Mark Price would like to become Georgia Tech's next basketball coach, according to Dennis Scott and a person who wished to remain anonymous because of his relationship with Price.
Price, a Yellow Jackets legend, led the team to its first ACC championship and regular-season title as a junior in 1985. His jersey was retired by the school.
Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich hasn't said who he is considering to replace Paul Hewitt, whom he fired March 12. He has said that hiring someone with a background at Tech would be good, but it's not a requirement. Price has declined to comment, other than to text that "he wants whoever is best for GT."
However, his name been floated by fans and former Tech players as someone they would like to see considered for the job.
"I think you need to hire someone that the Tech family can relate to and knows and feels can bring the program back to the level it's used to being at," said Drew Barry, who played at Tech from 1993-96.
Scott also said that Price, 47, is "definitely interested" in the job.
Like Barry, he has no issues with Price's lack of head-coaching experience.
"Every coach has to start somewhere," said Scott, who played at Tech from 1988-90. "Why not start at your alma mater? You've got loads and loads of experience, loads and loads of knowledge to share with young kids. It's all about putting the right staff around you. If you look at a lot of the great coaches, they have great assistant coaches."
Barry said something similar, adding that Price is smart enough to assemble a staff that strengthens each other's weaknesses and accentuates their positives.
Price has coaching experience. He served as an assistant under Bobby Cremins, whom he played for, in 1999-2000. He has been a head coach for a high school (Whitefield Academy) and for an Australian pro team, and he has been a shooting consultant/assistant coach for several NBA teams, including his current employer, the Golden State Warriors.
Price, who is from Enid, Okla., was a three-time All-American at Tech, a four-time All-ACC selection and the conference's player of the year in 1985.
Despite starting 126 games at Tech and turning into a power a team that two years before his arrival went 0-14 in the ACC, he wasn't drafted until the second round in the NBA draft. Scouts knocked his size (6-foot-1) and speed.
The Dallas Mavericks traded his rights to the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft day. He became a four-time NBA All-Star, and as he did at Tech, helped turn around the team. Cleveland won 57 games and made it to the Eastern Conference finals in 1992, but was beaten by Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the best-of-seven series. Price's jersey also was retired by the team shortly after he retired in 1998.
Price runs the Mark Price Basketball Academy in Suwanee.
"I would just like to see Tech get back to its roots, see Tech basketball get back to its roots," Barry said in discussing the candidacies of Price and Craig Neal, a former Tech player who is an assistant coach at New Mexico.
Staff writer Ken Sugiura contributed to this article.
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