The Once-Promising Swingman From Carson Is on the Bench as Duke’s 10th Man

The remarkable depth of the Duke Blue Devils includes one player nobody would have figured would be near the end of the bench.

Ricky Price, 10th man.

Once, Price was considered perhaps the best of the 1994 crop of Southern California players that included UCLA’s Toby Bailey, Arizona’s Miles Simon and Jelani Gardner, now at Pepperdine.

Price picked Duke, and started 14 games his freshman season, and 29 of 31 as a sophomore. Last season, he started 11 despite injury trouble, and scored 17 points against UCLA in the Bruins’ upset of the Blue Devils at Pauley Pavilion.

And when the 12th-ranked Bruins play the No. 2 Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium today?

Maybe Price will play seven or eight minutes, unless it’s a runaway. He hasn’t played more than 19 minutes in a game all season after rejoining the team in December following an academic suspension.

In the No. 1 vs. No. 2 game against North Carolina, he played only three.

“It’s been hard. I think ‘hard’ could even be an understatement,” said Price, who couldn’t practice with the team during the fall semester because he was suspended from the university, making his season debut Dec. 21 against Mercer.

By the time Price returned, the team had moved on without him, and he has not recovered, averaging eight minutes and about three points a game while subbing in at forward and guard, and shooting only 38% from the field with one three-point basket all season.

“I’m trying to find my niche. Trying to find my place on this team,” said Price, who is from Carson and played at Gardena Serra and Long Beach St. Anthony.

Price made a name for himself at Duke, and the day he returned to the court, a fan held a sign up in the stands, “Welcome back, Ricky.”

Price scored 10 points in that game, a runaway against Mercer, and had a spectacular dunk. It turned out to be his best game of the season.

“Sometimes I only feel like a member of the team, not an integral part, and I’ve been an integral part for so long,” he said. “I’m continuing to try.”

Price was able to work out with teammates until practice officially started Oct. 15. Then he was alone, volunteering at local high schools as a tutor and mentor in a leadership program, and working out by himself.

“It was unbelievably hard,” he said. “I thought I did a great job trying to keep in shape. I worked out every day. I ran, did the Stairmaster and the treadmill, did sit-ups. What I didn’t understand was that nothing simulates game shape.

“When I finally came back, I wanted to compete to start for our team, but it took me four or five weeks to catch up. We were winning at the time, and it’s the old saying, if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I tried to muscle my way in or ease my way in, but I was the 10th man, and I stayed the 10th man.”

The only good thing is that at least Duke goes 10 deep, and Price has gotten into every game.

But Duke has so many good players, you might as well call the team Deep Blue. And competition for playing time is going to get that much tougher with freshman center Elton Brand, the team’s best player, scheduled to be in uniform today as he makes an unanticipated return from what was supposed to be season-ending foot surgery.

The constants in Duke’s lineup all season have been Steve Wojciechowski, the feisty senior point guard, and Trajan Langdon, the junior shooting guard from Alaska.

After that, Coach Mike Krzyzewski has plenty of choices. Pick a few more starters, and use five more players off the bench.

“The bench has done an amazing job,” Krzyzewski said.

Together, the reserves have averaged 34 points and 16 rebounds a game.

Here’s a look at the keys to Duke’s depth:

Roshown McLeod--A starter now, McLeod was a reserve for nine games earlier in the season. But when Brand went down, the 6-foot-8 senior who started his career at St. John’s developed a deadly inside-outside game that includes a three-point shot.

Shane Battier--His scoring won’t grab much attention, but the freshman forward’s defense and rebounding will. He has returned to the starting lineup and will probably guard J.R. Henderson some. “He’s an amazing defender,” Krzyzewski said.

Chris Carrawell--A sophomore forward, his defense and versatility--he also can hit the three-point shot--have made him a starter in recent games.

Mike Chappell--Another sophomore forward with three-point range, he has started 21 games but is coming off the bench now.

William Avery--The freshman guard averages 19 minutes and injects quickness and scoring ability when he replaces Wojciechowski, and can play the wing too.

Chris Burgess--The last of the four freshmen, the 6-10 center from Irvine Woodbridge High started three games after Brand’s injury and now averages five points and four rebounds off the bench.

Taymon Domzalski--Another 6-10 center, he started eight games in a stretch after Brand’s injury and is now a reserve.

Which brings us to Price, who waits for minutes on the wing behind Langdon, Carrawell, Chappell, Avery and even Battier.

“I wanted to be a special part of the team, and a leader,” Price said. “I wanted to be someone to look to at crunch time, one of the players who could help us win.

“It’s been very difficult, and yet we’re winning. That’s the greatest consolation. In high school, I didn’t do much winning. That’s one reason I came to Duke. But we went 13-18, 18-13, 24-9, and now we’re 24-2. Winning is the most important thing.”

His academic suspension derailed his senior season, but Price takes responsibility for it.

“Basically, my sophomore and junior years were academically terrible,” he said. “It caught up to me and I was suspended. There were certain standards Duke has that I didn’t keep.”

Price faced a decision when his academic suspension was over.

“One thing I had to weigh was whether to redshirt and come back next year, transfer, or come back this season,” he said.

“I wanted to finish my career. I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to graduate, and try my skills at the next level.

“I thought about redshirting and coming back. But I just made my decision. I’ve been here three years. And to transfer, I would have been shooting myself in the foot not to graduate. To leave without a Duke degree after three years, I didn’t want to do that.”

Krzyzewski took notice.

“I’m proud of him,” Krzyzewski told the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun when Price came back. “I didn’t think he’d handle it as well. I thought he’d go home and maybe transfer.”

Price stayed put.

Even with the disappointments of his senior season, Price has left his mark at Duke. On Jan. 24 against Virginia, in the 100th game of his career, Price scored his 1,000th point.

Only 44 Duke players have reached that mark.

And as long as there is a season, there is hope.

Price, who chose Duke just as the Blue Devils reached the Final Four for the seventh time in nine years, still has a chance to reach his first.

That’s another thing that brought him back.

“I thought the team was going to be great, and we could win,” he said. “I wanted to be part of it.”

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UCLA at DUKE

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* RECORDS--No. 12 Bruins 20-5, No. 2 Blue Devils 24-2