MISSOULA — Keelan White knows how to navigate a route — whether that's running routes on the football field or navigating the international route to realize his college football dreams.
"A little surreal that it's now the end, because it just feels like yesterday that I was a little freshman walk-on," White said.
White hails from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a country known for hockey, but with an under-the-radar football scene. Growing up, White competed in American football in hopes of following his family's footsteps, as his father played in the Canadian Football League.
"Sometimes I would tell my hockey coach, like, I got football practice today or whatever. Then he'd be like, 'Why are you playing football?'" White said with a laugh. "You got to pick and choose. But I want to do it all. I want to play hockey, football, soccer as much as I could, for as long as I could."
But before he became one of the top wide receivers in the Big Sky Conference at Montana, White's journey was anything but normal or easy.
Football is spread out in Canada, and White played on a team with just 24 players on the roster in high school. As he grew in the game, he was talented enough to play for the U16 and U18 Team Canada squads that would also play teams in the United States.
That's where athletes up north find the best path to recruitment.
White had offers from schools all across Canada, but he knew he wanted to get his shot at NCAA football in the United States.
"I'd go down to the skills camps that schools would put on," White said. "And me and my dad would just hop in the car and drive down the coast, stop at (Washington), Oregon, went all the way down to Arizona for a camp. Texas, like, just various stops, just trying to get myself out there and, like, expose myself to these coaches. I got a lot of interest."
But the offers in the U.S. were scarce, until one day White was contacted by the Griz coaching staff, and eventually assistant coach Brent Pease — now the offensive coordinator but then the receivers coach at UM — found himself in North Vancouver in February of 2019 meeting with White.
"He randomly asked, 'Do you have your cleats? I was like, yeah," White remembered about the visit. "He's like, 'Go put them on. We'll run some routes.' I was wearing like joggers and a T-shirt, just like regular school clothes. So I went, grabbed my cleats, went out to the frozen grass, and he ran me through routes in my school clothes, and he's like, 'Yeah, I like you.'"
White had a commitment to the University of British Columbia in hand had he chosen to stay home, but he opted to give Montana a shot, so he made his way to Missoula as an international walk-on in the fall of 2019. After some early trials and challenges in getting adjusted to college life, he was able to earn a scholarship in 2020 to ease the financial burden on his family.
Ever since, he's blossomed.
Year by year he's improved, and having adopted a Spider-Man theme and moniker as well as his on-field persona, White just played in his 50th career game for Montana this past weekend against Weber State.
White caught his first score in the abridged 2021 spring season, and incrementally worked his way up in minutes and production before having a breakout campaign as UM's leading receiver in 2023. He's also shown his versatility, having started on the outside as a freshman before moving into the slot and then going back outside last year.
In his career, White has caught 134 passes for 1,570 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also holds the record for longest play and touchdown reception from scrimmage in school history when Clifton McDowell connected with him for a 97-yard touchdown on Nov. 4, 2023 against Sacramento State. This season, White has 30 receptions for 336 yards and one score, including career-highs this past weekend against Weber State with 11 catches for 163 yards.
"I get in the flow of things, make sure I was doing my assignment right first," White said. "Now it's gone from making sure my assignment's right to make sure I'm just making plays. So that's that's kind of been the progression from there.
"It definitely came to a point where things kind of started to slow down. Being a young guy, everything's happening so fast. You're just trying to make sure you're doing the right assignment on the play. And at that point it was kind of like everything started to slow down. And I kind of was able to see the play develop, or understand the defense, and everything and get to my right spot. So everything kind of slowed down, and I was able to excel from there."
White proudly reps his home country, especially in the game of football. He said those who chose to play the sport in Canada have a tight-knit bond and brotherhood. Now they're trying to grow what's a niche sport in their homes to others who might enjoy it.
Knowing where he came from, and what he's been through to prove himself, is something held near and dear to the former walk-on turned standout for the Montana Grizzlies.
"Even in Canada, people are like, that's never gonna happen," he said. "You're Canadian, they're not gonna trust you. They don't know who you are, above all this other stuff. So it was huge, just to prove not only to them, but to myself, that I could do it. And now here playing in the national championship last year, and everything has just been, it's meant a lot.
"I know my goal was to prove myself to others and to the coaches and to the whatever, but I definitely proved a lot to myself, knowing that I could do it. Definitely means a lot because, yeah, just playing with that everywhere, even in high school, everywhere I played football, I've had to kind of fight for my respect and fight to to be like, I can play football, I can play, I can do all these things. ... So just now finally doing it, definitely meant a lot."
