference play to earn the program’s second straight regular-season league title.
With its victory total, Houston recorded its fifth straight 20-win season, a first in school history.
The Cougars reeled off three straight wins in Hawai’i in December 2019, with a 75-71 win over No. 21/20 Washington in the title game to win the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship.
For the third straight season, the Cougars finished among the nation’s Top 25 in both polls, another first in program history.
The Cougars celebrated a record-setting season in 2018-19. Houston posted a school-record 33 wins, captured the program’s first outright conference championship and advanced to its first NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 since 1984 and finished among the Top 12 in both final national polls.
In his first season with the Cougars in 2017-18, White helped return the program to new heights.
Houston posted a 27-8 record for the fifth-highest win total in school single-season history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the first time in more than 30 years.
The Cougars completed a perfect 15-0 home record at H&PE Arena as Hofheinz Pavilion underwent a $60-million renovation to become the Fertitta Center and enjoyed multiple wins over Top-10 opponents during the season.
PRE-HOUSTON
White joined the Cougars after serving as an assistant coach at WKU during the 2016-17 season. There, he helped lead the Hilltoppers to 15 wins and played key roles in the recruitment of Mitchell Robinson, Josh Anderson and Pancake Thomas, who gave the Hilltoppers a national Top-10 recruiting class.
Prior to that, White served for two seasons as an assistant coach at Tulane from 2014 to 2016.
White led the Louisiana Dynasty AAU program and worked as a private basketball trainer for eight seasons from 2005 to 2014. During his time with that program, he guided the Dynasty to more than 30 tournament titles and developed several players who competed at the NCAA Division I level.
With the completion of his collegiate career, White served as a graduate assistant for the Sooners during the 2003-04 campaign and received his bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2004.
PLAYING CAREER
Before entering the professional ranks, White was an award-winning student-athlete at Oklahoma from 2001 to 2003. He helped lead the Sooners to the 2002 NCAA Final Four as a member of the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team after posting 7.6 points and 4.7 assists per game and was named to the NCAA Tournament All-West Regional Team.
One year later, White led Oklahoma to the 2003 NCAA Elite Eight with 8.6 points and 4.1 assists per game.
In addition, he was the starting point guard for the Big 12’s undefeated All-Star team that played a foreign tour in Scandinavia against teams from Sweden, Norway and Denmark in 2002.
Before joining Oklahoma, he played for two seasons at Midland Junior College, where he earned All-Conference honors as a sophomore.
During the 2000-01 season, White averaged 16.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game to lead the Chaparrals to a 25-8 record.
Competing for Head Coach Junsie Cotten, he drained 53.8 percent from the 3-point line and sank 81.8 percent from the free throw line.
White averaged 17 points and won a state championship as a senior at St. Augustine High School for Head Coach Bernard Griffith.
There, he was a backcourt teammate of Oklahoma All-American Hollis Price, who currently serves as the Cougars’ director of player development.
White was selected by the Yakima Sun Kings in the 2003 Continental Basketball Association (CBA) draft and had stints in the NBA D-League with the Austin Toros (2005-06) and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2007-08). He also played professionally in France and Germany.
PERSONAL
White and his wife, Leah, have four children: daughters, Jordyn and Anaiah (pronounced Uh-Nye-Uh), and son, Asher and Asa (pronounced (A-suh).
