A seismac shift is taking place in the Virginia High School Basketball landscape, right in the heart of the state in the city of Richmond.
Tytrail White, who elevated John Marshall's basketball team to national prominence, is departing as the school's Head Coach after 15 years / 14 seasons to take over another storied program in the '804' area code. White was announced as the new Head Basketball Coach as well as Assistant Athletic Director of the Petersburg Crimson Wave at an introductory press conference on Monday afternoon.
White guided the Justices to a gaudy 321-60 overall record and seven State Championships (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2018 and 2014), including each of the past four at the Class 2 level. They went to the State Tournament in each of the final nine seasons that they played - which excludes the 2020-21 campaign because Richmond Public Schools opted out of winter sports - and only missed regionals once during his tenure.
The 2022-23 squad - featuring five All-State selections in Damon 'Redd' Thompson, Dominique Bailey, Jason Rivera-Torres, Dennis Parker Jr. and Latrell Allmond - cemented its place in history with a perfect 28-0 overall record. That team ascended to a No. 1 national ranking by MaxPreps and outscored opponents by 66.5 points per game during the postseason alone.
John Marshall simply obliterated the competition at the Class 2 level over the past four years, winning 24 straight playoff games by a whopping total of 2450-1136, an average of 54.8 points per contest. They averaged 102.1 PPG in those playoff games while giving up just 47.3 PPG.
It's a homecoming for White, who graduated from Petersburg High School and later from Virginia State University before getting into coaching.
Also the Director of the now famed Team Loaded Amateur Athletic Union travel basketball program, White has been recognized for lofty achievements on the court. He was named the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith National High School Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.
Petersburg finished 15-9 overall this past winter, falling to Heritage of Newport News by a count of 66-61 in the Region 3A Tournament quarterfinals. They are not long removed from making a deep playoff run, reaching the VHSL Class 3 State Championship as recent as 2022 when they went 22-4 overall and were beaten by Cave Spring, 76-75, in the finale at VCU.
Ryan Massenburg departed as Crimson Wave Head Coach to take over another team in the Central District, Prince George.
Before arriving at John Marshall in 2010, White was an assistant at Petersburg for current Athletic Director, Bill Lawson III, who went 189-58 overall at the helm of the Crimson Wavae and was named Central Region Coach of the Year on four occasions.
Petersburg, known as home of Basketball Hall of Famer Moses Malone, won back-to-back State Championships in 1973-74. They've reached the State Tournament Final Four round or later 11 different times since then, but not won the title. That includes finishing runner-up on five different occasions (2022, 2012, 2010, 1989 and 1985) with three of those losses decideed by two points or fewer.
*** More to follow on this story - - stay tuned to VirginiaPreps.com! ***
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