Rather than taking his chances on a bid to make the Los Angeles Lakers ' roster as a free agent, Jacari White has chosen to sign with a Belgian professional basketball team.
White, a shooting guard who starred off the bench in his only season at Virginia will join Windrose Giants Antwerp, the reigning Belgian league champions. He had earlier signed a deal to play for the Lakers' summer league team, but did not appear in their opener.
White led the Cavaliers by making 69 3-pointers in 2025-26 after transferring from North Dakota State. He averaged 9.4 points per game and shot a team-best 43.4 percent from long distance, missing five midseason games with a broken wrist suffered when he fell after dunking against Maryland.
He scored a season-high 26 points in Virginia's first-round NCAA tournament victory over Wright State and earlier had 25 points in a regular-season win over Dayton. He set a school record by making 12 consecutive 3-point attempts over a three-game span between Nov. 28 and Dec. 6 and quickly became a fan favorite, with students wearing "Jacarmy" T-shirts in the stands.
His scoring prowess caught the attention of the Lakers, who signed him to their summer league squad, with a chance of earning a bid to training camp. But he did not play in their opener, a 104-72 loss to Golden State on Friday in San Francisco. Two days later, Windrose Antwerp Giants announced his signing to a guaranteed one-year contract.
The Giants won their second title in the BNXT League, the highest division in Belgian basketball, this past spring. They had a reason to follow Virginia basketball; current standout forward Thijs De Ridder previously played the Giants for before coming to Charlottesville.
The Giants open defense of their 2026 title on Sept. 26 against the Landstede Hammers.
White is one of four members of Virginia's 2026-27 squad who have joined professional teams.
Center Ugonna Onyenso was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the second round last week and will play for their summer league team in Las Vegas, beginning on Thursday. Guard Malik Thomas accepted a spot with the Toronto Raptors' summer league team and will also play in Las Vegas.
And forward Devin Tillis recently signed with Korihait Uusikaupunki in Finland's top professional league, the Korisliiga. He averaged 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in his only season with Virginia after transferring from UC Irvine.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginia as Jacari White signs with Belgian professional team .
