Former UA coach: Pat White not heavily recruited

Pat White, a former West Virginia quarterback who implied on his Facebook page that he was offered a car to sign with the University of Alabama, was not heavily recruited by the Crimson Tide according to a member of UA's staff at the time, and was not offered a scholarship by Alabama according to Rivals.com's recruiting database.

White, from Daphne, posted the comment alongside a link to a report on reaction to current UA player Derrick Henry's post of a photo of himself next to a new car on his Instagram account.

"Stop pretending like you didn't know the crimson tide has been doing this for years. Still glad I turned down a Corvette to become a mountaineer," White's post said.

White played at West Virginia from 2005-08.

According to Sparky Woods, who was running backs coach on the staff of UA head coach Mike Shula at the time White was being recruited, Alabama had little interest in the player.

"I didn't recruit Pat, but I remember he wanted to be a quarterback," Woods said. "I remember a discussion that we weren't going to recruit him as a quarterback. That was kind of a closed book on him pretty early because he wanted to be a quarterback."

White's profile in the Rivals.com database from his recruitment out of high school listed the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder as a three-star prospect as an athlete. He was rated No. 55 in the nation among athletes - a designation for skill players who don't fit a specific position.

According to the recruiting profile, Alabama did not offer White. The profile lists offers from West Virginia, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.

That jibes with the memory of Woods, now head coach at Virginia Military Institute.

"I don't think he ever took an official visit that I remember," Woods said. "I never met him. I saw him play and he was a good athlete, but I don't think he ever took a trip to Tuscaloosa or ever was in camp that I recall."

Reach Tommy Deas at tommy@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0224.