Smaller school. Newer program. Inferior competition.

Ronnie Price, an NBA Draft prospect who auditioned Wednesday for the Jazz with the likes of reigning Conference USA Player of the Year Eddie Basden and 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Julius Hodge, knows the rap.

So does his coach at Utah Valley State College, Dick Hunsaker.

"I'm not from a big school like a lot of these other guys," Price said after working out with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's Basden, North Carolina State's Hodge and UNC-Greensboro's Josh Gross.

Four others — Providence's Ryan Gomes, UCLA's Dijon Thompson, Clemson's Sharrod Ford and Cincinnati's Jason Maxiell — show their stuff for the Jazz today.

"We know we're at Utah Valley," said Hunsaker, whose program jumped from junior-college roots to a full NCAA Division I schedule this past season.

"Ronnie's feet are on the ground," the UVSC coach added. "He's not inflated ego-wise. He understands there could be a school of hard knocks ahead."

Yet it's that very attitude that just might propel Price — who upon first impression sure seems like a class act — from the unlikeliest of beginnings to the NBA.

And for that, Hunsaker - the University of Utah's acting head coach during ex-Ute coach Rick Majerus' leave of absence in the 2000-01 season - can join in the bow.

"People are going to say, 'Aw, Utah Valley,' " Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor said. "(But) Dick Hunsaker has done a very good job coaching (Price), because he really understands the game."

It's not just what Price has learned, though, that has NBA scouts intrigued - and seriously considering the Friendswood, Texas, native a potential second-round selection in the June 28 draft.

The book on Price, who also has worked out for the Detroit Pistons, is that he shoots and scores; he averaged 24.3 points per game out of the point position as a UVSC senior, third nationally in NCAA Division I play. Standing somewhere between 6-foot-1 and 6-2, he has an NBA build. And he is said to be persistent to an extreme.

Imagine the determination of Eddie Gill, the Indiana Pacers guard from Weber State - Hunsaker's alma mater, by the way - who played 23 or fewer games in his first three NBA seasons but firmly established himself this season.

"I think (Price) is going to play in the league, somewhere, eventually," O'Connor said. "He's a terrific kid. . . . He could be a success story."

Those aren't just kind words to help hype the local kid, either.

The Jazz have three second-round draft picks and just might spend one on Price - depending, naturally, on who else is available at the time.