Boston Celtics guard Derrick White has a new job with his old team. But he wasn’t traded away by Boston in any deal related to the NBA Draft this week, contrary to recent rumors.
He instead returned to Colorado, where his old college in Boulder introduced him as its first president of basketball strategy. This is a volunteer job that White, 31, will work on the side as he tries to help the Buffaloes get back to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 2024, when they also had three NBA draft picks.
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Colorado athletic director Fernando Lovo called the hiring “transformational” at a news conference June 24.
“It changes our trajectory,” Lovo said. “I really believe that.”
White himself said he doesn’t “know too much about college athletics” and its turbulent current landscape but hopes to serve as a resource for the program in several ways, including by giving $2 million to the men’s basketball program.
“The first thing I want to do is learn,” White said. “I know that I’ve learned a lot in the NBA, but this is a whole new position, whole new title, whole new everything that I don’t really know that much about.”
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Why Derrick White is latest to join this trend
This is the latest in a recent string of college basketball programs hiring former players who currently are in the NBA. The general goal is to leverage the star power of the player to help attract recruits in the age of unlimited annual player transfers and the constant need to come up with more money to pay players. At Colorado, the football team similarly leveraged the fame of coach Deion Sanders to help generate buzz and rebuild a dormant brand after hiring him in December 2022.
Colorado head men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle had a more colorful way to sum up the larger college sports environment Wednesday:
“College athletics is a little messed up right now.”
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So he wants White to help navigate it with his background as an NBA champion and Colorado native. Boyle, Colorado’s all-time winningest coach, even was moved to tears at the news conference as he enters his 17th season in Boulder.
Here is a list of NBA players hired at their old colleges
These NBA players are generally volunteering their time and sometimes giving their old colleges money, too.
∎ Steph Curry, Davidson: The Golden State Warriors legend appears to have started this trend when he was named assistant general manager for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at his alma mater in March 2025. He was helping set up an eight-figure fund to help support them.
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∎ Trae Young, Oklahoma: The current Washington Wizards star was announced in late March 2025 as the assistant general manager for men’s basketball at his alma mater, Oklahoma. He also made a $1 million donation to the program.
∎ Desmond Bane, TCU: On June 22, TCU announced the Orlando Magic guard and former TCU player would serve as the program’s “chief basketball officer” to help advise the team and serve as a “liaison to the NBA.”
∎ Damian Lillard, Weber State: Last August, Weber State named the Portland Trail Blazers star as the general manager of its men’s basketball program to help serve as an advisor and mentor of his former college team.
∎ Terance Mann, Florida State: The current Brooklyn Nets guard was named as Florida State’s assistant general manager in April 2025. His job is to help support “strategic roster management, optimization of talent acquisition and developing future professional basketball players,” according to the school.
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What are the upsides and downsides to these roles?
Any money and publicity can help these programs break through in a crowded college basketball landscape. That’s what these NBA players bring to these colleges at a minimum. It’s just not clear how involved they can be in college recruiting and roster management when their day jobs as NBA players take priority for much of the year.
Being a good pro basketball player also might not always translate into being a good college general manager, but it could. Some cases might seem like marketing gimmicks as a result. For the schools, there’s still almost no downside to it if these players are giving their time, money and names to the effort with no compensation in return.
“Obviously, I’m busy,” White said of his job with the Celtics. “But like if someone got a question and they want to reach out to me, I want to be a resource to the players. I want to be a resource to the coaching staff.”
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What is Derrick White getting into here at Colorado?
White is a native of Parker, Colorado, who played at Colorado for one season in 2016-2017. He went on to get drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the 29th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. In 2024, he won an NBA championship with the Celtics and a gold medal with the U.S. men’s basketball team in the Olympics.
This is the kind of profile Colorado hopes to leverage after struggling to navigate the wide-open transfer era that started in 2024, just as Colorado was peaking with three NBA draft picks whom Boyle had developed as high school recruits: Cody Williams, Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson.
This past season, the Buffs finished 17-16 and lost three of their top four scorers to the transfer portal, including freshman leading scorer Isaiah Johnson, who left for Texas.
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Boyle said White’s role would be “fluid” but he would help with recruiting and as a team resource to tap into for learning.
“We have a job title, but I’m not sure we have a job description,” Boyle said.
A parting joke from Tad Boyle
Boyle, 63, said White also could help with a transition plan for a new coach whenever Boyle departs the program.
But what is the first thing he wants White to do in his new role?
Boyle’s answer referenced the recent legal chaos in the NCAA with players trying to extend their eligibility through the court system.
“The first thing I would say is I want to get a good lawyer, a local judge and get a temporary restraining order to get an extra year of eligibility for Derrick,” Boyle said. “That’s what I would like to do first.”
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Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA players like Derrick White join college basketball staffs. What are their roles?
