Mormons in the ACC: Tar Heel guard plans to serve mission, while former Duke center reflects on career

The telephone call that Stilman White dreamed of came on the afternoon of March 29, 2011. He was driving home from a workout. The senior guard from Wilmington, N.C., was surprised to hear the voice of North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. White suddenly sat forward in the driver's seat and tightened his grip on the wheel.

"It was nerve-racking. When his name pops up, you kind of clear your throat," White said in a phone interview. "He said he had a scholarship open for me if I wanted to come to Chapel Hill. I committed. I sped home and told my mom the good news. I was pretty excited. I didn't get much sleep that night."

It was an offer the Mormon hoopster couldn't refuse, especially considering the legendary coach was supportive of his plan to serve an LDS mission. White had offers from three other schools and was interested in playing for a fourth program, but when Williams called with a Tar Heel scholarship, White's path became clear.

"A lot of schools would come watch me play, then they would hear about the mission and I wouldn't hear from them again. It was a little frustrating," White said. "But it all ended up working out."

Midway through this freshman year, the 6-foot, 160-pound guard is seeing about four minutes a game, but has played in front of President Barack Obama on an aircraft carrier; he has soaked up the lore of North Carolina basketball; and he has experienced life as one of the only Latter-day Saint student-athletes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He plans to submit his mission papers after the season.

Mormon Blue Devil

White isn't the first Mormon to play basketball in the ACC. More than 17 years ago, Matt Christensen, a 6-foot-10 center from Massachusetts, signed with coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and played the 1995-96 season before serving an LDS mission in Frankfurt, Germany. He returned to Durham, N.C., in 1999 and was a member of the Blue Devils' 2001 national championship team. Christensen finished his career in 2002, almost seven years after he arrived.

Christensen, now a businessman with a family of five, can relate somewhat to what White is experiencing.

"I think I was the first LDS player at Duke. I didn't know of any other LDS guys on other teams during the time I was playing in the ACC," Christensen said.