SPORTS
TENNIS TEAM NETS MIXED RESULTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 3B
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008 PAGE 1B
Price's field of dreams
Coach's Division I ambitions come true
BY SHAWN SHROYER shroyer@kansan.com
tonight, coach Ritch Price will lead his Kansas Jayhawks onto the diamond at Kauffman Stadium to face Missouri. With a seating capacity of 40,785, Kauffman is large enough to hold Price's hometown of Sweet Home, Ore., nearly five times over.
Hail a continent away from where his coaching career began a part-time high school coach, Price is at his "dream-come-true job." Along the way, he's accumulated 80 victories as a head coach, 400 victories at the Division I level, and is on the verge of winning his 200th game at Kansas. By today's standards, his path to becoming a Division I coach in a major conference was anything but typical. However, Price made it his destiny to coach at the highest collegiate level.
He worked the graveyard shift at a mill to pay for school while playing college baseball. He taught grade school children to supplement his income when he first became a coach. And, time and time again, he's taken over programs that nobody else wanted. But after six stops — leaving each program in better shape than he found it — Price is trying to build a baseball power where everyone told him he couldn't. Everyone except his family, who have been at his side every step of the way.
"I think I had the same dream every young kid in America has; I wanted to be a Major League Baseball player and when I was done doing that, I wanted to be a coach." Price said.
Growing up in a small logging community in central Oregon, Price seemed to have a baseball influence in his life for every mill that was running in Sweet Home.
His father had played baseball professionally and was a high school coach. His grandfather was a high school coach in Washington, and both of his uncles were high school coaches. From his father in particular, Price discovered his enthusiasm for baseball, accompanying his dad to the ballpark from the time he could walk.
Price pursued his professional dreams as a middle infielder. Although the MVP awards always eluded him, his nonstop hustling earned him every other possible accolade. As a result, even after tearing his ACL and MCL in the final day of two-a-days during football season while in high school, Price was able to carry on his baseball career at Linn-Benton Community College under coach Dick McClain.
There, Price was an All-Oregon junior college selection his freshman year and was recruited by the University of Oregon his freshman and sophomore years. But during his sophomore season, Price was taken out at second base turning a double play and blew his knee out again, ending his hopes of playing at a major university. Still, in 1996, he was inducted into the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College Hall of Fame, in recognition of his playing days at Linn-Benton
It certainly wasn't the University of Oregon, but Willamette University looked past Price's knee injuries and provided him an avenue to not only wrap up his playing career, but also begin his coaching career.
"I think you realize if you're 5-foot-8, you better be a plus-plus runner to be a professional baseball player," Price said. "At that point I knew I was going to be a good college player and I needed to prepare to coach."
While at Willamette Price began coaching an American Legion team during the week, when he wasn't playing for the Bearcats or working the graveyard shift at the local mill to pay for school. While getting a jump-start on his coaching career, Price met his future wife, Cindy, at Willamette
Price landed his first coaching gig right after he graduated in 1978, but he had to wait four more years to win Cindy's hand in marriage.
SEE PRICE ON PAGE 6B
"It's a good thing I liked baseball," Cindy said.
What Matters Most Price's family give their thoughts on what means most to him as a coach
"To be a part of so many kids' lives.It's nice to see them grow and become adults and start their own families. We have a lot of past players who bring their kids to watch our boys play.Their kids are now the ages our boys were when they played for Ritch."
-Cindy Price
"I think what he finds most rewarding is seeing the success his players have after they're done playing baseball for him. If you take a look at the Kansas alumni, of the guys he's coached everybody has been successful in whatever phase of life they've gone onto. What he instills in his players is to lead successful lives and that's what he ultimately wants from his players represent the program, not only when they are at KU, but after they're done."
-Ritchie Price
"The satisfaction of our players and seeing us play well, get better and do things that people don't think that Kansas would ever be able to do," Ryne said.
-Ryne Price
"Just doing something he ioves. He's always had a smile on his face and every day he brings an energy to practice. When we're dead, he's always pumped up and ready to go." -Robby Price
Rachel Anne Seymour/KANSAN Baseball coach Ritch Price poses for a picture before practice on Thursday, April 20, 2018.
NFL Draft offers appear less 'epic' for former Jayhawks
Last weekend represented a major victory for Kansas football.
Five former Jayhawks found their way onto NFL payrolls, four via the draft. Twice as many ex-Jayhawks were selected in the draft than had been taken in the past five years combined. The program produced a first-round pick for the first time in 15 years. Because of these individual triumphs, becoming a Kansas Jayhawk probably looks much more attractive to a high
school prospect bent on a pro career.
Saturday and Sunday should have been even more epic for Kansas, if not for the unfortunate flaws of the NFL Draft system.
In the months and weeks leading up to the draft, analysts picked apart Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib. Experts lambasted his tendency to take risks in coverage, second-guessed his ability to make tackles at the line of scrimmage, and questioned his speed based on one piece of film — Kansas State receiver Jordy Nelson's infamous torching of Talib.
When published reports said Talib had failed three drug tests during his Kansas career, draft prospectors panicked. Scouts and talking heads latched asterisks and red flags to Talib's name just because the star cornerback told NFL team personnel the truth: He used marijuana more than two years ago, and had since changed his
habits.
Talib didn't find his way into the top 10 picks. Instead, he fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the 20th pick, and wasn't even the first cornerback taken.
As a refresher, Talib is long (6-foot-2), sturdy (202 pounds), speedy (4.45 second 40-yard dash) and über-athletic (10-feet, 11-inch broad jump). For what it's worth, he was also a consensus first team All-America selection, the Orange Bowl MVP and an All-Big 12 first team selection.
The fans who packed Memorial Stadium to see Talib can vouch for his talent, and Kansas coach Mark Mangino served as a valuable character witness for his star early in the 2007 season.
"He's developed some good, strong leadership qualities that we were hoping for," Mangino said. "He had to grow as a person and mature as a person, and he's done that."
Despite the slight draft stock slip, Talib's collegiate career had a happy ending. He should take his star power seamlessly from Lawrence to Tampa Bay and rake in boatloads of money as a productive NFL defensive back. For the Jayhawks' best defensive player, however, the NFL Draft didn't go as well.
Count former Kansas defensive tackle James McClinton as a casualty of the NFL Draft. The Garland, Texas, native became a terror in the trenches during his senior year. He notched 39 tackles and created havoc in opposing backfields on nearly every play from scrimmage.
Nonconference opponents Southeastern Louisiana and Toledo left McClinton alone in one-on-one matchups. He made 14 tackles and a sack in those two games. Teams started wising up to Kansas' big man in the middle by midseason, bringing double- and triple-teams to slow his
Weathered by double-teams and hobbled by a leg injury, McClinton struggled through the team's last few games, making just six tackles in five contests. His lingering limp and a poor showing at the NFL combine conspired to drop McClinton out of the draft completely. NFL teams have reportedly contacted the ex-Jayhawk about signing a free agent contract, but it's a shame the player who earned so many double-teams couldn't immediately catch the eye of a pro franchise.
Sure, college football isn't perfect. The BCS system is broken and the powers-that-bear always seem to put dollars and cents ahead of common sense. But relish the few fall Saturdays filled with the amateur game, because it's better than the pro product pushed on sports fans every Sunday.
rushes.
J
—Edited by Mandy Earles
9