Met Art Hall Of Fame

Price to be inducted into Atlanta Sports HOF

Nearly 30 years later, Price still calls Atlanta home.

The former Tech standout and NBA All-Star will be recognized by his second home Saturday. Price, who lives in Duluth, is one of three athletes to be inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame.

“I guess with me not being an original Atlantan and coming from Oklahoma, but since my days at Georgia Tech, Atlanta has been like my second home,” Price said. “I set roots down here when I stopped playing.”

Price will be inducted Saturday at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center. He will be joined by All-Pro Atlanta Falcons linebacker Jesse Tuggle and founder of the Peachtree Road Race, Tim Singleton.

“Mark is probably considered one of the best basketball players along with Roger Kiser from Tech,” Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame founder Larry Winter said. “He spent his entire career at Tech and was one of the first recruits by Bobby Cremins.”

Although Price is not from Atlanta, he still meets the hall of fame’s criteria, which includes playing at least four years in the Atlanta area.

“The best explanation I like to give is if you developed your skills here or you highlighted your skills here, then you are eligible,” Winter said.

It has been 13 years since Price last played in the NBA, but the former Cleveland Cavaliers star is still actively involved in the sport. He spends less time on the court knocking down shots that made him an all-star and more time teaching fundamentals of a great shot.

For the last five years Price has been involved with Suwanee Sports Academy where he runs a youth summer camp and the Mark Price Shooting Lab. In the shooting lab, Price works with NBA players in a 5,000-square-foot court that’s designed specifically for specialized shot instruction.

“The art of shooting has ultimately gotten to a certain level,” Price said. “They know they have to improve their shooting to get to the next level. They like coming here.”

Price has trained more than 25 NBA players over the last five years, including the Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford, South Gwinnett grad and Philadelphia 76ers’ Lou Williams, the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo and former Georgia Tech player and 76er Thadeus Young.

Price has also spent time as the shooting coach for Denver, Memphis, Atlanta and Golden State in recent years.

“I’ve developed a reputation over the years as someone that can help guys,” Price said.

The Day I Met 'Stan-the-Man' at Spring Training ...

  During Polish-American Night at Comerica Park recently, National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame Chairman, Jim Conrad was positioning Art ‘Pinky’ Deras for the pregame ceremony.  Deras was being presented on the field as one of the 2011 National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame inductees.  Behind home plate, on the concourse baseball stories started to shoot off like fungo fly-balls shoot off a coach’s bat Deras was the pitching and hitting sensation from Hamtramck, Michigan who led his Little League team to the 1959 L.L. World Series Title over Auburn, California.  He had a tremendous baseball and football pedigree.  Michigan State and Michigan were recruiting him as a quarterback.  Veteran baseball broadcaster Tom Paciorek called him the greatest little leaguer ever.  Deras was later signed as a 17 year old out of Hamtramck High School by the St. Louis Cardinals for a big bonus.  The baseball anecdotes kept coming until everyone added their favorite Stan Musial stories.  A small group gathered to overhear and Deras froze the audience when he told about his first Stan-the-Man encounter.  He told Conrad about his first day at practice at old Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg.  “Stan had just retired and he was an instructor at spring training,” said an energetic Deras.  “On my first day in Florida, I was nervous as all get out.  Stan Musial came up to me and said,”  “‘Come on Polish boy, how about some catch.’”  “From then on, I was always the Polish boy,” added Deras.”  “That really shook off the butterflies,” Deras said.  “What a class act to help out a rookie like that.  He must have known I was nervous and that settled me down.  That was better than any homerun I ever hit.  What a class act.  Later I found out that Mozalli and Stan were best friends and Stan had a whole history on me.”  Musial was the first NPASHF inductee in 1973.  In everyone’s book Stan Musial is in the Hall of Fame of Human Beings.  “He is a great example and a treasure to world-wide Polonia,” added Deras.

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