Story Courtesy: Ethan Erdman, USD Assistant Director of Communications
South Dakota men’s basketball head coach Eric Peterson has announced the hiring of assistant coach Joe White.
White comes to Vermillion after seven years as an assistant coach at Idaho State where he spent the previous three seasons as the associate head coach. In his time at Idaho State, White has been named as one of the top-100 Rising Stars in Men’s Basketball Mid-Major Assistant Coaches, top-75 Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistant Coach, and twice honored as one of the top-50 Most Impactful Low-Major Division 1 Men’s Basketball Assistant Coaches in America by Silver Waves Media.
While on staff at Idaho State, the Bengals secured three of the team’s top finishes in the Big Sky Conference in the last 20 years, including two top four finishes in the last five seasons. White was instrumental in the development of all-conference honorees during the 2024-25 season seeing six total honors for Idaho State including the Big Sky MVP, the Newcomer of the Year and two all-conference first team selections.
White, who served as the team’s defensive coordinator at Idaho State, helped lead the Bengals defensive efforts that ranked No. 1 in the Big Sky and No. 9 in the NCAA in opponents points per game at 61.7 in 2020-21. Idaho State led the Big Sky in defensive field goal percentage and defensive rebounding that year.
White served as the team’s academic liaison and played a key role in elevating the Bengals’ success in the classroom, most recently highlighted by a 3.55 team GPA during the 2025-26 fall semester. The 2022-23 squad earned the highest team GPA out of all men’s basketball teams in the conference and was recognized as the Big Sky Academic Champions.
He spent five seasons in the Northwest Athletic Conference with three seasons as an assistant coach at Tacoma Community College and two years at Lane Community College. White was promoted to head coach at Lane CC in 2018-19 and led the Titans to a 27-4 record, a Southern Region Championship and to a third-place finish in the NWAC Tournament.
White played at Southern Oregon University from 2008-12 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. Between his sophomore and junior seasons, White played a season professionally for Club La Salle of Guayaquil, Ecuador. He earned his Master’s Degree of Physical Education – Athletic Administration from Idaho State in 2023.
