Nothing is unbreakable, nothing is unachievable. Above all else, records are made to be broken. For just only the second time in Mississippi State Lady Bulldog history, someone has eclipsed the 2,000 career point’s barrier. That someone was senior guard Tan White.
Coming into the season, White had already been highly coveted with preseason awards and honors. She was named a Basketball Magazine All-America and a member of Lindy’s All-America second team.
She was also issued the privilege of being named a Wooden Women All-America candidate, an award bestowed to the best women’s college basketball player in America.
While scoring is one of White’s many gifts to this years MSU squad, there are other roles that she carries that her coach says speak volumes about her character.
“I always expect tremendous work ethic and leadership from Tan,” said Coach Sharon Fanning. “Over the past couple of years, she has developed into a total player. She’s maturing and developing into a versatile player who is hard to guard.”
Along with her outstanding accomplishment in State’s career points column, she also holds school career bests in three other categories: 3-point field goals made (161), 3-point field goals attempted (524) and steals (286).
Accolades and awards are not what Tan wants to leave as her lasting memories here at MSU, however.
“It’s about being yourself and just playing basketball,” White said.
While she has represented State well each season she has been on the court, the only thing she wants is to see her team succeed.
Ask any basketball coach around the country and they will tell you that the key to winning games is to keep your players focused and playing good team ball. For players like White, being humble is no problem.
“I never look at personal goals, or how many points I need to score, I just go out and play,” White said. “I didn’t care about the 2,000 points. I mean I didn’t even know how close I was to it.”
“I knew I ended last season with over 1,500 and that’s it. It happened. Now let’s go on and continue playing.”
With SEC competition underway and the team having already tied last year’s win total, this year’s Lady Dawgs squad is proving Tan’s statement every night.
They are not focused on personal achievements, no matter how happy they might be for those who have played well. They have acknowledged it, and they have put it aside. Above all else though, they have continued playing.