The size of the shirt that revealed his next school was double XL. If White's future at La Salle goes as coach John Giannini envisions, that size will increase quickly. White, a second-team all-city selection by the Daily News, signed his letter of intent yesterday to play for Giannini's young squad at 20th and Olney.

"I made my decision last week," White said. "I think I can help La Salle by rebounding, defending and blocking shots."

His future coach sees White doing all that, and probably a lot more.

"When we played against Mississippi this past season, I saw a lot of kids 6-7 or 6-8, weighing 240 or 250 pounds," Giannini said of his team's close loss to Ole Miss in Puerto Rico. "They really impressed me with how strong and athletic they were in the post. They were practically unstoppable.

"I see that being Devon in the future. I like the way he plays now. And once we get him in the weight room, and teach him how to play college basketball, he's going to become that much better. I truly see him being a real force in the Atlantic 10 Conference in a few years."

White was mostly the second or third option this year for coach Gerald Hendricks at Mansion. He scored most of his points with his tenacious offensive rebounding. He not only can read the ball well coming off the rim, but he often just took the ball away from opponents with his brute strength. He helped the Knights to the Class AA state championship game, where they fell to Jeannette. For the season, White muscled his way to 11.6 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks a game.

And he's never really lifted weights seriously. Yet.

"I've never been in the weight room," White acknowledged. "I always thought of going in there, but I never really did it. I tried it once, but I didn't like it and I wasn't good at it.

"I knew as soon as I signed this letter that I'd be getting in the weight room at La Salle, looking to get stronger and better."

White also considered Arkansas State, Niagara, Nebraska and Robert Morris. His brother, DeSean, played briefly at Providence, then transferred to La Salle. However, he transferred out before playing for the Explorers.

"I think this was a great decision for Devon," Hendricks said. "He's a great athlete who has a great upside. He rebounds well, blocks shots and runs the floor. He does things that La Salle could use, and he is going to get better and better. The sky is the limit.

"Devon is a supremely strong rebounder. If he gets in the weight room and builds himself up the way La Salle wants him to, he'll be an awesome man then."

Giannini agrees.

"Devon is around 6-7, 6-8 now, but he plays much bigger than that," he said. "I'm really excited about him joining our program. I really see him being a force in our conference down the road."

But first, the weight room. *