Pride’s Recruitment is Starting to Heat Up
Ron Bailey, Publisher
Potomac High School's Rick Pride, shown here before that school's Maryland Class 2A Final Four contest with Randalstown
May 16, 2006 – Sometimes talented players, for various reasons don’t get the college looks they deserve. It could be the kid played with very talented players, and more or less was overshadowed. There are instances where a young person’s game is not properly valued because of the opposite – he/she didn’t play on a great team. And sometimes the truism that scouting on any level is an inexact science holds true.
In Rick Pride’s case, it’s probably a case of being on very talented teams, and his skills not being sufficiently embraced by recruiters. It seems that this is changing.
Over the course of the last two seasons, Pride had been a central part of a very successful Potomac High School (Oxon Hill, MD) program. In 2004-2005 as a junior, the squad went 27-0 and earned a Maryland State title, while last year he and his mates had a 17-8 record while advancing to the state semifinals. On both teams, Rick played a crucial role, but due to his unselfish playing style, didn’t demand the spotlight.
Despite averaging 20.3 points, 5 rebounds,2.5 steals and 4.5 assists a game as a point guard last season, while sinking 53 three pointers and sinking 79% of his foul shots and being named First team All Prince George’s County and Honorable Mention All-Met, Pride’s recruitment didn’t really heat up during the school year. What makes this more baffling are his academic credentials, which he stated as a “3.2 GPA during the third quarter" with a schedule including advanced placement classes of “AP Literature, AP US History, AP Biology, and AP Calculus”. Pride also shared a total SAT score of 1350, which along with his GPA ensures NCAA freshman qualification next year.
According to his coach at Potomac, Dwayne Shell, Rick’s leadership skills were invaluable to the program. “He was my head” on the floor, said Shell of his team captain and Coach’s Award winner. “He leads by example. The kids look up to him on and off the court”.
With the opening of AAU season, it would seem that college coaches are finally considering Pride in mass, as he indicated during the reccent Charlie Weber Spring Fling, “Old Dominion, East Carolina, and Xavier” had all shown interest. That list has grown since then, with Stanford, Johnson C. Smith, and College of Charleston all inquiring about him.
Of these schools, Rick indicated he has no favorite, and is considering both Division I and II colleges, since “It’s not where you are, it’s how you play”. Though he is open to all schools, a visit to Eastern Carolina has been planned for May 26th: That university does have a plus in its favor in Pride’s friend and fellow Prince George’s County resident – Hillary “Pops” Hailey.
According to Pride he is even willing to “consider a prep school because I’ve known over the years a couple of my friends and family have gone to prep school and done their thing”. This includes Florida State’s Isaiah Swann, who he labeled is “like a cousin to me”. As such, the two compare notes on each other’s development.
Standing 5”10” and weighing 180lbs, Pride embraces playing the lead guard in college, and is working to improve himself for that role. “I’ve been working out three times a week” he said, “hitting the weight room two times a week – one day legs and one day upper body”.
Playing with DC Assault - his present AAU home - also has provided benefits, since additional exposure has been garnered and “We’ve had hard practices and they are looking for me to do my thing", according to Pride. During those sessions, which include drills and scrimmages, the “shooting drills and defensive drills” are his favorite.
That latter is a desired point of interest for Pride, who can already shoot out to around 25 feet, handle the ball well, drive to the cup, and find the open man. After saying “I need to work on my foot speed” he revealed “I used to get lazy on defense sometimes, and that’s not good, it makes me look bad”. Increasing his foot speed through sliding and quickness drills is part of his immediate development plan. Shell indicated that his past point guard works on his game constantly going “into the gym, without prodding”.
He also does not feel Rick’s attitude is in need of any adjustment, saying “Rick Pride was a blessing to my coaching career”. It’s becoming clear that a college coach may end up saying something similar in four years as well. All he has to do is make Pride an offer. The senior is waiting.
