When Mark Price called quits on a 12-year NBA career, he wasn’t thinking about coaching.

Price, whose father spent his career as a collegiate and professional coach, knew what kind of work the job took. It wasn’t something he ready for.

But he couldn’t get away from what he grew up surrounded by. He spent a season under his former college coach at Georgia Tech, Bobby Cremins, and coached as an assistant in the NBA for a number of teams, most recently as a skills development coach for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of the Charlotte Hornets.

His career came full-circle when the former point guard was offered the head coaching job at Charlotte, an easy transition since he was already coaching in the city. After piecing a 49ers team together nearly from scratch heading into the 2015 season, Price is drawing on his knowledge and experience to try to rejuvenate a program that hasn’t gone dancing in 10 years. He’ll be pacing the sideline when Charlotte (1-2) takes on Syracuse (3-0) Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. on Paradise Island in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.

“I guess I’ve taken a little bit of a longer route to get to where I’m at,” Price said. “But it just seemed like the game kept pulling me back in.”

When Price officially became head coach on March 26, the work to rebuild a program began immediately. He took over a roster that lost 78 percent of its scoring from the year prior and had just five scholarship players remaining, some of whom Price suspected may have left because of the coaching change.

He wasted no time diving into the junior college ranks and reaching out to transfers, casting a wide net to look for “a little bit of everything.”

On April 23, Price landed his first recruit in point guard Jon Davis from Hargrave Military Academy just 28 days after becoming coach.

“I couldn’t be quite as picky in getting in as late as I did and kind scrambling to build a roster,” Price said, “but overall I feel pretty good about the young guys.”

When Price sits down to talk with recruits, he said he’ll use his experiences as ammunition, enticing them with his connections at the next level.

Freshman point guard Andrien White, who joined Charlotte 13 days after Davis, remembers his first phone call with Price on the other end.

He remembers hearing the excitement from those close to him that knew Price, rekindling memories of the player who averaged 15.2 points and 6.7 assists in the NBA to go along with a .904 career free-throw percentage (second all-time) and two 3-point shootout titles.

“My dad was aware of him and my high school coach,” White said. “And they told me so many stories about how good he was, what he’s done and accomplished.”

For Price’s players, it’s evident he’s running his coaching operation as a former point guard. They can tell by the way he teaches, especially through his patient and hands-on approach, often jumping into drills and running them with the players.

“It’s just always exciting to get that perspective … he’s been where we’re heading, he’s been where we’re trying to go” said redshirt junior Braxton Ogbueze.

And if accolades aren’t sufficient, Price has helped give Charlotte its own identity.

He’s come in with a chip on his shoulder after being counted out his whole life, White said, and has stressed the story of being a freshman on a Georgia Tech team many called one of the worst in the league.

Two seasons later, Price and the Yellow Jackets won the ACC Championship.

The players can relate. Some of them weren’t heavily recruited. Charlotte hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2005, and the onus is on Price to help the mid-major school to break its streak of mediocrity.

“He has shared that his whole life he’s been told what he couldn’t do,” White said. “That’s kind of what we’re going through here in Charlotte.”

Published on November 23, 2015 at 9:55 pm

Contact Matt: mralex01@syr.edu