Legendary Cleveland State guard Mariah White will return to the Vikings as an assistant coach for the 2026-27 season, the school announced on Thursday.
More than anything else, White was recognized as a defensive stalwart during her playing career in Northeast Ohio, which ran from 2017 through 2021. She won the Horizon League’s Defensive Player of the Year award in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, thanks largely to her 3.0 and 2.7 steals per game in those seasons, averages that ranked 14th and 29th nationally. Additionally, White was on the HL’s All-Defensive Team for three straight seasons, and collected a pair of selections to the all-conference teams, including a first-team nod in 2020-21.
Of course, she could score a little bit too, given that her 1,320 total points rank 14th in CSU history. White poured in 36 tallies against Purdue Fort Wayne on New Year’s Day in 2021 – tied for the sixth-best single-game total in school history, and the second-best count within the last 25 seasons – and enjoyed seven other outings of 25 points or more.
All of that led to White becoming a centerpiece player during the early stages of the Vikings’ Chris Kielsmeier-era turnaround. Cleveland State won 20 or more games for just the third time ever in 2019-20, then followed up with the 2021 Women’s Basketball Invitational title, the program’s first postseason tournament championship. White was voted the most valuable player of that WBI run, thanks largely to her 15 steals over three games (including nine in an opening-round win over Manhattan), and 24 points in a 67-64 victory over Portland in the final.
Off the court, White was frequently cited for her academic and service work. She won the 2021 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year award, for “best exemplifying the standards of scholarship, athleticism and humanitarianism” within a pool of nearly 1,000 nominees. Before graduating magna cum laude and wrapping up her work as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair of Cleveland State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, White was also a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.
She spent her final year of eligibility at Missouri State in 2021-22, helping the Lady Bears to an NCAA Tournament appearance and a First Four win over Florida State. In 24 minutes per game on that squad, White offered 8.9 points, 1.8 steals, and her usual outstanding defensive metrics.
From 2022 until 2024, White was the director of recruiting operations at Virginia, a stint that included 31 victories, and a visit to the 2024 WBIT. The Toledo native has spent the last two years in non-basketball roles at VCU and Bowling Green, though that experience, in alumni relations and academic advising, certainly offers some benefit to the Cleveland State program as well.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mariah back to her alma mater! Her passion for CSU, commitment to mentoring and connecting with young people, and dedication to excellence make her a tremendous addition to our program,” head coach Bob Dunn said in the university’s official release. “Mariah’s experiences as a Cleveland State student-athlete, combined with her leadership roles at other universities, have prepared her to make an immediate and lasting impact on our student-athletes, our program, and the entire CSU community.”
White’s addition comes on the heels of two other coaching staff hires announced this week, those of Lauren Macer and Rachel Balzer. That trio will join retained assistants Shelby Zoeckler and Carolyn Wochele on the Vikings’ bench.
Subscribe to our emails, and get our latest posts in your inbox, plus a weekly digest of everything we've published!
