Tic Price was named the head coach of the Lamar University men’s basketball team on March 18, 2014, just 10 days after the 2013-14 season concluded. Prior to that, he served as interim head coach for the team’s final five games. Since being named head coach, Price has systematically transformed the culture of the Cardinals’ basketball program.
An NCAA Division I coach with 38 years’ experience, including three as an assistant at LU, Price became the 11th head coach of a Cardinals’ program that had won only six games in the previous two seasons combined prior to his arrival. Among his 38 seasons, Price has won more than 200 games and helped coach 13 different squads to the NCAA Championships, NIT or CollegeInsider.com tournament as either an assistant or head coach.
Even more impressive than the teams Price has led to the postseason (which includes two LU squads) is the transformation LU has undergone since his hiring. In addition to just six wins in the two seasons prior to his arrival, Price took over a program that was not eligible for the Southland Conference tournament due to APR violations during his first season. Just six years later, the Cardinals have recorded three 19-win seasons, advanced to two CollegeInsider.com Tournaments, produced two all-district selections, three first-team All-Southland Conference selections and entering the year Price has graduated all his of players who have reached senior status. In addition to those numbers, over the previous four seasons the Cardinals have made a name for themselves by recording big wins on the road. During the 2016-17 season, the Cardinals traveled to Corvallis, Ore, and defeated Oregon State. The Cardinals have since added wins over Tulsa, Coastal Carolina, UTEP, Rice and Mount St. Mary’s.
Price’s players have also reaped the benefits of his guidance. Nine players have been named to the All-Southland teams, including three first-team selections. He has also coached one SLC Newcomer of the Year, Tyran de Lattibeaudiere (2015), to go along with the two all-district selections.
Price’s leadership was never more evident than in the 2018-19 season. The Cardinals graduated six seniors from the year before and started the year with eight new players. After a 1-4 start to league play that saw LU at the bottom of the conference standings, the Cardinals rebounded to win nine-straight games – and 11 of 12 – heading into the second round of the Southland Conference tournament. The Cardinals late season charge ended with LU tied for third in the SLC standings – the program’s highest finish since their 2011-12 season.
The Cardinals won nine of their last 10 games to record 20 wins for the first time since 2012. It also marked the first time since the 1982-83 through 1984-85 seasons that LU has won at least 19 games in three-straight years.
The 2019-20 season was an extension of the previous year. Working with just four returning letterwinners, Price led one of the youngest teams in program history to a 17-win campaign, which included a dominate 80-59 victory over McNeese in the opening round of the Southland Championships. Despite their overall youth, the Cardinals advanced to the conference tournament for a fourth consecutive season which marks the program’s longest run of success since the 1996-97 through the 1999-2000 seasons (includes Sun Belt and Southland Conference tournaments).
Price also helped Beaumont native T.J. Atwood bounce back from a season-ending injury midway through the 2018-19 season to produce a career year last season. Atwood produced career numbers ranking fifth in the league in scoring, 11th in rebounds, fourth in field percentage and among the top 20 in blocks and steals. He closed out the year by earning second-team all-conference honors.
Despite having completed just his sixth season, Price is already the fourth all-time winningest coach in program history behind only Jack Martin, Pat Foster and Billy Tubbs. He enters the 2020-21 season just 19 wins shy of tying the legendary Tubbs.
Price was originally hired on an interim basis to get LU through the final five games of the 2013-14 season. His impact on the program was immediate. After just six wins in two years, LU more than doubled its overall and conference win total from the previous two seasons by posting a 15-15 (.500) overall mark and going 9-9 (.500) in SLC play (2014-15). The .500 mark was recognized as the 11th-best single-season turnaround in the country.
Price’s head coaching career began in 1994 at New Orleans and includes stints at Memphis and McNeese. During his time at UNO, the Privateers won 20 games each season, and advanced to the 1996 NCAA Championships and the 1997 NIT.
Price set the Sun Belt Conference career record for winning percentage in conference games, while his teams set new league records for three-pointers in consecutive seasons. UNO’s teams were also known for their strong defense, leading the SBC in field goal percent defense all three seasons.
Following his time in New Orleans, Price was hired as the head coach at Memphis where he spent two seasons. Price posted a 30-27 (.526) record at Memphis, leading the team to the second round of the 1998 NIT.
Price has a full understanding of the Southland, after spending six seasons, including five as head coach, at McNeese. He was named associate head coach prior to the 2000-01 season where he helped the Cowboys produce the nation’s largest turnaround going 22-9 (.710), winning a conference title and advancing to the NIT. The following season, Price was named head coach where he led the Cowboys to a 20-win season, an SLC regular-season title and a berth in the 2002 NCAA Championships. The Cowboys won 74 games during Price’s five seasons in Lake Charles.
During his time as head coach, Price has won 10 different coaching honors including Southland Conference Coach of the Year, Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Louisiana Sports Writers Association Collegiate Coach of the Year and NABC District 8 Coach of the Year. Additionally, he has mentored more than a dozen players who went on to successful professional careers with both the NBA and USA Basketball, including Chauncey Billups, Earl Boykin, Bimbo Coles, Austin Croshere, Andre Miller, Brad Miller, Brevin Knight, Wesley Person and Paul Pierce.
Price’s coaching career began in 1980 as an assistant at Roanoke College. Following his four seasons at Roanoke, Price took an assistant position at Tennessee-Chattanooga before taking a similar position at Virginia Tech. Price has also made coaching stops at Old Dominion and Auburn.
A native of Danville, Va., Price played collegiately at Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia Tech. He received his bachelor’s degree in education from Virginia Tech in 1979. He is married to the former Jamie Lynn Simms, and the couple has two children - son, Ryan, who played for his father at McNeese and daughter, Chanel, and three granddaughters.
