Year four under Clarisse White was her most successful season since being named the 16th head women’s basketball coach in school history on May 3, 2021. She led her team to 14 wins, including 10 wins in conference play for just the second time in school history.
The 2024-25 season season saw Charleston Southern have their best winning percentage during conference play at .625, including three times in which they overcame a double-digit deficit. The Buccaneers won their first non-conference road game since 2017 and had two group of five wins over South Alabama and Charlotte. All of this led to the Buccaneers getting the No. 4 seed in the Big South Tournament; the first time they have had a top-four seed in the tournament for two years in a row since 2003-04.
White had one player receive First-Team All-Conference recognition in Catherine Alben. It is the first time since 1997-00 that the Buccaneers have had a First-Team All-Big South player for two or more years in a row.
In 2023-24, the Charleston Southern women's basketball program had one of its most successful seasons in a long time. With an 8-8 conference record, the team finished the conference season at .500 or better for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
The conference season included a sweep over Presbyterian for the first time since 2010-11 as well as Gardner-Webb for the first time since 2016-17. The Buccaneers also snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Radford Highlanders. Highlights during the season included a home win over USC Upstate, where the team broke the record for blocks in a game with 13 as well as two players in Kennedi Jackson and Catherine Alben scoring 500 career points and Madison Adamson pulling down her 500th career rebound.
White was essential in the development of Kennedi Jackson, who was the first Charleston Southern women's basketball player to be named First-Team All-Conference since the 2010-11 season, as well as Second-Team All-Big South member, Catherine Alben.
In White's second season at the helm in 2022-23, she improved her win total in the 2022-23 campaign. During the season, she had two players receive conference honors, including Catherine Alben, who was named to the Big South All-Freshman team. Zaire Hicks was added to the All-Academic team.
Prior to arriving at Charleston Southern, White spent five years as an assistant coach at Auburn University. She also had stops at Wake Forest, Alabama, Palm Beach Atlantic, and Stetson.
White spent the previous five seasons at Auburn University, including serving as the program’s interim head coach following the 2020-21 season. Over her time with the Tigers, Auburn advanced to the NCAA tournament twice while multiple players garnered national and conference recognition.
In her five seasons at Auburn, five seasons (2016-21), White served as the Tigers’ recruiting coordinator among other duties. Over her tenure at Auburn, the Tigers posted two top-25 recruiting classes according to espnW HoopGurlz (No. 13 in 2018, No. 25 in 2019), while 11 players received conference postseason accolades.
White's first season at Auburn saw the Tigers advance to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 17-15 overall record. Her second season saw Auburn finish with a 14-15 overall record, but she was instrumental in landing the nation's No. 12-ranked recruiting class that enrolled at Auburn for the 2018-19 school year. The 2018-19 season saw the Tigers return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons while posting a 22-10 overall record (9-7 SEC), the best finish for Auburn in a decade.
Prior to arriving at Charleston Southern, White also had stops at Wake Forest, Alabama, Palm Beach Atlantic, and Stetson. In four years at Wake Forest, White's teams steadily improved, going from a 13-win season in her first year to a 17-win season in 2016 that resulted in a berth in the Women's NIT, the best finish for the Demon Deacons since 2012.
Prior to spending a season at Alabama, she was the head coach at NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic for two seasons. Under White's watch, Sailfish student-athletes set several program bests including the all-time three-point scoring leader and single-season three-point scoring leader, the all-time leading rebounder, and the all-time blocking leader. She also had two student-athletes named to the Independent Collegiate Athletic Association (ICAA) second team and another two named to the All-ICAA third team.
In addition to their success on the court, White's teams excelled in the classroom as she oversaw an increase in the team's overall GPA from below a 3.0 to 3.2. Throughout her tenure, she had two student-athletes with 4.0 GPA's, attaining President's List status, two qualifying for the Provost's List (3.5-3.9) and six on the Athletics Director's List (3.0-3.4).
Prior to Palm Beach Atlantic, White spent one season as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Stetson University. While there, she recruited and signed a nationally-ranked student-athlete and helped coach the team to an appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
White began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. In her two seasons with the Griffins, she assisted in the mentoring and development of student-athletes both on and off the court.
In her final season at Seton Hill, White helped coach the team to a fourth-place finish in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WVIAC) Conference tournament, in addition to helping the Griffins rank third nationally for team GPA in NCAA Division II. Garcia was named the 2009 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/Women's Sports Foundation graduate assistant of the year.
White was an accomplished player at Villanova University. During her four-year career (2003-07) with the Wildcats women's basketball team, she was a three-time BIG EAST All-Academic team member as well as a three-time member of the Villanova dean's list. She served as team captain her senior season and helped the Wildcats advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, as well as the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2005 and 2006.
A native of Hopewell, Pa., White also has been involved in several camps and clinics including the Prohoops Camp at the Final Four, Leadership Through Basketball Camps in Morocco, University of Pittsburgh Summer Camps, Harry Perretta Basketball Clinics, Nike Basketball Camps and the Philadelphia Big 5 Clinics.
