Louisiana names Quannas White as new coach

Well-respected Houston associate head coach Quannas White was named head coach at Louisiana on Monday.

White, 44, has been preparing to be a head man for the past eight seasons under Houstons Kelvin Sampson, one of the top coaches in the sport.

This is an opportunity I do not take lightly, and I am fully committed to building a championship culture that reflects the pride, passion, and relentless work ethic of this great university and community, White said in a news release.

Louisiana went 12-21 this season. Coach Bob Marlin was fired after a 3-9 start and Derrick Zimmerman finished the season in an interim role.

Dr. Bryan Maggard, vice president for intercollegiate athletics, feels he landed a solid coach in White.

A proven winner, both as a player and coach, Quannas is a man of high integrity, character and faith, Maggard said. Hes an elite recruiter and regarded as one of the best player development coaches in the industry.

White played two seasons at Oklahoma -- when Sampson was the Sooners coach -- and helped Oklahoma reach the 2002 Final Four and 2003 Elite Eight.

As an assistant coach, White spent two seasons at Tulane (2014-16) and one at Western Kentucky (2016-17) before joining Sampsons staff at Houston. During his time with the Cougars, the program reached the 2021 Final Four, the 2022 Elite Eight and three Sweet Sixteens.

Houston (27-4) is ranked No. 2 in the country this season and appears on its way to being a No. 1 seed for the third straight season.

Sampson was pleased to see that White was hired and getting the opportunity to lead a program.

Thats what you want to happen, that they leave you and they run their programs, Sampson said. Its a dream come true for Quannas and I