KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Before Dalton Knecht, there were great scorers at Tennessee Athletics, like Tony White.
He is an all-time great Vol Hoops player that played from 1983-1987. A local University of Tennessee fan wants to see the VFL’s jersey retired and is trying to put it into action.
Deayne Easter is really passionate about getting Tony White’s jersey retired at UT. He has spent quite some time researching and finding out the criteria that need to be met.
This all started when he met the Vols player at work. The two are good friends now. When they first met though, Easter didn’t know what all White accomplished.
“I knew he was a good athlete and I liked sports, played a little bit too, but I never looked at his stats," Ester said.
Oh, but he looked.
“I go, 'Wow, I couldn’t believe what he accomplished in his career,'" he said. "I couldn’t understand why his jersey was not retired.”
He set out to create a document full of White’s records and stats.
“You know a lot of people talk and I said, ‘Dewayne if you want to go ahead and do it, go ahead and do it,'" Tony White said. "'He said, ‘Okay Tony. I’m going to do it.' I’m like, 'Okay, yeah, really?'”
Easter came up with eight pages with any Tony White stat you could ever need. For example, there is White’s 51-point game, which is still the most at UT. There are notes about him being a 2,000-point scorer and how that has him as a top-10 scorer in the SEC.
You can find that White was a Co-SEC Player of the Year and a third-team All-American. If White has a stat, you would find it in that document.
“I’m surprised he had a booklet of all my accomplishments," White said with a big laugh. "I’m sitting there saying, 'Where did you get all that?'"
Easter has tried reaching out to UT and now is making the rounds on local radio on why he thinks White’s number 11 should go in the rafters at the Food City Center. It’s unusual for someone to take on a project like this. The reason why is one that touches home for Easter.
When asked why he took the time, Easter began to tear up. He was diagnosed with a rare appendix cancer in 2022. Doctors said he would only live three months if the chemotherapy didn’t work.
“I thought I was as healthy as a horse when I retired, but like that, your life can change in an instant," he said.
As the months passed though, Easter did not. Through it all, White has been there for him. The VFL went through his own battle with cancer. Earlier this month, he celebrated being cancer-free for five years.
“God is using me in a way to help from my battle to helping Dewayne," White said. "What I just try to do is to be positive with him and tell him I’m a walking miracle. God works miracles. Keep your faith.”
White has meant so much to Easter. For Easter, this is not just about the stats on a basketball court — but also because of the person White is.
“Through my cancer struggle, people have reached out to me and helped me," he said. "And I think God has left me here to help others so if this is something I can help Tony. I truly believe his jersey should be retired.”
Whether Easter ends up getting enough traction for White's jersey to be retired doesn’t matter to the Vol. To Tony White, all that matters is their friendship.
“You know for someone to stand up for you after 37 years, I am truly blessed to have a friend like Dwayne," White said.
Easter is grateful for White’s friendship as well. He plans on doing whatever it takes to do this for his friend who helped him through cancer.
“He’s so deserving," Easter said.
Easter said looking through all of White’s stats was a therapy to take his mind off the mental and physical battle he has had with cancer.
Ass Easter continues to try and get White’s jersey retired, he hopes to keep spreading the word of White’s accomplishments and what kind of person he is.