Scholarships

Barnstable MA hoop star Olivia Gourdine wins Whiteside scholarship

A few years ago, Olivia Gourdine and her family rode with Dave Whiteside to the University of Rhode Island to watch Dave’s daughter and Olivia’s former Barnstable basketball teammate Carly Whiteside play for the University of Vermont.

At the game, Gourdine recalled Dave Whiteside turned to her and said, “You’ll be out there playing at that level someday.”

Those words stuck with her and resonated with even more power after Whiteside died suddenly at the age of 61 in December 2019 following a bout with pneumonia.

Olivia Gourdine, right, signs the Dave Whiteside Scholarship ball after being presented with it by Carly Whiteside, left, on Thursday in Hyannis.  Gourdine played basketball for Barnstable High School and the Cape Cod Bulls Girls AAU team.  Carly Whiteside is the late Dave Whiteside's daughter.

“Dave was always my biggest supporter, growing up during travel basketball,” Gourdine said. “He’d always be in the front row at every game during my freshman year, rooting for Carly and me. Dave was a great man and I miss him a lot. ”

For her dedication to her team, her sportsmanship and her basketball acumen, Gourdine was named the 2022 winner of the annual Dave Whiteside Scholarship, presented by his daughter Carly and voted on by a committee of Whiteside’s friends and family. The scholarship is $ 1,250.

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