Coach Price and the Tartan Pride basketball team took a trip through Washington D.C to play a game, which got changed to a scrimmage, against Navy’s basketball team. The game ended with a 78-68 victory for the Tartans where forward Steven Perriere put on a show with 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Navy didn’t throw out their whole varsity squad at them, but they had some younger guys that were still going to play varsity with the varsity assistant coach on the sideline before the start of the game. Though it was only a closed scrimmage, Price feels that Navy still gave the Pride everything they had.
“As the game was getting ready to start, the whole varsity coaching staff came out and sat on the bench and the head coach coached the game, which was a little different,” said Price.
Price said he was a little taken back by it—he knew they were for real. The game was played exactly like a regular season NCAA Division I game, including media time outs every four minutes. The media time outs were another curve ball that threw Price off. He wasn’t even aware of them until after the first four minutes when one was called.
“What am I gonna do? I don’t have anything to talk to these guys about. We’re playing alright,” said Price.
The Pride were down at half time 39-32 and were down as much as 18 at one point. They were able to fight back for a 10 point victory.
Price and company were able to walk away feeling victorious in another way while they were in our nation’s capital.
The first stop in their tour in DC was Walter Reed Hospital, where they spent about an hour and a half with veterans from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Walter Reed Hospital is the nation’s largest military medical center. Veterans come there to rehabilitate their lives after critical injuries.
“There were guys in there working to get their life back together after arms, legs and pieces of their bodies. One guy didn’t have an ear because an IED went off and he got caught in it,” Price said.
Despite these gruesome details, most of them were smiling, according to Price. One would think the atmosphere of the place would be a bit depressing, but that assumption couldn’t be more wrong.
“It was very upbeat. They were in there working. It was like a college weight room. They are in there lifting weights, walking on treadmills and working on their prosthetics,” says Price.
After their visit at Walter Reed, Price and company visited Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, Arlington and many other attractions found in DC. Overall, Price feels like he was able to give his team a good lesson during this whole trip.
“It was a team building experience and the guys got to know each other during three nights. They got an opportunity to see how things work,” said Price.
Price’s intentions were to show his team around DC and provide life lessons while also being able to play a tough Division I team like Navy, neither of which Price can say is more important.
“I don’t think I can put a value on either one of them. I would not have went down there, and did one or the other—it had to be both. And that’s why we do it,” said Price.
Price and the Tartan Pride will travel north to play Ohio-State Lima in their regular season debut, for real this time.
Matt Summers
Sports Editor