White pours in 51 against Auburn in 1987

This year celebrates the centennial season of men's basketball at Tennessee. The News Sentinel continues its series looking into the players, teams and events that have molded an exciting history.

Ron Widby’s Tennessee single-game scoring record had stood for 20 years before Tony White closed in on it.

On Dec. 30, 1986, in a tournament in Orlando, Fla., White stood at the free-throw line with 49 points, one short of Widby’s 50. An excellent free-throw shooter, White missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Widby’s record escaped and Tennessee came up short, 91-90, against Florida State.

White, a senior guard known as the “Wiz,” thought he’d never get another shot at the school record. He was wrong.

On Valentine’s Day, 1987, White scored 51 points in a 103-84 upset of Auburn at Stokely Athletics Center.

He made 15 of 20 field-goal tries, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range — it was the first year the 3-point shot was added to the college game.

White was also 18-of-19 at the free-throw stripe and that was the difference-maker.

“Once in an orange moon you see an offensive show like Tony White put on here tonight,’’ said UT coach Don DeVoe.

White was averaging 22.9 points; and Auburn, coached by Sonny Smith, made him the focal point of the Tigers’ defensive game plan. Auburn used a triangle-and-two and a box-and-one, but nothing worked.

White had 29 points by halftime.

“You’ve got to respect him for the drive and you’ve got to respect him for the jumper,’’ said Auburn guard Gerald White, illustrating the difficulty of defending “The Wiz.’’

White got to 40 points with 12 minutes to play.

Once, when White waved off a play call to get him a shot, point guard Travis Henry overruled.

“I told him he was hot,’’ said Henry, “and I was going to get him the ball until his arm fell off.’’

White’s arm didn’t fall off but he did catch an inadvertent elbow with 10:38 to play and crumpled the court. He was taken to the training room, but returned to the game a couple of minutes later.

But White was still stuck at 40 points as the clock moved under two minutes.

Not to worry, he scored 11 points in the final 1:31, all but two of them at the free-throw line.

“I was the scorekeeper,’’ said teammate Fred Jenkins. “The fans were telling me and I was telling Tony: ‘You’ve got 40-this, 40-that. Keep concentrating.’’’

Points 48 and 49 came at the free-throw line with 12 seconds top play. Auburn immediately turned the ball over and fouled White with 9 seconds on the clock. The crowd of 7,500 stood and cheered.

This time, he didn’t miss. The record was his.

“I’ve never felt like that before,’’ said White. “The crowd was behind me, the players were behind me and the coaching staff was behind me.

“It’s like, ‘It’s your day, Tony.’ I had to take advantage of it.’’

The record is still White’s 22 years later. No one has come closer than Allan Houston’s 43 in 1990.

White was listed at 6-foot-2, 170 pounds and grew up in Charlotte, N.C. He was the ultimate example of the overlooked prospect.

None of the Tobacco Road heavyweights made any serious overtures. Dean Smith of North Carolina suggested a prep school might be an option.

White visited Pfeiffer College, a small school up the road from Charlotte. Western Carolina said no thanks. So did Auburn.

West Virginia and Tulsa showed some interest but after signing day passed, a family friend contacted Tennessee and Kansas on White’s behalf.

White came to Knoxville for a visit and said yes. He never made it to Lawrence.

He would lead the SEC in scoring as a junior and senior (the only UT two-time leader other than Bernard King). He was a Playboy All-American as a senior. As White’s career wound down, he was chasing Ernie Grunfeld’s school career scoring mark.

White got 32 in the final game ever played in Stokely. He scored 26 in an SEC Tournament loss to Alabama. That left him 30 points short of Grunfeld. Alas, the loss dropped UT to 14-15 and not even the NIT would be extending White’s career.

With 2,219 points, he stands third on the all-time UT chart behind Houston and Grunfeld and sixth on the all-time SEC career chart.

Only King and Grunfeld ever surpassed the 24.5 points White averaged in 1986-87. The 3-point line that was introduced his senior year was only a modest boost: White was 28-of-68 behind the new arc. He excelled at penetrating and the mid-range game.

He was a second-round pick of the Chicago Bulls and played with several NBA clubs before enjoying a long, globe-trotting international career.

White retired to Knoxville and works for Wackenhut in Oak Ridge. He also enjoys watching Tony White Jr. play for the College of Charleston.