Cutting a corner
Price’s first year was the 1994-95 season when Krzyzewski only coached 12 games before leaving the team for back surgery and to recover from exhaustion. Price averaged 8.1 points. The next season, he averaged 14.2 points and made the All-ACC team. He briefly thought about turning pro.
But he returned to school and broke his little finger before his junior season. He had tendonitis in his right knee. His scoring dipped to 9.4 points. And at the tail end of his junior year, during Duke’s NCAA tournament run in March 1997, he made a decision that still haunts him.
Instead of writing a paper that was due for a dance class, Price turned in one that his girlfriend had used for the same class a year earlier.
He was caught and was placed on academic probation. He had to sit out the first semester of his senior season, missing several games in what he felt was a final NBA audition.