SoCalHoops High School News

High School Team Preview:
Frederick C. Price High School--(Nov. 23, 2000)

The Price Knights are this year's defending State Champions in Division V, which is pretty impressive for a school which had only 70 students enrolled, and considering that about half the school made up the cheerleading squad.   Price HS is a school that many high school basketball fans in SoCal know by reputation only;  many have never seen the team play, and even fewer outside the Central Los Angeles area are familiar with the school itself. Most know it, if at all, because of it's distinctive domed church, referred to as the "Faith Dome."    Formally part of the Crenshaw Christian Center the school sits on the 34 acres which was the former urban campus of Pepperdine University (which officially relocated in 1972 to its present Malibu Campus) in Los Angeles located on Vermont Avenue near Manchester.  

The school is a part of the Crenshaw Christian Center,   which was founded by Dr. Frederick K.C. Price (he can be seen weekly on local television).  The school describes itself as "a Bible based Christian school, founded on high academic and spiritual standards."  The school formally opened in 1986, and in September 1993, was dedicated in memory of the firstborn son of Drs. Fred and Betty Price. There is a lower school for grades K-5, a middle school for grades 6-8, and a high school, which last year had a total of 70 students, down 4 from the prior year.   Until last year the team played most of it's games in the old Pepperdine Gymnasium,   a classic, cozy quonset-hut type building, entirely made of wood, including the box-type bleachers, and it was featured in quite a few movies and TV shows  We haven't been over to the school in two years, but last year they started construction of a new multi-million dollar athletic center, and it has, we understand, a brand new state-of-the-art basketball court and gym complex. 

The team loses most of it's experienced players from the last few years, although a few veterans return and the Knights also picked up several key transfers.  Gone are Andre Jones (6'-4" F), Michael Daniel (6'-6" F), Aaron Allen (6'-0" G), Jason Walker (6'-0" G) and Othell Johnson (6'-5" PF/C), and Mychal Lynch (6'-1" G)--yes, that's the coach's son, and Mychal (the player) is now on the team at San Francisco State, and while used to being on a winning team, Mychal's SFSU squad recently found out how it feels to have the shoe on the other foot, as Stanford wiped the floor with SF State last week 101-49.

Coach Lynch gave us his assessment of how he thinks this year's team will fare:  "I believe by January we will have an outstanding team. This year's schedule has us playing teams such as Verbum Dei, Serra, Ontario, Pacific High of San Bernadino, and participating in the Mission Prep Tournament as well as the Venice High Tournament," coach Lynch said. "This should push us to where we want to be come mid- January. We are not concerned about going 33-1 like last year; we just want to play hard and consistently improve heading into the play-offs."

Coach Lynch will also have some experienced help this year from Randolph Simpson, who coached just up the road at Manual Arts High School from 1988 until last season, and he helped lead the Toilers to the City Championship in 1998-99. Simpson is now the Vice Principal of the high school at Price, as well as the Athletic Coordinator, and this should certainly help take some of the pressure off of coach Lynch and his staff, as well as enchance the already growing reputation of the school in the community.

The team this season will be led by a talented group of returning seniors, and we would expect three of the five seniors on the team to definitely lead the way, with Jermaine Jamison, Chris Alexander and Andrew Howard being the ones to really keep an eye on.  Jamison was last year's Division V-A CIF Co-Player of the Year, and Chris recently signed with Cal State Fullerton (although the school has not yet officially released a statement on the signing, both Coach Lynch and Alexander have confirmed that Chris signed the NLI during the early fall signing period.).  Many also think that Andrew Howard will be one of the top players in the division this year and the reality is that every player on this very athletic and talented team has a chance to become a standout at one time or another during the season. They will play, as noted above, a tough non-league schedule, one of the toughest of any of the Divisoin V schools we know of, and while we would not expect them to face much real competition within their league (which will account for only 8 of their "regulation" 20-game CIF limit--and that 20-game "limit" itself is sort of a fiction in and of itself, since teams get to play 3-for-1 in tournament play, and playoff games are not included in the total, which of course is why a team like Price had a record of 33-1 last season), they will see some of the top ranked teams both in the region and some national level teams as well at events like the Mission Prep Tournament.

How good will this team be, and can they repeat as Section and State Champions?  Who knows, and certainly only time will tell, but Coach Lynch had some definite views and observations on each of the players.  The quotes below are from him, and  and we've also added a few of our own observations (the stuff outside the quotes)

Seniors:

Chris Alexander: "Chris is a three year starter for us and vastly improved his game. Chris has always been an outstanding talent but the improvement has come in basketball IQ, he now understands the game so much better. Chris can shoot, handle the ball rebound and defend. He is the complete package and there is no doubt that with last year's players off to college he will step forward and have superb year."  We got a chance to see Chris recently at the Double Pump Fall Premier Tournament (see Andrew Howard below), and Chris has definitely been hitting the weights, and he's added a lot of strength and muscle to his already impressive vertical leap and quickness.  An excellent pickup for the Titans, Chris will be one of the top players in the division this season.

Jermaine Jamison:  "Jermaine just came back from football and is getting himself into basketball shape. He's a returning three-year starter for us, who was Co-Player of the Year in Division V-A last season. Jermaine is by far the best athlete we have on the team. He jumps out of the gym and also runs a 4.4 forty yard dash. Once he gets completely out of his cleats, he will have another great year."

Andrew Howard: "Andrew is another four year player for us at Price. Andrew was very important part of our past successes. He is probably one of the most underrated players in the Southern California. He can flat out play,  is an outstanding perimeter shooter and our best on ball defender. I see a stellar year ahead for him." In addition to what Coach Lynch had to say, we also can add that we got the chance to see Andrew play club ball this fall at some of the exposure events, most recently at the Double Pump Fall Premier Tournament, where he, Chris Alexander and Oscar Edwards joined up with several LACES and one Palisades guy (Rasheed Oliver) as "West Coast BBall" and they impressed a lot of folks, including us. Howard, an unsigned senior,  is an excellent three-point shooter, has a very quick first step, and great speed, along with terrific defensive skills; he's particularly tough on man-pressure defense, and he should be a big factor in Price's success this season.  

Nicholas Bradley:  "Nicholas is a first time player for Price. He is recovering from an leg injury which occurred during conditioning. He will have to work himself into shape. When healthy, Nicholas has the potential to a part of our regular rotation."

Jabril N'Daiye:  "Jabril is a four year varsity player who did not see much playing time last year due to the presence of so many more experienced players on the floor. This year with his hustle and desire to play he has made great strides. His biggest asset is his heart for the game."

Juniors

Brandon Herron: "Brandon is a transfer player from Verbum Dei, who played junior varsity last year. Brandon's  biggest asset his his shooting touch and his hustle. If he can adjust to the pace we want go at he will figure into our regular rotation right away.

Khalief Washington:  Khalief is another transfer player, and he came over from Rosemead High where he was a starter last year. Khalief also must adjust to our up-tempo style of play both offensively and defensively. He has the talent to be a very good player, and with continued improvement he could be vital part of what we hope takes place this year. He rebounds very well and has a nice touch from 15 ft and in."

Sophomores

Oscar Edwards:  "Oscar played varsity for us last year as a freshman. He has improved his game from last year's practice experience with the older guys and from hitting the circuit this past summer. As it stands right now, Oscar will start for our team. We need him to step up and rebound big for us to be successful. I have confidence that he can and will get the job done."

Paul Simon:  Paul is also a transfer player from Fairfax High, and with a little more experience, I think he could become one of the best point guards in Southern California.  I have very high expectations of this young man. He is great ball-handler who can drive and shoot. He is also a very good position defender. But what he does best is pass the ball. I do not know how I can keep him out of the starting line-up. I love his game."

Freshman

Schuyler McKay   Schuyler is a product of our middle school and also played summer league with us this past summer. This will be mostly a learning experience for him this season. He has the potential to be a great player before he leaves Price, and he will be a big part of our future."

Samuel McDonald :  Samuel also is a product of our middle school and played for us this summer. He will improve his game from working with the older players, and like Schulyer, will be a big part of the future at Price."

Will this group be able to duplicate the feat of last season's Price Knights?  Only time will tell, but we'll be watching. 

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