Analysis And Commentary: Jay Price--The Unsung Hero Of Illini Basketball Recruiting 

November 11, 2009

11:30 A.M. CST

As the Fall signing period for college basketball recruits begins today, there is no question that fans of the University Of Illinois have a lot to be thankful for.  After all, three top in-state prospects from the class of 2010 will be signing letters of intent to play for the Illini.  They include the state's #1 prospect in 6'7 forward Jereme Richmond from Waukegan High School in Waukegan, IL; 6'10 center Meyers Leonard from Robinson High School in Robinson, IL and 6'4 shooting guard Crandall Head from Rich South High School in Richton Park, IL.  It is a recruiting class that surely ranks among the top ten classes in the country and has already been regarded as such by most national recruiting analysts.

With this being the case, Illini fans as well as plenty of other media outlets have been quick to praise the work of both head coach Bruce Weber and assistant coach Jerrance Howard and rightfully so.  After all, Weber has been the one to close the deal on all of these recruits, while Howard is a tireless worker who arrived on the scene and provided a huge energy boost to the Illini's recruiting efforts at a time when things looked bleak.  However, the person who may deserve as much credit as anybody for the recent recruiting fortunes at Illinois is assistant coach Jay Price.  In this story we focus on Price and why he has been (and continues to be) such a valuable recruiting asset.

In many ways, we believe that Price's work gets taken for granted.  Perhaps it is because he is perceived by some as not having the outgoing, flamboyant type of personality that Howard possesses.  We would argue that those who look at Price in that manner do not really know him and do not fully understand his method of operation.

Whereas Howard will shake hands with everybody in the gym and goes out of his way to make his recruiting presence felt, Price is more laid back and prefers to operate behind the scenes.  His style is a bit different than other recruiters, but he has proven that it works, and the results can certainly be seen when looking at the Illini's 2009 and 2010 recruiting classes.

Price was the lead recruiter for three members of the 2009 Illini recruiting class--Brandon Paul, Joseph Bertrand and Tyler Griffey and in 2010 spearheaded the effort to land Meyers Leonard.  Above everything else, Price has done an outstanding job of identifying unknown talent.  When Price first got word of Paul, the 6'3 guard had not yet burst onto the scene nationally.  However, Price stuck to Paul like glue at the NIKE Main Event in Las Vegas during the July evaluation period prior to Paul's junior year at Warren Township High School, where Paul turned in an outstanding performance.  Three months later, Paul committed to the Illini.  Price also caught on to Leonard long before he had become a household name and let him know throughout the recruiting process that he was a top priority for their 2010 class.  Once again, the result speaks for itself, as Leonard committed to Illinois during the 2008 July evaluation period.

In addition, Price is also highly organized and has strong administrative skills.  This is something that recruits and their parents immediately pick up on and is a huge positive especially with respect to getting the ball rolling early on in the process.  While these are the things that will get overlooked on the surface by most others, we guarantee that coach Weber would be the first to let everyone know that Price's efforts in these areas have proven to be invaluable.

As it turns out, other recruiting analysts and media outlets are now just beginning to give Price the credit that has been lacking for so long.  Nevertheless, in our minds it has still not been enough.  The highest praise that has come Price's way recently is others saying that he has proven himself to be worthy of a D1 head coaching opportunity somewhere down the road.  While it is certainly not our intention to steer Price away from the University of Illinois, all we will say is that we whole-heartedly agree with that assessment.  Therefore, with the Fall signing period now in full swing, we believe that Jay Price is the first name that the Illini Nation should be thinking of as their school gets set to sign a banner 2010 recruiting class. 

Continue to check in with Illinois Prep Bulls-eye for all of the latest as it pertains to recruiting and high school basketball in Illinois.