January 31, 2013

Mark Price Honored as Part of 2013 ACC Legends Class

Jan. 31, 2013

Full ACC Release | Legends Tickets Link | #ACCTourney Link

Greensboro, N.C. – Georgia Tech All-America point guard Mark Price (Enid, Okla.), who was the focal point of the resurgence of the Bobby Cremins-coached Georgia Tech teams of the mid-1980’s, is among 13 individuals to be honored as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2013 Men’s Basketball Legends Class announced Thursday by ACC Commissioner John Swofford.

A former Commissioner of the ACC and past member of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee, a pair of highly-successful head coaches and one of the only four ACC players who earned first- or second-team All-ACC honors in four consecutive seasons headline the 2013 class. Included in the group are a member of the ACC’s 50th Anniversary basketball team, six All-Americas, three All-ACC selections, six NBA Draft selections, four players who led their teams to five ACC Championships and two former successful coaches, including one who led Maryland to the 2002 National Championship.

Price (1982-86), the point guard leader of Georgia Tech’s basketball resurgence under head coach Bobby Cremins, is one of only four players in ACC history to earn first- or second-team All-ACC honors in each of his four varsity seasons. Price earned 2nd-team All-ACC honors in 1983, leading the conference in scoring as a freshman and earning ACC Rookie of the Year honors. He then was named 1st-team All-ACC in 1984, 1985 and 1986 joining on North Carolina’s Tyler Hansborough, Virginia’s Jeff Lamp and Duke’s Johnny Dawkins as four-year All-ACC honorees.

A three-time All-America, he was a first-team selection in 1985. Price helped Tech post a four-year record of 85-41 for a program which was 14-40 in the two years before he arrived in Atlanta. Price also led the Jackets to earn a bid to the NIT in 1984 and NCAA appearances in 1985 and 1986, as Tech reach the NCAA East Regional finals in 1985 and the Southeast Region semifinals in 1986. Price was named the winner of the Everett Case Award as the Most Outstanding Player in the 1985 ACC Tournament in Atlanta as he led Tech to its first ACC Basketball Championship.

A finalist for the Wooden and Naismith National Player of the Year Awards in 1986, he was the first pick of the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft by Dallas, which promptly traded him to Cleveland. He went on to a 12-year career in the NBA, the first nine with Cleveland. A four-time NBA All-Star and named to the 1993 All-NBA first-team, Price played a total of 722 NBA games, scoring 10,989 points and averaging 15.2 points and 6.7 assists per game. His career free throw percentage of 90.4 is the best in NBA history. He also compiled a field goal percentage of 47.2 percent for his career and 40.2 percent from three-point range.

After retiring from the NBA at the end of the 1998 season, he began an extensive career in coaching, including spending one season as an assistant to Cremins at Georgia Tech. Originally a native of Enid, Okla., he now resides in Orlando, Fla.

Former ACC Commissioner Gene Corrigan (Keswick, Va.), who served on the NCAA’s Men’s Basketball Committee and oversaw the ACC for a 10-year period when the conference captured three NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships and saw 11 teams earn berths to the NCAA’s Final Four. Corrigan is a being honored as an ACC Legend this year as the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament celebrates its 60th anniversary.

Also being honored are former Maryland head coach Gary Williams (Collingswood, N.J.), who led the Terrapins to the 2002 National Championships and to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances in his 22 seasons at College Park; and “Gentleman” Carl Tacy (Huttonsville, W. Va.), who coached Wake Forest to six post-season appearances and 222 victories in his 13 seasons at the helm in Winston-Salem.

Joining them are Boston College’s Gerry Ward (Bronx, N.Y.) who completed his career as the Eagles’ 3rd-leading career scorer while playing for coaches Don Martin and Frank Power; Clemson’s Terrell McIntyre (Raeford, N.C.), a prolific point guard for the Tigers who three times earned All-ACC honors; Duke’s Trajan Langdon (Anchorage, Alaska), one of the key cogs of the Blue Devils 1999 team which advanced to the NCAA national championship game and who was one of the most effective long-range shooters and free throw shooters in league history; Florida State’s Tharon Mayes (New Haven, Conn.), who helped lead Florida State to its first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for then coach Pat Kennedy; and Miami’s Mike Wittman (St. Joseph’s, Michigan), who was a high-scoring forward for the record-setting Miami teams of the mid 1960’s.

Completing this year’s ACC Legends Class are North Carolina’s Mike O’Koren (Jersey City, N.J.), one of the most versatile players in Tar Heel history who helped lead the Dean-Smith coached teams to four NCAA appearances and ACC Championships in 1977 and 1979; NC State’s Dereck Whittenburg (Washington, D.C), the author of the most famous pass/shot in NCAA Tournament history and a key member of the Jim Valvano-coached 1983 National Championship squad; Virginia’s Travis Watson (Brookneal, Va.), a versatile forward who helped lead the Cavaliers to four consecutive post-season tournament appearances; and Virginia Tech’s Ace Custis (Eastville, Va.), a versatile forward who led the Hokies to the Championship of the 1995 NIT and an appearance in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

The Legends will be honored at this year’s ACC’s Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., March 14-17. They will be feted at the annual ACC Legends Brunch, which will be held Saturday, March 16, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Guilford Ballroom of the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel, and, later that day, will be introduced to the Greensboro Coliseum crowd at halftime of the first semifinal game. Ticket information for the ACC Legends Brunch is available on the ACC website at theACC.com.

2013 ACC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT LEGENDS ROSTER
Name / School / Years / Position / Hometown (Current Hometown)

Gene Corrigan / ACC / 1987-97 / Commissioner / Baltimore, Md. (Keswick, Va.)

Gerry Ward / Boston College / 1961-63 / Forward / Bronx, N.Y. (Ridgefield, Conn.)

Terrell McIntyre / Clemson / 1995-99 / Guard / Raeford, N.C. (Charlotte, N.C.)

Trajan Langdon / Duke / 1994-99 / Guard / Anchorage, Alaska (Arlington, Va.)

Tharon Mayes / Florida State / 1993-97 / Guard / New Haven, Conn. (same)

Mark Price / Georgia Tech / 1982-86 / Guard / Enid, Okla. (Orlando, Fla.)

Gary Williams / Maryland / 1964-67 Guard / 1990-2011 Head Coach / Collingswood, N.J. (Bethesda. Md.)

Mike Wittman / Miami / 1964-67 / Forward / (St. Joseph, Mich.)

Mike O’Koren / North Carolina / 1976-80 / Forward / Jersey City, N.J.(Township of Washington, N.J.)

Dereck Whittenburg / NC State / 1979-83 / Guard / Washington, D.C. (New York, N.Y.)

Travis Watson / Virginia / 1999-03 / Forward / Brookneal, Va. (Alexandria, Va.)