Western Kentucky assistant Quannas White has left to rejoin his college coach.

White has joined the Houston men’s basketball program as an assistant coach, Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson announced Tuesday.

White played for Sampson for two seasons during their time together at Oklahoma from 2001-03. He also entered the professional ranks following his playing career as the Sooners’ graduate assistant in 2003-04.

“Houston is a family environment, and the opportunity to work for a man I played for is amazing,” White said in a Houston news release. “I was a part of some special things with Coach Sampson at Oklahoma with the Final Four and Big 12 championships, and I know we now have the chance to do the same things here.

“Coach Sampson is an outstanding coach, and his teams have gotten better every year. To compete in the American Athletic Conference and work for a man I have tremendous respect for is a great opportunity.”

White joined the Cougars after serving as an assistant coach at WKU during the 2016-17 season. His departure leaves WKU with a vacancy on its coaching staff alongside current assistants Chris Cheeks and Shammond Williams.

The Louisiana native helped assistant Rick Stansbury recruit graduate transfer Pancake Thomas last offseason. White also helped recruit highly-touted Hilltopper signees Josh Anderson and Mitchell Robinson.

Prior to that, White served for two seasons as an assistant coach at Tulane from 2014 to 2016.

White led the Louisiana Dynasty AAU program and worked as a private basketball trainer for eight seasons from 2005-14. During his time with that program, he guided the Dynasty to more than 30 tournament titles and developed several players who competed at the NCAA Division I level.