Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Briefcase

Profile: James Price

Head coach, Tampa Bay Strong Dogs, Tampa

By FRED W. WRIGHT JR
Published September 25, 2006

James Price admits to having strong opinions about the value of sports. For much of his career, he has used sports of all kinds as a means of communicating values and positive thinking to young people.

And that same combination of philosophies is what brought him to the Tampa Bay area. Two months ago, he moved his sports counseling and consulting business, Pyramid Sports, to Tampa from Indianapolis - a fortuitous decision. Two weeks later, he was offered the position of head coach with the American Basketball Association's Tampa Bay Strong Dogs, also newly relocated, from Harlem, N.Y.

Price, who played seven years in the National Basketball Association in the 1970s, is busy recruiting talent. The team's name transferred from Harlem, but none of the players wanted to move, he said.

"You have a combination of college players playing and guys playing overseas, and guys who have played professionally in the NBA and players from minor leagues," he said. "You go out and look and see what's available for the upcoming fall season."

For its inaugural season, the Strong Dogs will play 36 games, starting in November, and field 15 players - 12 players and three alternates - Price said. The team will practice at the new Sports+Field facilities in Wesley Chapel. The facilities are owned by Strong-S, the Japanese corporation that owns the team.

The team salary cap is $120,000 for a 20-week period, Price said.

Price has been coaching for more than 20 years.

"This is a career," he said. "A career is a lot different from a job. With a career, the (work) day can be a lot longer than eight hours. For people who clock in, clock out, it's over. In a career, you will work whenever it's needed. You don't put a beginning or an ending time on your days."

A native of Indianapolis, Price attended the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where he played guard. In 1972, he began a seven-year stint playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and other NBA teams. When he left the NBA in 1979, Price returned to college and completed his bachelor's degree in 1979.

In 1980, Price returned to Louisville and was a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Louisville. From 1982 to 1987, he coached the women's basketball team at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) (then called the Metros, now called the Jaguars), he said.

"It was a very good learning experience," Price said. "This was my first head coaching position. Making the transition from playing to coaching, it was different. Women (players) relied more on fundamentals than men. There are fewer bad habits to break with women."

Price's coaching career has also taken him to Kuwait.

"I found out that playing the game was my first love. Then, after a while, I developed a desire to basically work with people," he said. "If I'm coaching, I'm going to continue to work with people, continue to be involved in the community, continue to be around people that can benefit from my experiences.

"I think every profession, whether a banker or an actor or a basketball coach, there should be a direct connection with your career to the community in some way," Price said. "I think both of my passions - sports and working with people - regardless of what career I'll be in, I'll always have a passion for working with people directly."

Price's consulting company, Pyramid Sports, was started in 1999. It focuses on "the skilled development of athletes from elementary all the way to professional," he said. "If kids need individual instruction, I'll provide it. I'll also create basketball camps, team consultants."

Price, 56, is single. He said he still enjoys playing basketball.

"The shooting is still fine," he said. "The running and jumping is a little different."'

One additional plus from Price's move to the Tampa Bay area was his discovery that his high school basketball coach, Jack Bradford, from Indianapolis Tech School, had retired to St. Petersburg.

"My brother and I played for him" in high school, Price said. "He had values that were off the charts."

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2003-2006: United coordinator assistant, Options Treatment Center, Indianapolis

2005: Assistant coach, Nebraska Cranes, United States Basketball League, Kearney, Neb.

2000-2002: Youth counselor, Juvenile Detention Center, Indianapolis

1999-2000: Head basketball coach, Kadslya Club, Kuwait City, Kuwait

1996-1999: Assistant basketball coach, Butler University, Indianapolis

1995: Substance abuse counselor, Charter Hospital, Indianapolis

1991-1995: Substance abuse aftercare facilitator, National Basketball Association, Miami

1991-1995: Assistant basketball coach, associate director of player personnel, Miami Tropics, USBL, Miami

1992-1993: Head basketball coach, Capital Region Pontiacs, Continental Basketball Association, Albany, N.Y.

1991-1992: Head basketball coach, Greensboro City Gators, Global Basketball Association, Greensboro, N.C.

1991: Assistant basketball coach, Tulsa Fastbreakers, CBA, Tulsa, Okla.

1990-1991: Scout, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Milwaukee

1982-1987: Head women's basketball coach, Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis

1980-1981: Coaching assistant and recruiter, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.

1972-1979: Player, NBA: Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, Buffalo Braves, Milwaukee Bucks

PREVIOUS POSITION: Assistant coach, Nebraska Cranes, Kearney, Neb.

[Last modified September 25, 2006, 06:25:51]