6B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008
PRICE (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Price didn't have to look for work long after he graduated from college.
Price's college coach, Bill Trenbeath, had once roomed with the vice principal at Phoenix High School in Phoenix, Ore., so the school brought Price on board to be its head baseball coach. Even though it was a part-time job, Price turned down full-time offers in order to have the title of head coach at age 22.
In addition to his duties as head baseball coach, Price served as an assistant football coach, a freshman boy's basketball coach for Phoenix High, and a grade school teacher. While at Phoenix High, Price won his first state championship — in football.
Price coached at Phoenix High from 1979-81 and his plan was to move on to Southern Oregon State so he could embark on his college coaching career as an assistant. However, Southern Oregon State dropped its baseball program just before Price got there.
Kansas (25-22) vs. No. 15
Missouri (29-14)
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas
City, Mo.
7 p.m.
Scrambling to find a coaching vacancy, Price found one, but it was far from the Pacific Northwest. Price left baseball oriented Oregon to coach the worst baseball program in a football-crazed state.
In January 1982, Price arrived in Jasper, Texas, nearly smack dab between Houston and Shreveport, La., and more than two hours away from both, to be the head coach of Jasper High School's baseball team and an assistant football coach. Jasper高 gave Price his first exposure to black athletes. The school had produced several black NFL players, but none were playing baseball. So, Price got his first experience as a recruiter.
tonight's matchup
"It was the first opportunity I had to coach black athletes," Price said. "I was coaching defensive backs, which obviously gave me a huge advantage to be able to recruit the best athletes. I ran two summer teams my first year and I recruited the best athletes on campus and I had 13 black athletes on my team my second year when we had the best record in the state."
Price's stay at Jasper High was short-lived though. After two years there, Price returned to the West coast and reached the college ranks at the age of 27. But it came at a
Starting pitchers
So. LHP Shaeffer Hall (2-2,
6.02 ERA)
Weston White/KANSAN
Head coach Ritch Price waves a Kansas base runner home Wednesday, April 23 against Missouri State. Price is in his sixth season as head coach of Kansas and will face off against Oklahoma at 2 p.m on Saturday.
head coach Ritch Price looks on during an at bat Tuesday afternoon against Tabor College. The Jayhawk's defeated Taber College 8-1 Tuesday, moving to 9-5 overall on the season.
Jr. RHP Ian Berger (3-3, 3.02 ERA)
Weston White/KANSAN
Kansas and Missouri were swept on the road last weekend, but tonight's game is a non-conference affair, so it won't help or hurt either team's Big 12 record.
cost.
Price took over the baseball program at Menlo College, which had gone a combined 1-48 the two seasons prior to his arrival. The job was part time to boot. But Price was drawn to the small private school just outside of Palo Alto, Calif., because he couldn't resist returning to a baseball region with a more baseball-friendly climate.
Price didn't even get through his first season before he began to second-guess his decision.
"The AD told me during the interview process. 'If you come here, you're nuts. This will ruin your career,'" Price said. "I remember sitting in the dugout one day when wed won our sixth game, which was the most games theyd won in 10 years, thinking to myself, 'He was right. I just ruined my career.'"
Two years later, as his team was setting a school record for victories, Price's outlook changed and before long, so did his morning commute. After the 1986 season, he was hired to coach at De Anza College in nearby Cupertino, Calif.
"That was one of the best jobs in America," Price said. "I could have finished my career there and been completely satisfied."
While Price's first son, Ritchie, was born during his time at Menlo College, his middle son, Ryne, was born during his transition from Menlo to De Anza, and his youngest son, Robby, was born during Price's second year at De Anza College. With a family to think about, Price settled in at De Anza. In his first extended stay at a school, Price got his first taste of sustained success. In eight seasons at De Anza College, Price won five championships.
coaching record
But when Price received a call from a Division I school, it was a call he couldn't ignore. Of course, of all the high profile baseball schools in California that could have been calling, this call was from Cal Poly, a school trying to make the transition from Division II to Division I.
School (years) Record
Kansas (2003-Present) 198-164-1
Cal Poly (1995-2002) 217-228-1
De Anza CC (1986-1994) 243-112
Menlo College (1983-1986) 41-63
Jasper HS (1982-1983) 35-19
Phoenix HS (1978-1981) 82-27
"I've never taken over a program that had a winning season before I got there," Price said. "My reputation — quote, unquote — I read all the time is that I have a proven record of turning around struggling baseball programs."
Hired in 1994, Price had one year to prepare the Mustangs for Division competition and in 1995, Price led Cal Poly to a 21-29 record. Two years later the Mustangs were 37-21.
Even though the boys had Price rushing between his team and theirs, they knew he preferred that to the alternative. They can't even imagine what growing up with Price would have been like if they hadn't chosen to play baseball.
Looking back on it, Price can't believe how much different the process is today for coaches trying to coach at the Division I level. His journey to Cal Poly used to be the norm for coaches all over the West coast. Coaches were expected to pay their dues at high schools and junior colleges and the most deserving earned Division I jobs.
"Hed probably kick us out of the house." Robby said.
"Hed find a way no matter what, if we had practice or something, he'd schedule around it and youd always see him sneak in there, even if it was just for a couple innings here or there," Robby said.
"Now days, it's almost impossible to go from junior college to Division I," Price said. "It's completely different from when I started 30 years ago."
However, when Ritchie was in high school, his schedule conflicted the most with Price's, making it hard for him to receive the same attention his brothers received.
"I'll be real honest, he probably saw me play five high school games in my career," Ritchie said. "He didn't get to see as many high school games as most dads get to, but I think he made up for it in college, considering he saw every game I played."
The boys quickly understood the demands of being a college baseball coach, which made them all the more appreciative of the times Price saw them play.
and later the Big West, Price also had to face the demands of being a father. During his eight-year tenure at Cal Poly, Ritchie, Ryne and Robby were beginning their own sprouting baseball careers.
Along with the challenges of turning Cal Poly into a contender in the Western Athletic Conference,
I baseball in a major conference, which ruled out his father's Cal Poly program. Then, the phone rang.
"When I came here, I was advised by my best friends in the game that I was nuts if I took the KU job: 'You can't win there. The league's too good. The facilities aren't up to par with the Big 12.' Price said.
On the other end of the line was Lee Ice, who was a member of the committee in charge of hiring the next baseball coach at the University of Kansas.
The Jayhawks had been mired in mediocrity from 1996 to 2002, under coach Bobby Randall. In seven years with Randall at the helm, Kansas went 166-213 with only one winning season. Kansas needed a coach who had a bountiful recruiting pipeline he could tap into. It needed a coach who knew how to win. It needed a coach who could raise funds and promote the program. It needed a coach with experience rebuilding programs.
Kansas needed Ritch Price. But didPrice need Kansas?
But, for Price to be there for all of his eldest son's college games, the ideal situation had to fall in his lap. Ritchie wanted to play Division
Price was happy at Cal Poly — he didn't even have a résumé ready when Ice called him — but he decided to hear Kansas out. In summer 2002 Ritchie was trying out for the USA Junior National Team in Joplin, Mo., so Price and his wife flew into Kansas City early to visit Lawrence before going to Ritchie's tryouts.
"When I walked on this campus, I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen." Price said. "I was really interested in the job once they told me that they wanted me. I was looking to end my career coaching in one of the four big conferences in America."
Ritchie, though, was headed off to college anyway and having Price at Kansas would open up another possibility of where he could play college ball. As for Robby, "He just wanted to be wherever dad was going," Price said.
"I admire my wife so much because she's the one who's given up the most." Price said.
Cindy was a California native. Leaving for Kansas meant leaving all of her friends and family behind.
Ryne was a junior in high school at the time. The last thing he wanted was to be uprooted and have to start over in a new high school.
"I was kind of pissed" Ryne recalled.
That visit sold Price on Kansas, but his family took some convincing.
Ultimately, Price couldn't pass up the opportunity to rebuild one more program — one with the chance to be a factor in a major conference. On July 1, 2002, Price was officially hired as Kansas' baseball coach. The next step was figuring out the logistics of a coach having his son play for him.
To unravel this dilemma, Price sought guidance from his colleagues who faced the same situation. He talked to about 20 college coaches whose sons played for them or played elsewhere. About three out of every four coaches whod coached their sons said it was one of the best experiences of their careers. It helped that Kansas wasn't a national powerhouse, so Ritchie wasn't going to have to deal with the kind of criticism he would have faced play-