Back when new Georgia Tech defensive lineman Keion White, formerly of Old Dominion, entered the transfer portal, he didn't know what to expect from an interest standpoint. He was overwhelmed by the response.
"It was a hectic time." said White in a brief interview with JOL. "I had coaches from all over the country trying to reach out to me. This recruiting process was crazy for me, because I was not heavily recruited out of high school. This time around, the flood gates opened when all of the coaches from every conference started reaching out."
In the end, after hearing from schools such as Auburn, NC State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Duke, Mississippi State, and Missouri among several others, White quickly started to narrow things down.
"It was within the first couple of days after I entered the portal," said White about when he heard from Georgia Tech for the first time. "Coach Coleman and Coach Knight are the ones that I have been in contact with since day one. I plan on fitting in wherever they need me. I have always just played the role that the team needed me in."
It didn't take long after hearing from the Yellow Jackets program for the first time to understand what his friends who live in the Atlanta area had been talking about.
"For me, I really connected well with the coaches," he said. "I really like the Atlanta area. I plan on getting into real estate after I am done with football, and I really feel like there is no better city in America to pursue that goal than Atlanta, Georgia."
Prior to enrolling at Georgia Tech, White will have one more semester of Undergrad. Rather than waiting until after graduation to move to Atlanta, White says he is working on putting a plan in place.
"I still have one semester left at Old Dominion to finish everything up," said White. "Since all of my classes are online though, and I have some money saved up, I have been thinking about moving down to Atlanta sometime this spring and getting a job while finishing my degree at ODU so that I can get accustomed to the city and everything."
In regards to getting accustomed to Atlanta in the city, White has already heard from several of his future teammates.
"A couple of the players hit me up on social media, which I thought was really cool. It really shows me the family atmosphere we have at Georgia Tech. I'm just excited to work with all of them. I am a very competitive person, just being able to move up a level and compete every day with these guys, it is a blessing for me."
Lastly, JOL asked White to describe himself as a player.
"Best word I could use is raw. Last year was my first year playing defensive line, so there’s still a lot of things that I can improve on in my game. I want to get better with my hands, and become a better pass rusher. Those are the top two things that come to my mind but there is so much more."
NOTE: Last season, in his one season at the position at the college level, he put up video game numbers with 19 tackles for a loss and 27 quarterback hurries and 13 quarterback hits off the edge.White played 635 snaps on defense in 2019 with a PFF grade of 84.8 including a 83.7 pass-rush grade and an 87.8 run defense grade.
