Eastern Illinois guard Meechie White is one of us

Before Kentucky Basketball hosts Eastern Illinois on Friday night, there’s one player in the Panthers’ starting five you’ll want to keep an eye on. His name is Meechie White, and he is one of us.

A Louisville native, White grew up a die-hard Kentucky fan, the kind who tuned in to every game, wore the gear, and dreamed of playing for the Wildcats one day. His mom even sent KSR several childhood photos of Meechie in Rupp Arena, Memorial Coliseum, the Joe Craft Center, and our own KSBar and Grille, where he got a selfie with Matt Jones.

Now, years later, he’ll walk into Rupp Arena as the opponent, a junior guard for Eastern Illinois, averaging 5.3 points per game through their first three contests. Before transferring to EIU, White was a big-time JUCO scorer at Three Rivers College, where he averaged 21.5 points per game in the NJCAA regional tournament and earned All-Region honors. He’s still early in his Division I career, but he’s a starter for the Panthers and playing against his favorite team on Friday night.

White has some playing experience in Rupp, though. In high school, he helped lead Male High School to back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances. White and Male lost in the first round of his junior season, then advanced to the quarterfinals in 2023, his senior year. He also led Male to its first Louisville Invitational Title since 2002, scoring 23 points in the 2022 title game.

So even though he’s wearing the wrong jersey on Friday night, it’s hard not to pull for a kid who grew up loving John Wall and Anthony Davis, his favorites, just like the rest of us. We’ll cheer for his story right up until the opening tip, but after that, he’s on his own.