The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/21/08 Section: March Madness

Media Credit: Erik Kong After almost four years, A.J. Price will get his first minutes in the NCAA tournament in Tampa, Fla.

After the brackets were announced Sunday night, most of the UConn players stood on the Gampel Pavilion court grinning from ear to ear, overwhelmed by the opportunity just bestowed upon them.

But A.J. Price wasn't as animated.

While other players gleamed over the chance to play on the college game's biggest stage and soaking in some of the warm, Tampa sun, Price stood next to the bleachers fielding questions from reporters, calm and cool-headed as always.

While some of the amenities that come along with a trip to the NCAA Tournament are nice, he had other things on his mind.

"I'm sure the atmosphere will be great," he said. "But I'm just looking forward to the games."

Aside from Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie, each member of the UConn roster will be making his first trip to the Big Dance. But Price is the only one out of the bunch to have waited almost four years to get there.

When Price committed to UConn in 2004, the Huskies were one of the hottest programs in the nation, coming off a national championship season and retooling to make another run.

But soon, all the fun and excitement he once thought he was going to be a part of quickly vanished. In his first season, Price suffered a life-threatening brain hemorrhage. Then, he was suspended for the entire season the next year. So while Adrien and Austrie were helping the Huskies advance to the Elite Eight in 2006, he was on his couch watching at home.

"After playing that one game, then you kind of know what to expect and you treat it a little differently." Adrien said.

But Price never got to experience that period of adjustment.

Once he finally returned, the team was but a shadow of the one he signed on to play for two years beforehand.

When he finally got the chance to play last season, he was relied upon by head coach Jim Calhoun to guide a team of eight freshmen. The only problem was, after being idle for almost two full seasons, he had almost the same amount of on-court experience as the players he was trying to lead, while at the same time still fighting to overcome lingering health concerns brought on by his 2004 surgery.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools