CINCINNATI — No matter what happens in the playoffs, Oak Hills boys' basketball team’s coach and players have been proud of how they turned around a losing season with a winning streak in February.
“We've on a high,” said Oak Hills senior guard Brycen Kessler. “We keep going after it every day. We just want to be better than we were yesterday.”
“It's always nice to be playing well at the end of the season,” Head Coach Mike Price said.
He should know. Price has coached here for 30 years. His teams have won more than 420 games, and he’s won a total of eight Coach of The Year awards from three organizations.
“I think the greatest thing about him is how much he expects from us,” Kessler said. “Some people may think that's a lot. We practice almost every day. We practice two or three hours a day. We lift, unlike a lot of other teams during the season. And the fact that he expects us so much out of ourselves and...that he, like he believes in us. He believes that we can be great.”
Price said the key to successful coaching is that the work doesn’t end when you leave the gym floor.
“The secret would be having a passion for what you do and trying to work hard and really love the kids, establish relationships with them, and try to help them through not just what they do in basketball, but other areas of life too,” Price said.
As much as he would love his boys to earn another trophy, he’s more concerned with them winning in the game of life.
“He sat down, basically talked to me about all of life and everything, just kind of guiding me on that right path,” Kessler said.
“Whether it be a father, a company owner or a coach, just an employee, it's their lives after they leave Oak Hills," Price said. "And that's what I'm most proud of, because a lot of them have been really, really successful as they've left our program."
His legacy is felt all over Greater Cincinnati. Some of his players have gone on to coach high school teams and even college, like at Thomas More University, an NCAA Division-II school in Northern Kentucky.
“Coach Price is probably, he's had the single most impact of anybody in my life," Head Coach Justin Ray said. "I’m standing on his shoulders being the coach at Thomas More University right now."
He played for Price 20 years ago. They’re still friends, and Price comes to support Ray and his TMU Saints.
“It means a lot to me. He doesn’t have to do that,” Ray said. “He's busy enough. I always turn around and look at him and say, 'what do we got to do?' He’ll give me a little pointer here and there, but he’s as loyal as they come. He’s a great friend. He’s a great mentor.”
Back in 2017, Ray took part in a tribute video for Price, recognized as Father of the Year by the Talbert House in Cincinnati, even though he has no biological children.
“You talk about one of the most selfless human beings, it is always about the other people," Ray said. “...He is a special human being. I don’t know if they make them anymore like him.”
He's inspiring young men through a game he loves.
“It teaches the preparation, the discipline, just being a great teammate every day,” Price said.
His players will tell you, that’s easier to do with a great coach.