White overcomes technicals, angry stares

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - An embarrassed Aaron White walked sheepishly to the Iowa bench with his head down and knowing he had disappointed two important people.

The Iowa senior forward was flagged for two technical fouls in one minute, 48 seconds against Michigan. The first was for engaging some trash talk after blocking Ricky Doyle's shot with 15:19 left in the game.

'You can probably figure out what he said,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

Then three offensive possessions later, White was hit with another technical for hanging on the rim after a dunk.

'My mom was sitting behind the bench, and I didn't want to make eye contact with her,” White said. 'I probably was more nervous about Fran because I know Fran was not pleased with me. I'm glad the game was the score at the end, otherwise he'd be a little bit more upset.”

Iowa won 72-54, and White finished with 13 points. He was allowed to continue playing because hanging on the rim is considered a team technical rather than a personal foul. But for a few minutes, White sat nervously on Iowa's bench.

'My heart sank in my stomach,” White said. 'I thought for sure I was out. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.' In a big atmosphere like this so such dumb plays.”

Less than four minutes later, White took a lob pass from Iowa guard Josh Oglesby and softly sent it through the rim. But White explained it had nothing to do with his technical.

'I just threw it through the rim,” he said. 'I do that a lot on our lob plays. It was a pass from Josh and when I'm up there, I just feel like I'm high enough where if I hang on it, it kind of feels awkward. So I just throw it through the rim. It wasn't a reaction to the other dunk; it's just how I do lobs.”

Afterward, Michigan Coach John Beilein pulled White aside but it had nothing to do with his technical. But it had everything to do with the rest of Iowa's basketball season.

'I love Aaron because I got to coach him in USA Basketball,” Beilein said. 'I really think a lot of him. The message was they have a very good team. I told our team this is what we've done to a lot of teams on the road is gone in and had a commanding win like that. I just told him you're a team that ... you've got to understand, you've got a really good team and you really can have a great year. Just stick together. Make sure your team sticks together.”

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