White set to continue winning tradition at Bentley

For many in New England, the best rivalry in sports is the Red Sox versus the Yankees, but not for C White.  It has always been Bentley vs. Stonehill.

The new pilot of the Bentley women’s basketball program longed to be part of the tradition in Waltham well before she was a two-year starter for the Falcons.

“In high school during my freshman year, I was laughed at by a player on the varsity when I said ‘I wanted to go to Bentley,” White recalled on time in 9th Grade on the JV team.

It was a moment that helped fuel the Westwood High School Hall of Famer.  

“Where I’m from it was always Bentley-Stonehill and Paula Sullivan (Stonehill) vs Barb Stevens,” noted the 2001 Falcon grad. “That was what I wanted to experience.”

The trip from Westwood to Waltham is about 30 minutes give or take, but it was quite the journey from JV HS Team to Head Coach of her alma mater.

“I wasn’t very good,” White remembered. “I had to work.”

That dedication paid off and after a four-year playing career, which included a 58-7 record as a starter, her stay on the campus was only beginning.  

In 18 of 19 seasons as an assistant coach, the Wellesley resident has been on the sidelines as an aide to Stevens.  White is well aware of the legacy the former head coach leaves behind.

“I can’t try to be someone I’m not,” White said.  “I’m not going to try to be her, however a lot of the things we’re doing, of course, are things I’ve learned from her.”

One of the reasons White believes she is ready to move one seat over is because of the unselfish nature of her predecessor.

“As an assistant, she gave freedom, while also teaching how to coach,” White commented on her Women's Basketball Hall of Fame mentor.  “I was able to put things into the game plan.  I wasn’t handcuffed or pigeonholed.”

So what’s the recipe for sustained winning? 

“First, you have to work and work a lot.”

If there is anyone who knows anything about that it is White, who has used that mindset to transform her teenage dream of wearing the Falcons uniform to guiding the entire program. 

Fans in the region will not have to wait long for the recommencement of the rivalry between Bentley and its chief rival 24 miles to the South.  The two teams meet on November 23 in North Easton.