Welcome to A10 Talk’s Top 25 Player Countdown. Each day, we publish a new article counting down the 25 best players in the Atlantic 10 this past season. Today, we continue our countdown with #17 Jordan Price
Most collegiate basketball players aren’t able to make a significant impact on their program in 4 years. La Salle’s Jordan Price did just that in only 3. Transferring from Auburn after his freshman season, Jordan Price has been one of the most utilized players in the Atlantic 10. Seriously, this guy played more than 95% of available minutes his junior season. La Salle Basketball was pretty much the Jordan Price show for his first two seasons with the Explorers. This past season was different, as the senior had transfer reinforcements to help pick up the workload. Though Price’s numbers weren’t quite as staggering this season as they were the previous two years, his footprint can’t be measured. Price helped turn this La Salle team around, and though an 8th place finish in the Atlantic 10 isn’t something to go berserk over, the Explorers will certainly take the improvement.
Best Performances:
Jordan Price really caught fire towards the end of December and the beginning of January. Subsequently, La Salle got off to a 5-1 start in conference play. The senior had 26 point performances against Lehigh and Mercer. In the triple overtime win over the Bears, Price also pulled down 9 boards and dished out 6 assists.
La Salle’s 5 game winning streak at the start of conference play was largely due to Price’s initiative. 23 and 29 point performances against George Washington and Davidson helped the Explorers out a lot. At that point, this team looked poised to make a run at the top 4. As La Salle began to lose its mojo, so did Price. The senior would only score more than 20 points 4 more times after La Salle’s 5-1 start. Unfortunately for the Explorers, they were only able to win one of those games. Price had 20 points in the Explorers’ final game against Davidson.
Key Stats:
While a lot of Jordan Price’s numbers went down from last season, there are some important things to point out. Scoring 3.9 fewer points per game his senior year was due to the additions of B.J. Johnson and Pookie Powell. Not having to carry the team’s entire load actually helped Price immensely. Not only was he able to take better shots, but he drastically improved his field goal shooting. His 52.5% effective field goal percentage in A-10 play was an enormous step up from last season’s mark of just 44.5%. In addition, his 2 point field goal percentage jumped from 41.8% last season to 52.8% his senior season.
Jordan Price committed 2.4 turnovers per game which was an improvement from 3.3 turnovers two seasons ago. While scoring, passing, and rebounding margins went down, La Salle’s Jordan Price improved his efficiency and became a better all-around player. Not being worked like a dog helped him take and make better shots.
Team Effort:
Jordan Price led a team effort to a new and improved La Salle team. Quite frankly, this team showed a lot of promise at the beginning of the season before kind of falling off the radar. The senior led the way for the Explorers throughout his tenure, and they’re really going to miss him next year. B.J. Johnson (given that he returns) and Pookie Powell should be the ones to take over this team next year. Price took somewhat of a step back this season and allowed other guys to flourish as well. As a team, this La Salle program has been growing and getting better, and Dr. John Giannini hopes to continue that success, even without Price in the equation.
Previously: #18 Otis Livingston II
Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and check out our forum for more A-10 content.
