Jo Jo White: Real-Life Champion               

By Michael Keegan
The Northeastern Voice

Boston - There was a time when Jo Jo White wanted to be a doctor, but his college coaches convinced him he couldn't play top-level basketball and pursue a career in medicine at the same time.

Today White, a former Kansas All-American and Boston Celtics all-star, is making a career of convincing athletes they can - and should - make ambitious plans for life outside sports.

"What many athletes are finding out is if they don't make it in sports and they have thrown away their education, what do they have to fall back on?" he said. White works for the Center for the Study of Sport in Society as director of a continuing education program for professional basketball players.

Sponsored jointly by the National Basketball Association and the NBA players' association, the program aims to help pro athletes complete their college degrees or further their education.

"This is targeted to all players, whether they have a degree or not, whether they have no money in their pocket or a million dollars in their pocket," White said in a recent interview. "Because some day, sports is going to end for these guys, and in today's world, you have to have a skill."

Approximately 300 NBA players are currently enrolled in the continuing education program, and more than 1,200 players have participated in the program at one point or another.

While White did not pursue a medical career in college, he did graduate from Kansas with a degree in physical education in 1969. He was the Celtics' top pick that year and went on to lead the team to a pair of NBA titles while earning league all-star honors seven times. White's No. 10 jersey now hangs from the rafters at the FleetCenter.

In addition to basketball, White has always placed a priority on education and learning. Since his retirement in 1981, he's operated the Jo Jo White Growth League, a program for middle school-aged kids that emphasizes the importance of education.

"That's an important age," White said. "I think back to the values that were instilled in me by my parents, right on through the community and the school. They became more important than all I had achieved on the court."

White said his role working with adult athletes is a natural extension of his involvement with the middle school program.

"The [professional] athletes now are less educated than ever before. So this is a bigger problem," he said. "But because these men are gifted in sports, they have the opportunity to get an education. The importance of that often is not realized until after their career ends. But it's up to us to make them realize it before it's too late."