In one moment, she bellows instructions to her teammates on the court. The next moment, she lets loose and dances on the sidelines.
Those moments belong to Lani White, the Utah women’s basketball team’s guard who earned rotation minutes as a true freshman last season. She also earned a nickname from coach Lynne Roberts.
“Everyone knows she’s an Energizer Bunny,” Samantha Crispe said. “That’s what coach calls her.”
White has always been an extroverted person. Her parents call her a “social butterfly.” Now a sophomore with the Utes, White wants to parlay what comes naturally to her.
“Using that trait to my advantage on the court, I think it brings out the best in everybody,” White said. “Everyone kind of needs their Energizer Bunny, I guess you could say. It really could be a whole game-changing or a whole play-making shift in the game.”
White’s on-court impact isn’t necessarily felt on the stat sheet. Last season, she played 23 games and averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game. She also shot 44.4% from the 3-point line on a team replete with shooters.
It’s White’s voice that, even as a young player, speaks volumes.
“She’s just loud. She’s so loud,” senior guard Dasia Young said. “Just talking. It could be for no reason, but she’s just talking because that’s just who she is. We listen for her all the time, too.”
White is known for not being shy. When she’s on the bench, she’s either yelling instructions to her teammates and echoing words from the coaching staff, or dancing the Griddy, bop or Quan. In one video posted by the team on social media, White can be seen dancing as a referee walks by. She playfully sticks out her tongue to the ref, prompting a smile in return.
Crispe said White is the first to arrive to help a teammate when they fall down. She also tells Crispe where to move if she finds herself stuck in the post. Young said when someone makes a big shot in a game, White cheers the loudest.
On a Utes team that has aspirations of a national championship, the mood can get understandably serious, the focus lasered. But White does a good job of lightening the mood.
“When things get hard — and they always do — it’s fun to have somebody that is goofy and you can tease and she’ll tease you right back,” Roberts said.
White seems to bring the more serious players out of their shells. Young mentioned herself, Crispe and freshman Reese Ross as players on whom White’s personality has rubbed off. That’s particularly impactful if a player is in their head about not playing well and they look over to the bench to find White dancing or engaged in some other silliness.
“She draws that negativity away by just being herself,” Young said.
White came into this season wanting a bigger role. She worked on her fitness and mental health, and wanted to find ways to impact the team in her own unique way.
Young said she’s seen improvement in White’s court vision and defense. Roberts said the sophomore’s development is right on track, and she’s just looking for more consistency.
But it’s White’s seemingly never-dead battery that could make the biggest impact for the Utes going forward.
“Her energy is something that we’ve come to rely on,” Roberts said.
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