Boone County native Makenzie White returned from Buenos Aires, Argentina as a victor.

The Scott High School sophomore helped Team USA earn the gold during the 2009 Goodwill Games, held in Buenos Aires.

White spoke at the Madison Rotary Club meeting this past Thursday, highlighting her trip to the country of Argentina with a slideshow presentation of photographs.

“There were so many homeless people there it was upsetting. It just made me appreciate America so much more,” White said.

Another notable difference, according to White, is that people in Argentina don’t typically eat dinner until 11 p.m. “That threw me off. They call it the city that never sleeps. I believe it,” she said.

During the trip, White and other Team USA basketball players were greeted with cheers from fans of the sport.

“A little girl followed me to all my games. Her father was one of the referees at the games. She loved to talk to me and asked for my jersey, so I gave her my jersey. Then, a lot of other little kids started asking for my things, so I gave away jerseys and shoes. I gave away everything but one blue jersey,” White said.

White says that other than her young cousins, 12-year-old Mailen Rodriguez is one of her first “fans.”

White still keeps in touch with Rodriquez through the social network medium, Facebook. “She sent me a message that it was her birthday and so I sent one back that said ‘Happy Birthday.’ She can read and speak English pretty well,” White said.

White is eager for the new school year to start, and especially for the basketball season to begin.

“We have new uniforms this year, which will be white in color. Coach Porter is buying them,” White said.

“I think we’ll go to states this year,” White said, touching on a lineup that includes several past Single-A champs and State Playoff champs.

White told Rotary members that the Scott High School

basketball team would be

participating in a basketball event at the Madison Civic Center this year.

White, who grew up in Alkol, has been playing basketball since she was old enough to join buddy league, has moved from dribbling in the Washington District to scoring more than 40 points in a winning 114 to 25 Goodwill Games in Argentina.

“We really killed ‘em in that game. We had two really good, challenging games with good teams and then two games that were bad,” White said, expounding that they won all of their games, but the two “bad” games were the ones where team USA annihilated their competition.

White has already made a verbal agreement to attend and play basketball at WVU.

“I’d like to go pro,” White says. When asked who her favorite basketball player is, White says she admires Candace Parker.

Parker is an All-American basketball player for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and may be best known for being the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and the first woman to dunk twice in a college game.

In addition to her dream of becoming a pro athlete, White says she would like to earn a teaching degree, and says she can see herself teaching either eighth or ninth grade and possibly coaching on the side.

With all options open to this fierce basketball player, White announced to Rotary members that she is considering going to Colorado Springs next year to try out for the Olympic team.

“Makenzie is a high-energy, very competitive player," Porter said this past season, in evaluating White as a player.

"She is a skilled ball-handler and passer, and she enjoys taking on the challenge of defending opposing scorers. She loves to play basketball and nobody wants to win more than she does.”

“My mom has been a great inspiration. She tells me, you have to go to practice, it will make you feel better. And it does. I practice every day. If I didn’t, I’d be bored,” White says.

“There was no awards

ceremony at the Goodwill Games. I think it was more of a benefit of them and for everyone to meet and play and be there. We just won all our games,” she said.

In November, White and the Scott Lady Skyhawks will play Sissonville for their first game of the season.

“I think we should go to states — we’re playing a much harder season,” White said.

As Scott’s freshman guard, White led the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game. She also grabbed 8.5 rebounds, dished out 5.0 assists and recorded 4.0 steals per contest.