High school basketball: Ty White of John Marshall named 2022-23 MaxPreps National Coach of the Year

Ty White led the 2022-23 John Marshall (Richmond, Va.) boys basketball team to the No. 1 spot in the MaxPreps Top 25 high school basketball rankings, a 28-0 record and fifth state title since 2014.

For his efforts and success, White has been named the 2022-23 MaxPreps National Coach of the Year.

In his 13th season as head coach at John Marshall, White led the Justices to their first MaxPreps Top 25 finish in school history after extending their overall win streak to 37 games and putting together dominant postseason run.

"There are talented teams throughout the country and to know we rank No. 1 is just unbelievable," White said.

The Justices won their second consecutive VHSL Class A state title with a 91-34 blowout of Brunswick. The Richmond powerhouse defeated teams by an average of 65.5 points in six postseason contests and averaged 107 points per game during that span.

On the season, John Marshall averaged 85.4 points per outing behind a balanced offensive attack that saw all five starters play pivotal roles in their success.

"The guys bought into isolating and finding mismatches," White said. "They did a phenomenal job of moving the ball and finding the right guy." North Carolina State signee Dennis Parker Jr. led the way with per-game averages of 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals. Unsigned senior Jason Rivera-Torres (15.4 points per game), junior Damon Thompson Jr. (14.5), freshman phenom Latrell Allmond (14.2) and junior Dominique Bailey (9.0) added to the team's firepower.

"All five players have the ability to play inside and out," White said. "We can play all different types of ways. We can defend at a high level or we can score in bunches."

An impressive resume includes eight out-of-state victories with quality wins over No. 9 Columbus (Miami), No. 19 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), Greensboro Day (Greensboro, N.C.), Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), Holly Springs (N.C.) and Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.).

Three of those out-of-state victories, including both wins against nationally-ranked opponents, came at the Chick-fil-A Classic during the holidays.

"Our mindset (at the Chick-fil-A Classic) was to play our best basketball," White said. "The guys work extremely hard. I felt like we could compete with anybody in the country. You just have you be better than them for 32 minutes. You don't have to be more talented team."

With the honor, White is in the company of coaching legends like Bob Hurley, Gary McKnight and Kevin Boyle.

"To be mentioned in the same class with those guys is incredible," White said. "To be recognized with names like that is a great accomplishment."

With three starters potentially returning next season, expectations remain high headed into 2023-24.

"The standard is the standard. It's hard to take a step back after you have a season like this," White said. "Our goal was to be state champions and we did that and our next goal was to be national champions. The standard is the standard moving forward."

That standard was earned not given as White said his team would be in the gym at 6:30 a.m. shooting before school every day and stay after practice to continue to work on their game.

"I'm excited to see what is next for our guys," he added. "These guys have really bought in. Dennis Parker was a three-time state champion with the program and would have won four straight if it wasn't for the pandemic. I can't wait to see what is next for him and the other seniors."

2021 — David Peavy, Duncanville (Texas)

2022 — Josh Giles, Centennial (Centennial, Calif.)