By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Because of his leaping ability, his quickness and his size, James White looks like the prototypical college small forward.

But he says his true desire has long been to play point guard.

Cincinnati's James White, left, keeps the ball from Charlotte's Demon Brown during the second half of Cincinnati's 75-67 win at Halton Arena Saturday. (AP photo)

"That's what I really wanted to play coming into college," White said Monday. "I'm a good slasher, but that's what I do best."

The 6-foot-7 sophomore from Kensington, Md., has been getting his wish lately. University of Cincinnati basketball coach Bob Huggins has increasingly turned to White at the point during the past four games when Nick Williams, the starting point guard, has either gotten into foul trouble or has been ineffective.

White has responded by manning the position more competently than anyone else on the roster. He had a career-high nine assists in UC's win at Charlotte on Saturday, the highest total by a UC player this season and the most since Taron Barker recorded 10 against Texas Christian last Jan. 11.

"It's an adjustment, because it's harder to do certain things," White said of his new position. "But I like getting the team involved, getting people open shots and really starting the offense."

White was named Conference USA co-player of the week Monday, sharing the honor with DePaul's Andre Brown. White averaged 14.5 points, 8.0 assists, 7.0 rebounds and shot 69 percent from the field in wins over Saint Louis and Charlotte.

In his last four games, White is averaging 6.8 assists to increase his average to a team-leading 3.4 for the season. He has committed 10 turnovers in those games.

He also averages 8.9 points and 4.0 rebounds for the season.

"He listens and he tries to do what you ask him to do," Huggins said. "It's not so hard to look at one option and then look at the other. It's hard maybe to look at the third option or the fourth option, but the first two options shouldn't be that difficult for anybody."

While White, who transferred to UC from Florida in December 2002, waited to become eligible, UC fans buzzed about his dunking ability.

But even amid all that hype, Huggins maintained White's real value lay in his passing ability.

"He hasn't dunked in a crowd yet," Huggins said, "But he passes the ball. I thought that was the best thing he did. He should be able to see over people. I thought when we played (6-5) Andre Tate there he saw over people pretty well. I think when we played (6-5) Damon Flint there, he saw over people. James can do that. He's got to take better care of (the ball), but his vision is a little better."

Williams remains UC's starter at the point, but with Chadd Moore having been rooted to the bench for the last three games, White has provided Huggins with another option.

"Life is about producing," Huggins said. "It's not about showing up. It's about showing up and doing something while you're there. We're at the point in the year, why are you going to play somebody who hasn't produced? There's not a guy here who can say they didn't have a chance. They've played a ton of minutes. Now, it's time to get things done."

White clearly is getting things done, and he's enjoying himself so much at the point that he wouldn't mind taking over the position full-time next year.

"I have to work on my ballhandling a little bit," White said. "Hopefully, this summer I'll be able to do that, and next year I'll be able to see more time there."

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E-mail: bkoch@enquirer.com