UConn's Price knows the school of hard knocks

DETROIT — Doctors assured A.J. Price that his headaches, dizziness and nausea were merely symptomatic of the flu.

No big deal. Price had an 18-year-old's impervious immune system. He'd return to normal in a matter of days. But days soon turned to weeks that fall of 2004. Doctors were now perplexed, bordering on panicked. Price was hospitalized for weeks, breathing through a respirator.

"I almost died my freshman year," recalls the Connecticut senior point guard. "It still startles you saying that, what, it's been five years now."

It wasn't until the following February that a Boston neurologist finally diagnosed the problem — an arteriovenous malformation? (AVM) triggered a brain hemorrhage.

Price basically had a stroke. At 18. He underwent immediate brain surgery.

"I wasn't sure if I would ever play basketball again," he said. "Through it all, I persevered, continued to push, continued to tell myself I would get through it."

If indeed adversity becomes the greatest educational tool, Price comes to Detroit with a master's' degree in hardship. Some of his problems were his own doing. Price only can blame himself for his involvement in a dormitory laptop computer theft ring that cost Price his sophomore year with the Huskies.

"Don't forget the knee," he said.

Only minutes into his first NCAA tournament game in last March 2008, Price blew out the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, requiring reconstructive surgery.

"At first, you wonder what else could go wrong," Price said, "but then you realize that there's a lesson through all this. I always heard that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Price should be Herculean now.

Michigan State wears its battle scars as medals of valor, but there's ample admiration for Price's resolve. as well. You never really appreciate the destination until something blocks the road. A Final Four that appeared unreachable as Price recovered from brain surgery becomes the final obstacle.

"I think I realized how serious it was when I woke up in (intensive care)," he said. "They told me that something serious had happened. There were a couple times in my career when I didn't think I'd have this chance."

Why does it always require a near tragedy to gain valuable perspective?