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Adversity keeps coming, Price stays positive
Hoops Hysteria
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"I didn't have too much to say to him then," Tony Price said. "It took a while."
Price was at one time considered a "can't miss'' prospect, a high-scoring guard out of Long Island, N.Y., who was supposed to be the cornerstone of a UConn program.
But Price's career literally didn't get off the ground for the first two years in college.
It was what Price deemed a "regular" day on Oct. 7, 2004, early in his freshman year following a workout. He returned to his dorm room, played video games and went to sleep.
"That was all I remember," Price said. "Then I woke up two weeks later in the ICU with all these tubes in me. No one was around and I looked at my wrist and arms and realized how skinny I was. About 15 seconds later, my father walked into the room and started crying."
The only recollection Price has of that two-week span is what he's been able to piece together from friends, coaches and his family.
Price didn't go to class or leave his room for four days. He could barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom. The team's trainer was summoned to check on Price, who was unable to dress himself. Then he went to the infirmary, where they tested for hepatitis, HIV and finally did a CAT scan.
"That's when, I guess, they saw the clot in my brain," Price said.
Price was airlifted to the Hartford Hospital.
"I was hysterical when I found out," said Price's mother, Inga.
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| No way was A.J. Price going to let limping off the court in last year's NCAA Tournament opener be his lasting image at UConn. (Doug Benc / Getty Images) |
When Price's parents got to the hospital, they got off the elevator and were met by UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who prepared them for the sight of seeing their son.
"He was messed up," said Tony Price, a former Penn basketball standout. "The only thing worse could have been death."
A.J. Price had a condition called arteriovenous malformation (AVM) that caused bleeding in his brain, one that would keep him on the sidelines for the entire season — unable to even pick up a basketball. He went back home to Long Island and rehabbed.
"I had to teach myself how to walk again," Price said.
He returned to school in the second semester and became a regular-student, taking classes with his basketball career on hold.
Then came the day when Price was in the recovery room in a Boston hospital following a cerebral angiogram.
"That's when we got the call," Inga Price recalled.
Price had been caught for his role in the theft of four laptop computers. He said he didn't steal the laptops, but did try and re-sell them along with former teammate Marcus Williams.
Price was done for the season. Suspended by Calhoun.
"It was unexplainable," Price said of his decision to partake in the scheme. "Mentally I was so messed up. My mind was everywhere. I didn't know if I'd ever play again. ... I made a stupid mistake."
This time Price was kicked out of school. He was home again, except instead of feeling pity as he had the last time his son returned to New York, Tony Price felt far different emotions.
"I had embarrassed my family name," A.J. said. "He wasn't treating me well. For a month, he didn't even really speak to me."
He put his son to work with his former college teammate, James Salters, doing manual labor such as painting and yard work five days a week.
"That humbled me," Price said. "It made me realize that's not what I want to do."
Price was cleared to return to Storrs, Conn., for the second semester. When he walked into class, everyone would turn and stare or whisper.
In the past, it would be girls smiling at Price — or guys talking about how he was going to be The Guy at UConn before long. Not any more.
Price was finally cleared in May of 2006 to return to court and 32 months after playing his final high school game at Amityville High, he officially began his career at UConn on Nov. 10 against Quinnipiac.
Price was the de facto starting point guard following Marcus Williams' departure to the NBA and he was ready to make up for lost time.
It didn't happen.
Price struggled and so did a young Huskies squad.
It wasn't the old A.J. Price. Not the one who could consistently break down defenders and score virtually at will.
He averaged 9.4 points, couldn't buy a 3-pointer and was making poor decisions on the court. He was one of the main reasons why UConn won just six Big East games and didn't make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.
"I definitely had some doubts whether he'd return to what he was," said former UConn assistant coach and current Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore, who recruited Price in high school. "It's natural as coaches to constantly evaluate all your players all the time. I was wondering whether he'd ever be his old self. He'd gone through so much."
"He wasn't himself," added Inga Price. "He's playing with a high school body."
He would be out of energy by halftime, standing at the foul line struggling just to keep himself from falling over.
"It was so frustrating," A.J. added. "I physically couldn't do it. I had nothing in the tank."
The real A.J. Price finally arrived in Storrs last season. He had a full offseason under his belt to get into basketball shape, a year in which there were no issues or off-court distractions.
Price soared and it was no coincidence that the Huskies regained much of the respect they had lost the previous season. Price averaged 14.5 points and 5.8 assists and established himself as the elite point guard in the Big East.
UConn won 24 games, tied for a share of the Big East regular-season crown and took a No. 4 seed into its first-round NCAA tournament game against San Diego.
Price had finally gotten past all the adversity.
"It couldn't have gone any better," Price said. "I really felt like a lot of people forgotten about the whole laptop thing and finally let it go."
Then he went down with a torn ACL in his left knee with 9:39 left in the first half.
Price shed tears in the locker room when he realized his season was over, but he came back out on crutches and sat down at the end of the bench.
It didn't last long.
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Soon, Price was hobbling his way into the huddle, yelling and screaming to motivate his teammates. Most players would have had their head buried in their lap, feeling sorry for themselves.
Not Price.
"He was running the team from the bench," Inga Price said. "I was sitting there saying how big it was. How he had really matured."
UConn's season ended that day with Price cheering on his teammates in a first-round loss to San Diego.
Price rehabbed all of this past spring and summer in order to be ready for the season-opener of his senior season. Once again, things didn't go exactly as planned. Price was held scoreless in 25 minutes and suffered a sprained left ankle that forced him to miss this past weekend's game against Hartford.
"You name it and he's been through it," Inga Price said. "But it's been a blessing in disguise. A.J. was a spoiled athlete and everywhere he went, everyone was telling him how wonderful he was. We struggled to keep him grounded. Now he's so appreciative and understands how quickly life can change in the blink of an eye," she added.
"Even with all of the things I went through, I wouldn't change anything," Price said. "It made me who I am today."
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