Gabby White, a rising senior for the Seaforth girls’ basketball team, announced her commitment to Virginia on social media Thursday.
The 5-foot-10 combo guard became Virginia’s first verbal commit in the class of 2025 after former 2025 recruits Kamryn Kitchen and Payton Dunbar reclassified to join the Cavaliers this upcoming season.
During her recruitment, White held a plethora of offers across multiple conferences, including, but not limited to, the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, AAC and Big East. She chose Virginia, which offered her a scholarship in June 2023, because she felt it was a “perfect fit.”
“Right when we got on the campus my first visit there, I just knew there was something different about (Virginia),” White said. “They believed in me for quite some time now. Getting to know the staff and the team for who they are, the location of Virginia, the education and everything like that, it was just the best place for me.”
White said it’s been “great” building relationships with the coaching staff, and part of that was speaking with Virginia head coach Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton about what her college career could look like.
“One of the things that I talked to (Agugua-Hamilton) about is how I’m going to impact the team and how she’s going to help me to accomplish the things that I want, whether it’s freshman player of the year or defensive player of the year,” White said. “She’s always really honest with me…She always tells me I have to work really hard, and I’m not afraid of that. Just knowing that there’s someone that’s rooting for me and will do anything to help me succeed is really special.”
Agugua-Hamilton isn’t the only ACC coach in White’s corner, though. Although she’s playing for the rival school, White will also have support from her mother Joanne Aluka-White, an assistant coach for the UNC women’s basketball team.
“She’s happy for me,” White said. “She has a personal relationship with (Agugua-Hamilton) as well. They’re friends from way back. So, it’s just all like a full circle.”
Said White, “She’s really proud of the decision that I made and she’s just excited to see how my career goes.”
Unfortunately for Aluka-White, White’s career may come with her hitting a big shot over the Tar Heels as she’s already been preparing for the opportunity.
“Usually when I work out sometimes with my dad, at the end, we’ll do a half court shot playing against UNC and stuff like that,” White said. “We love to just tease it, and now that it’s about to become a reality, it’s just really cool to think about.”
Although there’s plenty of time until White will suit up against UNC, White said her whole family, even her mom, will be on her side when the day comes. But, for now, the White family will have one more year to support her in the same colors.
White is coming off a junior season in which she averaged 17.2 points (career-high), 8.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game while leading the Hawks to their second straight final-four appearance in the 2A playoffs. After calling herself one of the best guards in the country following the loss to North Pitt in last season’s playoffs, White wants to leave Seaforth with a state title.
“My focus coming into this season is just one, to have fun, and two, play for my team, play to win and hopefully win the state championship,” White said. “That’s something I think we wanted to do since freshman year once we noticed the potential we had. The urge to get back there and win it is what’s pushing me right now.”
