A few minutes before the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team took the court against visiting Charlotte on Sunday afternoon, first-year Mocs coach Lamont Paris looked toward the visitors’ bench and spied the third-year coach of the 49ers: Mark Price.
Around the Scenic City, Price is probably best remembered for his high-scoring days at Georgia Tech, where he, long, tall John Salley, Bruce Dalrymple, Duane Ferrell and the gang made the Yellow Jackets the No. 1 team in Sports Illustrated’s 1985-86 preseason rankings.
That was also shortly before they suffered an early loss to Michigan on their way to a game at the Roundhouse against UTC. But Paris wasn’t around for any of that. He grew up in Ohio, where he followed Price while the Tech product was tossing in 3-pointers for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I was always a Lakers fan, number one,” Paris noted a few minutes after the Mocs had topped Price’s 49ers 64-50 to improve to 5-5 this season. “But the Cavs were my second team. And I was a huge fan of Mark Price. So, yes, when I saw him before the game, there was a little nostalgia there.”
Price admitted it was a little nostalgic for him, too.