Paying the Price: Connecticut's A.J. Price arrived at college with intense hype. After a brain hemorrhage and a misdemeanor, Price returns

By: Josh Friedman

Posted: 2/15/07

When A.J. Price was recruited by Connecticut, the Huskies had just won a national championship and had a roster that would produce five first-round NBA draft picks in the next two years.

It was a perfect opportunity for a freshman to come in and learn the ropes before the team would be his to lead. However, Price never found the chance to learn from those players. Instead, he had to face his own mortality and live with a costly mistake.

For two years, Price was away from the game he loved because of a life-threatening condition and misdemeanor charges. When UConn plays Syracuse on Saturday in the Carrier Dome (3:30 p.m., ABC), Price will be playing the Orange for only the second time.

"I came in when we were on top," Price said. "All the guys that were here are now gone, and I'm with a totally new group, lots of freshmen. It's very different for me and the program. For me, trying to be a leader after being away for a while. It definitely is tough; it makes it much tougher for me."

And Price wasn't just away from UConn basketball. He was away from the sport on all levels.

"My doctor didn't want me to do any strenuous activity, which included basketball," Price said.

Price's roller coaster started on Oct. 5, 2004, when he was rushed to the hospital because he suffered a brain hemorrhage, which was caused by an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), a birth defect in his brain. Price was in critical condition for 10 days.

After two weeks in the hospital, Price was finally released. In interviews after the ordeal, Price said he was "just happy to be alive."

In February 2005, Price underwent radiation treatment and had to give up his freshman season.

What many didn't know is that Price was never going to play the 2005-06 season, either. He was only cleared to play last May.

Price was suspended for the 2005-06 academic year after he and former teammate Marcus Williams tried to sell stolen laptops. When Price was arrested on these charges, two of the laptops were found in his room.

Price was charged with three counts of felony larceny and lying to police, which is a misdemeanor charge.

Because he was not up front with the police, he was suspended for the year, unlike Williams who was only suspended for the semester.

Legally, Price was granted probation in November 2005.

After two years of struggles, Price came back to a team much different than when he first signed on with the Huskies.

A team loaded with future NBA players and upperclassmen is now a team loaded with prospects, all but five of which that play are freshmen. After signing to play on a championship team, he's playing on a team that is unranked.

Still, head coach Jim Calhoun put the onus of leadership on Price's shoulders, because the Huskies had no one else to turn to.

For Price, the experience has helped him mature and become a leader. And his life experiences allow him to reach the young players on a different level.

"Whatever crisis they have I try and be there for them," Price said.

Price tells his teammates to "be humble and be positive. No matter how bad something gets, someone is always going through something worse, so just keep your head up."

While Price has grown into the role of leader, it was not the ideal situation for his return.

Price said it would've been much easier had he gotten to play with the team he signed up with in 2004.

"Those guys were five draft picks that would've made it a lot easier," Price said. "By no means am I upset, but that would've been much easier."

The two incidents allowed Price to look at his life from two very different perspectives.

"It was a tail of a game, of two halves almost," Price said. "I was so happy coming off of the (AVM), then I got in trouble. It really brought me back down to earth."

Price doesn't place blame anyone but himself for what happened with the laptops, but he doesn't try and dwell on it either.

"(The surgery) was something I had no control over, it was something that happened," Price said. "I was doing something I love one day and two weeks later I was in an ICU fighting for my life. That was much more difficult then what happened at school. I could've avoided that situation.

"I was looking for an easy way out, it presented itself and it was a wrong decision on my part. The other thing I had no control over and it nearly took my life. That's much more traumatizing then getting in trouble any day."

Yet, with the support of Calhoun, he knows he has the backing of someone who he believes he can be a leader when called upon.

"He expects greatness from me," Price said. "If coach Calhoun, a Hall of Fame coach expects it from me, it makes me work that much harder to prove him right."