Trio of Georgia High School head coaches named to McDonald’s All-American Game Coaching Staff

Pace Academy boys basketball head coach, Sharman White, has been named as one of two head coaches in the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game.

Along with White, Pace Academy assistant coach Johnathan Robinson and Tucker coach James Hartry, will travel with him to assist him in coaching the All-Americans. The trio will coach the East Team with some of the top high school basketball talent in the country.

“I am honored and humbled to be selected for one of the highest honors you can receive as a coach. Thanks to the committee who thought I am deserving of such an honor. To be able to coach young men who will potentially become high level professional players is a feeling I can hardly describe,” White said.

White has had a prestigious coaching career, having won nine GHSA basketball state championships including two with Pace Academy. With winning, comes the accolades as Coach White was named the 2012-2013 Naismith Atlanta Tip-Off Club Bobby Cremins Award, 2012-2013 Georgia Athletic Coaches Association AAAAA Coach of the Year, 2013-2014 USA Today National Coach of the Year and the 2016 National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year.

A huge congratulations to Sharman White @coachswhite who was selected as the head coach of the East squad for the 2024 McDonald’s All American game in Houston, TX. Well done, Coach! #PK4L pic.twitter.com/2xzsbEflsE

— Pace Athletics (@PaceKnights) January 23, 2024

Before Pace Academy, White was the Athletic Director and boys basketball coach at Miller Grove. He won seven State Championships in his last eight years with the Miller Grove basketball program, helping put the Wolverines on the map with a Top 25 finish in multiple national rankings after the 2013 season.

White left Miller Grove for an assistant coach role with the Georgia State Men’s basketball program. He helped lead the Panthers to a postseason berth and remained there before taking up the reigns at Pace Academy.

“Coach White is the reason why the outside world looks at Pace as a basketball school. He’s brought a level of winning, learning, and leadership to the program. The Pace community is very blessed to have him,” said Robinson.

White and Robinson have been coaching together for the past 10 years and have known each other since they were kids.

“I’ve known coach since we were nine years old. He’s always mentored me and he’s seen me go from a boy to a man. It’s been a full circle type of moment and I am blessed to have him as a mentor and a big brother,” Robinson said.

The experience that Coach White and Coach Robinson have together is valuable as they look to lead a group of talented young players ready to burst onto the scene.

“Our goal as a coaching staff is ensure that each player has a valuable learning experience while competing with and against the best high school players in the country,” said White.

He has led the Knights to a 15-3 record this season and has won a State Championship in three of the last five years, earning himself the honor of being named a coach in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game.

Along with coaching the Knights, Coach White is no stranger to coaching some of the nations top talent. He is the head coach of the USA Basketball Junior National Team where his squads have accumulated four gold medals over his years of coaching the national squad.

“I have been able to have experience coaching some of the best players on one team with USA Basketball serving as the Junior National Team coach, so I do understand the dynamic of trying to blend the enormous amount of talent in few days to play in an All-American game,” White added.

The Decatur-native will represent the state of Georgia at the national level, along with McEachern forward, Ace Bailey, a top prospect in the 2024 class committed to Rutgers, his assistant coach, Robinson and Tucker head coach James Hartry.

Hartry is an experienced coach in Georgia having close to 500 all-time wins and a state championship in 2007. The long-time Tucker head coach has been with the Tigers program for 24 years and has made the state championship three times.

“As my coaching career moves towards the end, this honor is like the frosting on the cake,” Hartry told DeKalb AD Mark Brock. “I can’t think of a higher honor than coaching the best players in the country who we may see excel on the college and NBA levels”

“To represent Georgia means everything. I’ve always said that Georgia ranks up with any other state when it comes to great players, programs and coaches and I’m ecstatic along with Ace Bailey, to be able to be a representative of our state,” Coach White stated.

White, Robinson and Hartry will coach the East Team in the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game on Tuesday, April 2 at 9:00 pm in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.