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Show /port/ AIO MONDAY-FEBRUARY 13 •2006 Ronnie Price playing at home FromB-Ball A12 highest level when Price was still dazzling crowds at the McKay Center. Price realized his dream of Thomas continued, "Now to playing professional basketball see it, it's like reality hit." after signing a guaranteed two"It was just fun," continued year deal with Sacramento as an UV point guard Sylvester Alun-drafted free agent after playlison. "I was kinda star struck ing three years for UVSC. As to see a UVSC player in the a senior in Orem, Price scored NBA." over 24 points a game and ended up as college basketball's 3rd The team was only repayleading scorer. And his strong ing the favor, as just the night play in the Las Vegas summer before. Price was courtside to league, where he averaged 7.3 watch his old team beat the points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 University of Missouri- Kansas assists a game, was enough to City to earn their sixth straight convince the King's front office Whitney Woodward/NctxNews win. to add him to their roster. "It was amazing," said Price who was struck with all kinds Price said, "I just knew if I this league." Current UVSC basketball of fond memories. "1 wanted had a chance, I had to make the most of it. That summer league players, and former buddies of to take off my jeans and put on Price were all at the Delta Cen- some shorts and just start playwas my chance." Despite playing in only 18 of ter to witness for themselves ing. Those guys played hard." Despite what he and many Sacramento's 47 games thus far their former teammate playing other rookies are forced to enthis season, head coach Rick on such a big stage. Adelman had only good things "It was exciting, just to see dure in the highly competitive to say about his un-drafted that one of us finally did it. world of the NBA, Price is posrookie. It was always a dream," ex- itive about his future and knows "He's been a terrific kid.* He claimed current Wolverine se- he will play eventually. "I'll just continue to play hasn't had the opportunity to nior Pierre Thomas. play, but we're very high on Thomas talked often with his hard and my time will come," him. We think he's going to former roommate a year ago he said. "I'm just being patient. have a chance to be a player in about possibly playing at the And when it is my time, I'll go out there and make the best of it." Though his minutes have been limited. Price has had opportunities to show what he can do. During a nationally televised game against Dallas back in December, Price took advantage of some injuries to Sacramento's regulars to score 11 points against the Mavericks. He even helped spark a am that put the Kings on top in the fourth quarter, though Dirk Nowitzki and company did eventually win that game. Ronnie Price is just the second Wolverine, along with Travis Hansen to play at the highest level, and the first to go right after wearing green and gold. The former #24 will be back at the Delta Center again when the Kings visit the Jazz on March 25th. "He's the type of kid who everyday comes in and works," continued Adelman. "He never eives in and has a ^reat attitude." It was that same attitude and work ethic that made him a legend at UVSC. Wolverine wrestling splits with Dakotas Morgan Vance Sports Editor UVSC picked up it's fourth straight dual win against South Dakota State, though three days later, a comeback effort against North Dakota State wasn't enough. Against SDS, 184-pound senior Ivan Bigney sealed the win for the Wolverines inside the Activities Center. With UV leading 21-16, Bigney recorded a huge 14-0 major decision over the Jackrabbit's Levi Krehmeyer in the final match. "Ivan has come up huge for us these last few matches," said UV head coach Cody Sanderson. "We got to the point where the match was still on the line, and he goes out there and dominates and puts it away." Against NDS, UVSC erased a huge 16-3 deficit by winning four straight matches to tie it at 16. The drama was tense leading into the final stage as 149-pound Justin Rawle was set to battle the Bison's Gabe Mooney. Mooney took an early 4-1 lead in the final match before Rawle scored on an escape early in the third period to cut the lead to 42. Rawle nearly tied it in on a takedown with :25 seconds remaining, but Mooney survived, leading NDS to the 19-16 win and their sixth straight victory overall. "Our guys worked hard," said Sanderson. "Justin put himself in a position to win, he just didn't quite finish it off in the end." In the early dual with South Dakota State, the Jackrabbit's struck first after Cody Nehl defeated the Wolverine's Jaime Thornblad by fall. However, heavyweight Dallin Norton got Utah Valley going with a decision over Jason Stripling and the Wolverines never looked back, winning five out of the next eight and never relinquishing their lead. The story with North Dakota State was almost the exact opposite as UVSC got on the board first after Tanner Cowan defeated Andrew Quittschreiber by decision. NDS quickly answered by taking the next four before UV's comeback fell just short. With the home split, UVSC is now 6-9 on the season. Will ever play? From RANT-Al 2 round pick, Boozer earned every penny on his way to respectability and stardom. And though it's impossible to say whether the injured Alaskan native and former Duke alum will ever eventually earn his keep in Utah, it's no doubt frustrating to watch the Jazz continue to roll around in mediocrity while their most prized investment does little but sit nicely dressed behind the team's bench. The signing spectacle that brought him here in the first place brought more than unwanted attention, and don't ever expect folks in Cleveland to get over it. He had something special on the horizon with the Cavaliers joining a guy named James, but obviously saw an opportunity with Utah. Who knows if money was the only thing on his mind when he made the change, but I'm assuming the history and track record of Jerry Sloan also weighed in on his decision. But now, the Jazz are paying the price, reeling from Boozer's prolonged absence. Every couple weeks, Boozer gets sent an extremely large paycheck through the mail, but that's just the way the NBA works: moneys happens to be guaranteed. And like it or not, that's not likely to change. The misfortune started with a foot injury, and later turned to a series of hamstring problems beginning in training camp. Boozer was supposed to make his return a month ago on January 10th, but again, the hamstring tightened up during a workout. Injuries happen, sometimes serious and re-occurring ones that are long to recover from; but Jazz fans aren't used to watching their stars take time off. Karl Malone and John Stockton were the exact opposite of injury prone. They just didn't get hurt, and when they did, they played anyway. I don't think anyone ever expected Boozer to miss only a handful of games in 18 seasons, but I don't know if they're able to put up with the guy being absent over a year without even touching the floor either. It's no secret what Boozer gives you. For a guy whose nearly averaged a double-double through his first three years in the league, 68 million over six years might not even be enough to satisfy his worth. On the other hand, it eventually has to be backed up somewhat. Now that Boozer's ready to make yet another attempt, time will tell. Hopefully fluke trumps fragile when describing all his recent misfortune. And when he does come back, he'll be given a short grace period to work himself back into million-dollar form. But after that, he has some serious business to take care of; like for starters, getting Utah into the playoffs. Inbound Calls , Onlyl COME MAKE SOME NEW FRIENDS AT TELEPERFORMANCE. Teteperforrnance is currently looking for 96 Inbound Customer Care Representatives to join our team at our new location in Utah Valley. We have a variety of set schedules and we'll never send you home due to lack of work. Our Customer Care Representatives answer incoming calls. Yes, that's right, customers will call you. 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