Stilman White embraces return

Out of his comfort zone.

It is a place just about all athletes will find themselves at some point, and it can render them stronger and more mature.

But for sophomore Stilman White, out of his comfort zone went beyond a game-changing play or a new role on the team. Going outside of his comfort zone meant leaving his home, his family and the North Carolina men’s basketball team for more than a year.

He wasn’t just adjusting to something new. He was gone, out of touch. But he was also ready — and eager — to go. He had always wanted to complete his mission, and it was a huge factor in his college choice.

Now White is back to what he knows, back from a Mormon mission that forced him to bear blisteringly cold northern Utah winters, talk to strangers and hardly touch a basketball.

“I was a little sad leaving Chapel Hill because I had gotten comfortable and happy,” White said. “I knew it was going to be here when I got back.”

Desmond Hubert, White’s roommate, said White has mellowed out some and is more open to talking about his religion.

“The Stilman that I came in with when I was a freshman is a little bit different than the Stilman that came back from his mission,” he said.

White’s two years older now, more mature mentally and physically. He’s ready for the long road ahead to get back into shape, prove himself and build off the early success he left behind.

An early return

White left UNC after a whirlwind end to his freshman season. He stepped up when his team needed him, making starts in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

At the end of his freshman year, he left for Utah State University, where he lived for more than a year. Mormon missionaries voluntarily serve for 18 months to two years in an assigned location.

White said he intended to complete his mission right after high school until he talked to Coach Roy Williams, who encouraged him to play his freshman year and promised him a scholarship when he returned. Williams visited White in March to work out the scholarship details, and he was officially cleared to play in May.

“He told me before when I was getting recruited that when I came back I’d have a scholarship, and he stayed true to his word the whole time,” White said.

White returned to his home in Wilmington in December 2013, a few months early, to undergo surgery on his ankle, which he rolled while playing soccer. Despite speculation he would play last season, White said that was never in the cards.

Even if he had not injured his ankle, White still would have returned incredibly out of shape.

“I probably touched a basketball three times my whole mission,” he said.

He did not have time to do much more than that.

Isolation

Waking up at 6:30 a.m. every day, White and his partner, a different person almost every month, spent a few hours studying scripture and planning the day. From 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., they were spreading scripture and volunteering.

“We’d take an hour for lunch and dinner, and the rest of the time we were grinding,” he said.

With the restrictions associated with his mission, White was isolated from everything going on at UNC. He couldn’t watch TV, and his only correspondence came from weekly emails from his family. But the team was never completely off his mind.

“Whenever the Duke or State game was coming up, I was a little tempted to try and find a way to get a peek,” he said. “But part of the experience is to cut out all worldly things, so I kind of just had to bite the bullet on that one.”

Bearing the elements

Dressed in a suit and tie every day, White was out knocking on doors. He said he got used to talking to complete strangers for hours.

“It’s something that was pretty tough and kind of awkward,” White said, “But when you’re doing it all day every day, you figure out ways how to get into conversation with people and interact with people, and then bring it up.”

Most people were nice. But there were some exceptions.

“I had an old lady spit on me once,” White said with a grin.

Hubert said White told him people threw stuff at him, including an icicle, and he blessed a house because people thought there were spirits in it.

Those were not White’s only challenges. In northern Utah, it snows — a lot.

“I grew up on the beach, so I had the beach kid blood in me,” he said. “So the first couple months of winter in Utah, I wasn’t a happy camper at all.”

But White adjusted to the bitter cold environment, which he said toughened him up.

Growing up

White left behind a memorable, unexpected season at UNC.

Starting point guard Kendall Marshall fractured his wrist in the third round of the NCAA Tournament — so the team turned to White.

Having averaged fewer than four minutes a game that season, he found himself starting in two pivotal games.

Analysts questioned his ability, fans wondered whether he was up for it — but his team stood behind him, and White stayed strong. He did not post a single turnover.

“It didn’t surprise me that he played that well,” said White’s high school coach Brett Queen.

In his first varsity game as a sophomore at Hoggard High School in Wilmington, White made a steal in overtime and converted the game-winning layup. Queen said he knew White could handle the pressure then, and he knew he could do it in 2012.

But White doesn’t want those games to define his career. He has put on weight, grown out of his “high school kid” body. Queen said he expects White to get better, despite the obstacles.

“I don’t think he would be there on scholarship if the Carolina coaches didn’t feel like he was somebody that could be a valuable, important part of their program,” Queen said.

Finding a niche

The situation is different this time around. There are not just two point guards anymore.

Junior Marcus Paige, sophomore Nate Britt and freshman Joel Berry are White’s competitors at his position, and White has to catch up.

But White doesn’t have second thoughts about taking his mission when he did.

“My mission’s benefited me and made me a lot better person, a lot more mature, and it’ll make me a lot better basketball player,” White said.

His role may be uncertain, but two things are for sure — White’s back where he’s comfortable, and he’s been in uncomfortable situations.

He’s prepared.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.