Published: May 15, 2008 10:49 pm            

Price’s sacrifice pays off in Transylvania offer

Briar Jumper standout’s transition to guard interested transy coach Brian Lane

Somerset — True teamwork is about making sacrifices for the betterment of the overall team success, and Somerset High School senior Corey Price knew that all too well.

With good height, outstanding leaping ability and good power moves to the basket, Price had successful years for the Jumpers as a forward during his sophomore and junior years. But this past winter, the Jumpers had plenty of big men and were in desperate need of a point guard ball handler.

Somerset coach Shawn Thacker looked to the talented Price to make the conversion from forward to point guard his senior season, which not only helped the Jumpers to a 12th Region semifinal appearance but it showed college scouts just how talented and versatile Corey Price really is on the hardwood.

At 6’4” and strong ball handling skills, Price will make an excellent two-guard at the collegiate level and Transylvania University was giddy at the prospect of landing the talented Briar Jumper.

“We are ecstatic that Corey has chosen our university,” Transylvania head coach Brian Lane said. “I think he is a perfect fit for our style of play because he has the versatility to play several different positions.”

“He comes from a winning program that has produced not only great young men, but also very competitive, self-driven basketball players,” Lane added. “I look forward to having Corey keep our proud tradition going. He is an outstanding student that should thrive academically at such a great university as Transy.”

Somerset coach Shawn Thacker knew how tough Price’s transition was and was glad to see the move pay off for Price in future athletic and academic endeavors.

“Transylvania is just a great institution all the way around in athletics and education,” Thacker commented. “Coach Lane, and his dad, have been the coach at Transy for a long time. So, it’s a program that has people in charge that really care about the basketball program and they also care about basketball at Transylvania. Basketball is an important part of that institution and it is going to be a good opportunity for Corey to play basketball at the next level.”

“I really feel like a lot of things that Corey had to do for us this year will better prepare him for the college level,” Thacker said. “Having to handle the ball as much as he did having to be the primary ball handler this past season, I think really increased his stock with Coach Lane and his staff. They were really excited about getting Corey and having him up there and play.”

“They feel like if he works hard and does some of the things they need him to do, he’ll have a chance to play some next year when he gets there,” Thacker added. “I think Corey’s natural position is the two guard position. He had a really good year for us defensively. Handling the ball the way he does is going to better open up things for him offensively.”

“At the college level, what he can get done has greatly improved because of how much he had to handle the ball and how much he had to work on his ball handling skills over the past year,” Thacker continued. “If he continues to improve on that just puts him ahead of the game when he gets there at the college level. What he had to do here for the Somerset program will give him a chance to play sooner at the college level upon arrival.”

For Price, who has been a standout two-sport performer through his high school career, the decision between basketball and baseball came much easier after Transy made their offer for him to play basketball as a Pioneer.

“Until a couple of weeks ago I didn’t know I was going to be playing college basketball,” Price said. “Transylvania made a great offer to come there. I am real excited and my family is happy. I really wanted to continue to play basketball, but baseball is a much easier sport to play. However, once Transy made the offer for me to play basketball it was an easy decision.”

Price admitted the transition from his natural forward position to point guard was extremely tough, but his love for high school sports and his teammates made it all worthwhile.

“I struggled a little bit having to move from forward to point guard, but that transition will ultimately help me in the long run by handling the ball,” Price explained. “High school is the best memories of your life. Playing for Coach Thacker and building lasting friendships with my teammates has been a great experience.”

Coach Lane pointed to another great Briar Jumper basketball player that made his mark at Transylvania and compared him to his newest Somerset recruit.

“Adam Cole was one of those Briar Jumpers that came to Transy, had a great career, was a key person in helping get our program to an elite level nationally and now we can have another Jumper help carry that on,” Lane exclaimed.

        

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