Mark Price UNC Charlotte 49Ers Basketball Coach
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REPORTER January 17, 2017 Mark Price UNC Charlotte 49ers Basketball Coach Elly Clary introduced Mark Price, the head basketball coach at UNC Charlotte. Elly said that Mark is a person Elly fully expects to make history for the Charlotte 49ers men’s basketball team. He shows strong signs of restoring the program to the top levels of NCAA competition. Since the program’s inception, UNC Charlotte basketball has enjoyed extended stretches of impressive success. In the 1960s, they manufactured our memories in the NAIA. They jumped to NCAA Division I in 1970 and by 1977 they competed in the Final Four. The 1990s and early 2000s brought regular appearances for the 49ers in the NCAA and NIT tournaments. But then they fell on hard times. In the last eight seasons, UNC Charlotte played in the postseason only once. They are on the way back, though, thanks to Coach Price. They still don’t win as often as they’d like but the team is definitely fun to watch. And much more success seems their destiny. According to Elly, why wouldn’t it be? Mark Price has succeeded every place he’s been. He starred at Georgia Tech and led the Yellow Jackets to the ACC championship. He played 12 years in the NBA and made the all-star team four times. The Cleveland Cavaliers retired his jersey. Recently, while Mark was assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets, you might recall he fixed Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s jump shot. MKG was appreciative enough to attend the news conference when we announced Mark as our new head coach – even though it meant Kidd-Gilchrist had to take a separate flight to a Hornets away game. Coaches such as Bill Foster, Lee Rose, Jeff Mullins, Melvin Watkins and Bobby Lutz have lifted the 49ers to prominence. Coach Mark Price is poised to join them. Mark mentioned that he wanted to introduce himself to us. This is his second season as coach and while he knows that Charlotte has a lot of ties to ACC and SEC schools, he would like Charlotte to adopt the 49ers. Mark’s father was a coach so Mark grew up learning about and loving basketball. Mark is not tall as we expect most basketball players to be. As a senior in high school he was 5’11” and weighed 155 pounds. In 1982, he was part of the first recruiting class of new coach Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech. He and John Salley played four years together and they won the ACC championship when he was a junior. Mark says that he was able to play well in college and the pros because he had a good work ethic, knew the game and shot well. In fact at Georgia Tech he led the ACC in scoring as a freshman, beating out Michael Jordan. In the pros, he was one of only seven players to shoot over 50% from the field, over 40% from three point range and over 90% from the free throw line in a single season. The other six players are Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Judy Rose, the UNC Charlotte Director of Athletics, called him two years ago to offer him the head coach job. He was impressed with the campus and the potential for the team. Last year, in his first season, UNC Charlotte had two young men on the all-freshman Conference USA basketball team – Jon Davis and Andrien White. This year they have six more players, one of whom is Austin Ajukwa, a transfer from Clemson who has only played four games but has great promise. In response to a question, Mark said he has a great sales pitch for prospective basketball players. His back ground in college and the pros is a real plus. He has a great track record in teaching basketball and helping develop players. Last year he took a player, Joseph Uchebo who averaged 1 point a game in the 14-15 season at Pittsburgh and in Charlotte in 15-16, he averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds a game. The campus sells itself with its wonderful buildings and facilities Charlotte is a real plus. His wife sold his son, Hudson, on UNC Charlotte so now Mark is coaching his son. What father of a college aged son gets to see his son every day? What a joy for Mark. In answer to a last question on developing leadership skills, Mark reads leadership books by John Maxwell, John Wooden, Nick Saban and Coach K among others. Like them, Mark is constantly learning. He has never arrived where he needs to be but instead is always making adjustments to improve. He said leadership sets up a culture where students can excel on the court and in the classroom. Last year, the team had its highest composite GPA ever and eight players made the Dean’s list. Speaker Write-Up: Jim Kelley Head Table: Will Barnhardt, Natalie English, Elly Clary, Wil Bosbyshell; Invocation: David Anderson; Visitors & Guests: Stephanie Hinrichs; AV: Jessica Dupree & Steve Eanes; Photos: Bert Voswinkel; Piano: Em Syrewicze CLUB NEWS Prayers and condolences to Diane and Mike Restaino. Diane’s mother, Bette Cole Rega, passed away January 16 and funeral services will be held at 11AM on January 20, 2017. Ken Samuelson has let the club know that his wife, Ruth, is at home under Hospice Care. Prayers for this family are appreciated. As most are aware, club members Bob Culbertson is Ruth’s father and Laura Thomas is Ruth’s sister. Bob and Robert Freeman invite everyone to their annual Super Bowl Sunday, February 5, 2017 at SMS Catering Services. Pre-game at 4PM; game 6:30-10PM. Registration at [email protected] or 704-536-1500. $15 includes BBQ dinner. Congratulations to Jenn Snyder and Quinton Gibson, who were married January 15, 2017. The Association of Fundraising Professionals recognized The Rotary Foundation with an international award. http://www.afpnet.org/About/AwardsDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=41633 100 SERVICE PROJECTS (80 completed; 203 participants; 2347 volunteer hours) The idea behind the commitment to complete 100 service projects is to TOUCH 100 organizations. We are starting to lap ourselves and although we can count the community service hours, we can’t count the organization if we’ve already provided a service for them. Example: Christmas breakfast at Charlotte Rescue Mission, coat collection for Crisis Assistance, bell ringing. Do not read into this that we will not continue supporting these projects. Just that we need to identify new organizations that need something done….manpower, no funding, prefer minimum of 2 Rotarians (can be more) volunteering to make it count. I’m looking forward to your new ideas. NEW PROJECTS in red - 2017 PGA Championship, August 7-13, Quail Hollow Country Club. Volunteers needed to help in their concession areas. Several schedule options range from 6am-1pm, 7am-2pm; 8am-4pm, 9am-4pm, 10am- close, 11am-close. I have additional information if anyone is interested. ONGOING -Allenbrook Elementary School: North Star Reading Partners with a commitment to read to a 3rd grade student one hour a week. Eric Davis: [email protected]. -Platelet Donation: Register at the American Red Cross or Community Blood Center of the Carolinas to donate platelets. 63 donations to date! -American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO): Coach, referee, board member, linesman, snach shack worker, etc. Kathy Riley at [email protected] or Carolyn Carlburg [email protected] UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS (01/20/17 – 01/27/17) 01/20 Wangzhong Lu, Fred Brown 01/24 Benton Bragg, Chase Saunders, Mike Orzech, Dan Rajkowski 01/25 Davan Cloninger 01/27 Fae Shaffer UPCOMING ANNIVERSARIES (01/20/17 – 01/27/17) None for this period MEMBERSHIP 07/01/2016 318 01/17/2017 314 Net Increase: -4 New Members: Resignations: Neil Burkhead, Denise Hallett, Todd Owens, Tony Zeiss, Joan Wright, Pete Marriott APPROVE FOR MEMBERSHIP (comments to Rotary office by 01/24/2017) Chad A. Lloyd M/I Homes (Land Development, Residential) Sponsor: Hank Donaghy Endorsed: Phil Van Hoy and Bryan Adams James P. Guin, III (Tripp) TRIPP Commercial, LLC (Real Estate, Commercial) Sponsor: Wes Jones Endorsed: Daryl Larner and Judy Wishnek Visitors & Guests 18 Club Members 168 Total 186 (62.0%) GUESTS: Marshall Williamson, J. T. Simpson, Jeff Kavzlurich, Alan Wheeling, Todd Porter, Rhonda York, Mike Walker, Mike Wollinger, Victor Chen, Tai Gayoso, Moises Castillo, Lynn Lee, Jennifer Braun, Kasey Lankes, Jane Lockwood, Adam Snell, Gavin Bradshaw UPCOMING PROGRAMS 01/24 – Paul Finebaum, ESPN Radio Host & College Gameday Co-Anchor 01/31 – Rotary International President John Germ (meeting at Goodwill Industries) 02/07 – Meredith Dolhare, Running Works, Inc. (www.runningworks.org) Photos from our luncheons and other events can be found on Flickr Click here charlotterotary.org 704.375.6816 1850 East 3rd Street | Suite 220 | Charlotte, NC 28204 USA Rotary Club of Charlotte .