NBA great Mark Price to lead men’s basketball

Mark Price, an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets, was introduced as the Charlotte 49ers head men’s basketball coach Thursday.

“I’m extremely excited about joining the Charlotte 49ers as the new basketball coach,” Price said. “I’m excited to get to know the current players as we move forward and start a new era. I’m looking forward to putting a team on the court that plays an exciting brand of basketball that our students and fans will enjoy watching.”

Price has spent seven years coaching in the NBA. For the last two years, he has been an assistant coach on the Charlotte Hornets staff under head coach Steve Clifford. As a collegiate player at Georgia Tech, he helped the Yellow Jackets move from last place to ACC champions. As a player with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he helped the team to seven playoff bids over his final eight years. As a coach in the NBA, he has helped four of his last six teams reach the NBA playoffs.

Prior to going into coaching, Price enjoyed a stellar 12-year NBA career. He finished his career as one of the greatest shooters in NBA history; he ranks second on the NBA’s all-time career free-throw percentage list (.904) and 29th in three-point field goal percentage (.402). He is also the NBA’s all-time leader in playoff free-throw percentage (.944). Price led the NBA in free throw percentage three times during his career and he ranked in the league’s top 10 four other times.

View more images from the press conference, and read the Charlotte 49ers press release.