Senior wide receiver Kentrell White has committed to play DI college football at Auburn University under head coach Hugh Freeze.
White, who has started on varsity since his freshman year, is listed as a 3-star recruit on ESPN and has attracted interest from Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and other universities. Auburn plays in the Southeastern Conference, one of the premier conferences in college football, and has a deeply rooted football culture. White decided on Auburn after exposure to other schools.
“I felt like it was the best choice, the best suited to me, out of all the schools I talked to,” White said.
White led the Knights in receiving yards during his sophomore and junior years, and was the Knights’ only football player to receive First Team All-Region in 2024. White is currently the only Class of 2026 tight end committed to the Tigers, who are looking to build off of a 5-7 season.
Knights quarterback Noah Williams has played with White for four years, and sees him as a go-to target in any situation, trusting him in any down and distance.
“He’s somebody who’s reliable and makes plays in big times when you need big gains,” Williams said. “Whether it be third and long, or we’re going for it on fourth down, he’ll make a grab.”
Head coach Calvin Arnold praised White’s physical ability as one of his most important assets.
“I’ve seen over the past two years that he’s got the size, the speed, the ability to really change the game,” Arnold said.
Maynard Jackson head coach and defensive cordinator Eric Williams also praised White’s physical ability, as well as his football IQ.
His biggest strength is that he really understands the game, and he has great hands,” coach Williams said. “He knows how to use his body for 50/50 balls, and if they throw the ball up, we know there is a great chance of him coming down with it.”
White’s childhood football coach and longtime mentor Julian Carter praised White’s work ethic, in addition to his size.
“He’s really grown in his discipline,” Carter said. “He already had good height on him as a kid, but his knowledge of the game, always wanting to play the game and wanting to be successful at the game, all started with his discipline, and a lot of his growth now has been a better discipline.”
White said Carter has been one of the biggest guides for him in football, and they continued to work together through high school, providing some consistency in his overall coaching, even through the constant change at Midtown.
“Coach Julian, my rec ball coach, had a huge impact on me,” White said. “We’ve been talking ever since middle school, even after I stopped playing rec ball, and through high school, and he’s just been my guy throughout all this.”
Carter has known White since he was 5 years old, and coached him until middle school. Even after White moved to middle and high school, Carter kept mentoring him.
“I see Kentrell as one of my sons, and I try to stay in contact with a lot of my players to try and keep them on the right path,” Carter said. “And to this day, he and my sons have a bond together, even though they’re at different schools. It’s a positive atmosphere that I wanted to keep him in.”
Since COVID-19, Midtown football has been marked by tumult and change, including a cancelled varsity season in 2021 and a different head coach every year the current seniors have played. White has weathered all of this and believes the constant changes have improved both him and his game.
“I like to go with the flow,” White said. “You never know what’s gonna change in the future; so, I went with it, and it really paid off, having to be adaptable.”
White created a connection with Midtown and never truly wanted to transfer like many recruited high school athletes want to do.
“I feel like I created a bond and a commitment to the school,” White said. “That I’ll stay here and keep going when the going gets tough.”
Noah Williams said White has brought the experience and has been an example to younger players as he has gone through the steps of the DI recruiting process.
“He’s really shown guys what’s possible,” Noah Williams said. “Being around a guy who is DI and goes on visits shows dudes what happens when you put in the work and perform well out on the field, and I think having that around motivates guys at practice and walkthroughs and games to do better.”
White is graduating at the end of the fall semester so he can begin training at Auburn, with the eventual goal of playing professional football with an NFL team.
“I decided to graduate early so I can go ahead and get on that field at Auburn and get developed by the coaches there, and hopefully, be good to the point where I can make it to the league,” White said.
