Nebraska Basketball: Andrew White granted release by Cornhuskers

Nebraska basketball’s leading returning scorer Andrew White announced his intention to transfer on Sunday morning.

The Cornhuskers, who lost seniors Shavon Shields and Benny Parker to graduation, were expecting Andrew White to improve upon his 16.6 points per game average in 2015-16. The slate was set for White to lead the Cornhuskers to a potential resurgence after a few years at the bottom of the Big Ten.

Instead, White will transfer and become immediately eligible as a graduate student. No schools have appeared as the front-runners yet, but he is expected to be a hot commodity on the market.

Coach Tim Miles released a statement earlier Sunday afternoon and will not restrict White’s ability to transfer to another school. Miles, who is facing pressure to win in Lincoln, seemed upset by the entire incident, but was praised by many in the national media for taking the high road and granting White a full release.

White has a history of transferring during his collegiate days. He originally committed to Kansas and played two seasons for the Jayhawks. He wasn’t playing enough, so he decided to transfer following the 2014 season.

After sitting out a year with Nebraska, White played well for the Cornhuskers in 2015-16. His size (6’7″), shooting ability (41 percent from three) and rebounding (almost seven a game), all combined to make White one of the better offensive players in the Big Ten.

So what went wrong?

The timing of the transfer and Miles’ reaction all indicate an extreme disagreement occurred perhaps about White’s role on the team and the disappointment of White having to return to school after declaring for the draft this past spring.

Omaha.com also had a take detailing the expectations White’s father has for his son and that maybe Nebraska was not the best place for White to develop into an NBA-calibar player.

More perplexing is that the site also points out that White started all 34 games last season and shot the ball more than any other player. His role was to be even bigger this season as he likely would have been Nebraska’s first (and second) option on offense every time down the floor.