Whiteside Scholarship has personal meaning for recipients

Dave Whiteside Scholarship award winners Makayla Hutchinson, left, and Korin Mereste. Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times

A supportive person who never asked for anything in return. This is how Korin Mereste describes Dave Whiteside, who she viewed as a friend, coach and father figure.

Makayla Hutchinson says he was a great person and someone she looked up to.

The relationship between the 2021 Nauset Regional High School graduates and basketball hall-of-famer took on another chapter on May 14 when Mereste and Hutchinson became the first recipients of the Dave Whiteside Scholarship.

“It feels really good to be the first recipient of this scholarship because it has a different meaning, considering I knew Dave and played with (his daughter) Carly so long,” Hutchinson said. “He was always giving out advice and trying to help people make their game better."

Carly Whiteside with there father, Dave Whiteside, after reaching 1,000 points during Barnstable’s game against Dartmouth in February 2019. Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times

Hutchinson and Mereste played AAU basketball for the Cape Cod Bulls since they were young. This is where they met Whiteside. Mereste says it is nice being the first recipient but it has a deeper meaning for her because she was one of the last people Dave coached and they had a great relationship on and off the court. 

Whiteside grew up playing basketball and loved the game. During his career at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he averaged 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, shot 64% from the field and 86.2% from the free-throw line. In his junior year, Whiteside led the NCAA Division III in free throw percentage (90.9) and led his team to the NCAA Division III Tournament. In 2012, he was inducted into the UNC Greensboro Athletic Hall of Fame.

He died in December of 2019 due to a bout with pneumonia. A year after his death, his friends got together and formed a scholarship around the characteristics he valued.

They created a Facebook page, started fundraising, and the Dave Whiteside Scholarship was created. 

“He’s a great role model and taught me the work ethic and characteristics I would need to be successful,” Carly said. “He helped me grow my talents and we would watch basketball all night, wake up in the morning and go out in the driveway to practice what we watched. He was definitely my best friend.”

The award is given out to athletes who demonstrate consistent characteristics embodied and treasured by Whiteside. Those characteristics include hard work, dedication, commitment, teamwork, leadership, citizenship and making it fun.

Each player received a check for $1,250.

Carly was a 1,000-point scorer at Barnstable High School and just finished her sophomore year at the University of Vermont. Carly says that Hutchinson and Mereste both embodied the characteristics of her father and it’s special because they were her teammates with the Cape Cod Bulls. 

“My dad enjoyed coaching them and whenever their names came up, he would have nothing but good things to say about them,” Carly said. “He told me he loved their game so much and they were just great people to talk to and have around.”

Hutchinson will be attending Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, majoring in criminology. Mereste will attend Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Connecticut, studying mechanical engineering. Both will play basketball for their respective schools.

Both played varsity basketball all four years for Nauset Regional High School. Nauset head coach John Piemontese coached both players their junior and senior seasons. Hutchinson and Mereste were selected as Cape & Islands high school all stars their senior season under Piemontese. They led their team to a 12-2 record, which included a loss in the Cape & Islands League Tournament finals. 

“They both are very deserving of this scholarship and I am really happy for them because they are two great kids,” Piemontese said. “It’s good that scholarship is going to two women who are still connected where they started their basketball careers with the Cape Cod Bulls.”