Duke’s Jack White wins 2020 Tudor Award for media cooperation
During an epic shooting slump that lasted for seven weeks of his junior season and 28 missed 3-pointers, Jack White unfailingly sat at his chair in the Duke locker room and answered questions, often the same questions, after every game.
By the time his Duke career was over, White was one of the rare players to thank the media in his senior speech at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He wasn’t trying to win the Caulton Tudor Award that goes to the Triangle basketball player who is most cooperative with the media, but his expression of gratitude after some trying times certainly cemented that he was this year’s most worthy candidate.
The senior forward becomes the sixth winner — and the second from Duke, joining Matt Jones in 2017 — of an award that honors Tudor, the longtime News & Observer, Raleigh Times and WRAL sports columnist who died in 2017. Tudor loved many things about the job, but treasured his relationships with players, especially those who jibed with his sense of humor.
N.C. State’s Ralston Turner won in 2015 and Torin Dorn won last season. North Carolina’s Marcus Paige won in 2016 and Theo Pinson in 2018. The award is presented by Tobacco Road Sports Cafe.
White wasn’t ever the biggest star in Duke’s locker room, but the Australian forward always saw his interactions with the media as a two-way street.
“You learn how to deal with the media, after a win, after a loss, whatever’s going on in your life or the game — dealing with the media in a certain way that’s professional and appropriate,” White said. “At the same time you form relationships with some of the media people that come and talk to you a lot. For me, it doesn’t really feel like an interview — kind of more like a chat — when you get to that point. That allowed me to be comfortable in that respect.”
It showed especially during the 3-point slump that overshadowed a big chunk of his junior season. He made a crucial 3-pointer in Duke’s win at Florida State, then went frigid for more than a month, including an 0-for-10 performance in an overtime loss at Syracuse.
“When it finally ended, he spoke about it at length and was open and honest about his feelings,” said Steve Wiseman, who covers Duke for the N&O. “He showed character and maturity in difficult circumstances and came through it all just fine.”
White never wavered, never hid, never shied away from the questions, even if after a while there wasn’t much else he could say.
“It was part of the deal,” White said. “I knew what was going on. Obviously everyone else did. It’s just part of their job and with what I do, it’s obviously something that’s going to come up. But that helped me grow and mature, handling difficult situations and adversity. Dealing with the media with that slump was part of the experience. Looking back now, it only made me better.”
There’s an object lesson there for schools that shelter their players from the media. Duke’s locker room is open after every home game. The Blue Devils aren’t surprised like other teams when the doors open in the ACC or NCAA tournaments. They’ve been dealing with it their entire careers, whether that’s a superstar like Zion Williamson or a four-year role player like White. As he put it, “it was part of my experience at Duke.”
That’s true at a few other schools as well, but White’s an example of how the players can benefit from that kind of situation.
White got a lot out of it. In his case, the media got a lot out of it too.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Duke’s Jack White wins 2020 Tudor Award for media cooperation."
