UTC's Greg Pryor plays in the game against VMI Wedneday, January 25, 2017 in UTC's McKenzie Arena.Pryor's accomplishments
123 career starts (most in UTC history) 1,193 points (eighth all-time) 337 assists (sixth) 168 steals (third) 2016 SoCon Tournament MVP 2014-15 All-SoCon third team
Greg Pryor's basketball career at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga easily could be summed up in a three-day stretch in Asheville, N.C., last March.
The 6-foot-2 point guard played through hip and ankle injuries in being voted most outstanding player in the Southern Conference tournament. It wasn't an award on stats - it was based on consistency, heart and effort.
But he has plenty of stats.
The player with more starts than anybody in UTC history (123 according to the school's website) soon will leave as one of the most productive players in school history, ranking in the top 10 in scoring, assists and steals in the Mocs' Division I history.
And for four seasons, that's defined him: playing through whatever and embracing the results, even if it's not easy.
"That was the most pain I've been in as far as any injury I've had playing basketball," Pryor said this week about the ordeal in last year's tournament. "It was the most I've experienced because every night it got worse from the day it happened until the NCAA tournament."
When asked if he ever considered staying down one of the numerous times he hit the floor, it was an emphatic "No."
"My mentality is never that I'm not going to get up," he said. "I always get up before I think about the pain; that's what makes it easier on me. Whenever I'm hurting or injured, I never think about the pain. I always think about what's in front of me at the time."
That sort of mentality could be tied to his upbringing. Pryor grew up in the Westwood district of Memphis, and while he was the only child of Yvonne and Greg Pryor, he was far from an only child.
"I lived in the house my dad grew up in," he said. "Most of my family grew up in the house, so it was me, my aunt, my cousins, my uncle, my granddad and my dad - all of us lived in a three-bedroom house.
"Growing up in that area was rough, but everybody in the neighborhood knew each other and everybody knew I liked to play basketball, so they always knew where I would be at, at the park on top of the hill playing basketball."
It wasn't just basketball he was playing, though. He admitted he "always wanted to play pro baseball." He didn't give up the game until midway through his senior year, once he realized his best opportunities would be in basketball.
He had a problem, though. After Ridgeway High School's season was cut short by the use of an ineligible player, the team both Pryor and UTC teammate Johnathan Burroughs-Cook said was the "best in the state that year," Pryor didn't have an opportunity to play in front of college coaches in the state tournament. He had decided to attend Southwest Illinois Community College in Belleville, Ill., when then-new UTC head coach Will Wade got in touch with Pryor's then-coach at the junior college, in need of a point guard.
Pryor made the visit to UTC and, impressed by the surroundings of the campus, chose to sign in late May.
The 2013-14 season was a rough one for Pryor, as he attempted to make the transition to a true lead point guard, after sharing duties with Burroughs-Cook and other guards at Ridgeway.
He shot only 32 percent from the floor and 18 percent from 3-point range as the Mocs went 18-15 his first season, but the guy others describe as the "hardest-working player" they know improved as a sophomore to the point where he was named third-team All-SoCon.
Last season was a ride, as the Mocs earned the SoCon championship and finished with a 29-6 record. Pryor almost didn't stay along for said ride, considering a transfer after Wade left for Virginia Commonwealth and was replaced by Matt McCall.
"That was the first time I'd experienced something like that, a coach getting a new job," Pryor said. "After talking to people I felt like it was best to just stay, wait it out, see what my teammates would do and just go off what they do because of the brotherhood and the bond that we had.
"Once they said Coach McCall was going to be the guy, we figured it out and decided to buy into what he brings."
McCall this week called Pryor a "warrior" and a "winner."
"He's put his heart and soul into this program for four years," McCall said. "He's the same guy every day. He never gets too high or too low; he's the same guy. He's put a tremendous amount of effort into his craft, always puts winning first, and that's what you want in your point guard.
"He will go down as one of the best in this school to run the point - just a guy that puts time and emphasis into his craft."
Pryor, who missed the Samford game Wednesday after suffering a concussion in practice and will be questionable for Saturday's home finale, hasn't let the finality of his McKenzie Arena career hit him yet. He graduates in May with a degree in integrated studies, and he said that after the season his focus is going to be solely on finishing.
A playing career after college is not very high on his priority list - "I'm not planning my life around basketball," he said - but he doesn't want this season to end any time soon, either.
The Mocs are 51-7 at home during Pryor's career, and he hopes to be a part of fighting for win No. 52 Saturday against Mercer. He will do everything in his power to get back on the court.
"I feel like it's going to be weird just knowing that I'll never play in front of the home crowd again," he said. "I'll never feel the rush of walking on the home floor, getting ready to go to war with my teammates in front of the city and the fans, but I feel like it's just another chapter in life. It's part of growing up."
He takes pride in his consistency. The games he's started signify a level of dedication and skill to doing things the right way and doing them at a high level. It also shows that he can be counted on in key moments, like the two tiebreaking free throws he made as a junior with five seconds remaining to defeat Dayton on the road last season.
He's done that for four years, which will help define the legacy he's created.
"I just want to be remembered as a hard-working, caring individual that did everything he could to represent Chattanooga the right way - not just for the name on the back of the jersey, but for the city, the school and everybody that's come through this program," he said. "I just want people to know that I've done everything I can and worked my hardest to get this program to where it is, and to keep this program going up, not down."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.