Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 20, 1993 TAG: 9306200022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Tech's only basketball signee for the 1993-94 season, Price played in the Albert Schweitzer Games, which draw an international field.
"I've never, ever signed so many autographs in my life," he said. "One guy from Lithuania asked me if I was Mark Price's brother."
Still, the 6-foot-9 Floresville, Texas, native wasn't among the best-known players on his team. The roster included Minnesota signee John Thomas, Southern Cal's Jaha Wilson, Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer and Memphis State's Johnny Miller - all rated among the nation's top 70 players by one scouting service.
Thomas, Eschmeyer and another Schweitzer teammate, Wake Forest recruit Tim Duncan, are 6-10 or taller, so Price played power forward. Tech coach Bill Foster attended the games.
"He hadn't played against that many good big kids ever," Foster said. "Practicing and playing with those guys was good for him. It exposed a lot of his weaknesses. He's got a lot of work to do."
Price knows that. The pick-up basketball scene isn't too mean in his stretch of Texas, so Price is concentrating on Tech strength coach Mike Gentry's prescribed four-days-a-week workout. That's after Gentry sent him a three-day workout, and Price asked for more.
"I don't want to look like I'm a freshman - my body," Price said. "Clifford Rozier [of Louisville] wakes me up in my dreams."
Price weighs about 240 - he's not adding any around the waist, he points out - and said that will be his playing weight. Foster wants rebounding and defense from Price, and the Texan seems to think that's what he'll provide.
"I'm not going to impress anybody with my moves. I'm not some flowery All-American," he said. "I'm here because of hard work."
Price said he averaged about 22 points and 12 rebounds for 800-student Floresville High School, up slightly from his junior-year numbers of 21.5 and 10.9. He admits that improvement in his basketball skills might be on hold until he arrives in Blacksburg.
Price does what he can to find opponents in Floresville, an out-of-the-way satellite of San Antonio. At the moment, he says, his ball handling is about the only thing being tested.
"We're kind of down here close to Mexico, and [Floresville] is about 70 percent Hispanic," Price said. "For the most part, they're short. It's not the hardest competition, but they get mean and push you around. They'll put two or three people on me."
Price had a few suitors for his college services, including Creighton, Loyola Marymount, Texas Tech, Southern Methodist and Texas Christian. He shunned the Texas schools because, he said, he didn't want to play basketball in a football state.
Then he visited Tech, and took, oh, maybe a couple of hours to eliminate Creighton and Loyola Marymount, which had set up official visits. He canceled those during his layover at the Charlotte, N.C., airport after his Tech weekend. Tech, he said, was "a level above those" - even though the Hokies are 20-36 in Foster's first two seasons. Creighton was 17-37 and Loyola Marymount 22-33 in that span.
"I'm talking about the future," Price said. "Creighton's not going to go anywhere. Loyola Marymount, they're not going to break any records. Virginia Tech has the freshman factor, the East Coast factor, academics.
"I didn't want to keep [the other schools] waiting. Recruiting, like anything else, is a race. [Tech] told me I was No. 1 on the list. I didn't want them to keep other players on a string. My decision wasn't going to change."
Asked if he's always that decisive, Price said deadpan, "I can't decide."
Apparently, he already made one good choice when he decided to focus on weightlifting this summer. Foster notes Price probably hasn't seen a 6-3 player like the Hokies' Jay Purcell, who bench presses 300 pounds.
"The weight room change will be like that trip to Europe," Foster said, meaning Price will see just where he stands.
Foster expects him to be a quick learner.
"He's a bright kid," the Tech coach said. "He offsets a lack of where he's at with a real desire to do things the way you want them done."
Price, of course, sees an opening. Tech's only true center, 6-10 Jimmy Carruth, is a senior. Foster said it's too early to tell whether he'll use Price mostly at center or power forward, but he'll definitely use Price somewhere.
"Nothing like a little pressure," said Price, who quickly added: "There's no time like the present.
"[Tech] is somewhere where I could be as good as I want to be. There's not going to be any 7-5 guy standing in my way."
by CNB