Utah Jazz: Price set to be inducted into UVU's Hall of Fame

SALT LAKE CITY — In 2009, John Stockton and Jerry Sloan were welcomed into the Hall of Fame.

Turns out, 2010 is when both Karl Malone and Ronnie Price will be able to call themselves Hall of Famers as well.

Price will beat The Mailman to the induction punch, though. The athletic Jazz guard will receive the ultimate honor next week from his alma mater, Utah Valley University; Malone has to wait until August to join Stockton and Sloan in Springfield, Mass.

"I'm really excited about it," said a smiling Price, who will be inducted into the UVU Hall of Fame on Thursday, Feb. 4. "It's a big honor."

Kinda fitting that the ceremony will take place during halftime of UVU's game against Texas-Pan American, seeing as Price is a Lone Star State native.

It's also quite fitting, considering Price left an incredible legacy at Utah Valley.

Price was the first Wolverine to make it to the NBA after averaging 19.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 89 starts at then-Utah Valley State College. Remarkably, Price was signed to a two-year contract prior to his rookie season with Sacramento in 2005 despite not being drafted.

Price joined the Jazz in 2007, and the five-year NBA veteran has since provided Utah with an energetic spark.

The business management major credits UVU coach Dick Hunsaker for giving him a chance, even saying his old mentor is "a lot of the reason" why he's in the NBA today.

Price transferred to UVSC when it was a junior college after playing his freshman season at Nicholls State. He bolstered the Wolverines as they transitioned into an NCAA Division I program, and would've been the nation's No. 3 scorer as a senior with his 24.3-point average had the school not been a provisional Div. I member.

"The school was great to me," Price said. "I always hoped that I did the right thing when I was there."

This tribute, he admitted, is an appreciated confirmation in the affirmative.

Price is especially thrilled that his wife and baby daughter, along with his mom, dad and sister from Friendswood, Texas (near Houston), will be there to share and celebrate the special moment.

"I'm just glad that they'll be able to be a part of all of this," Price said. "I'm really honored to have a chance to be in the UVU Hall of Fame."

Basketball isn't the only reason UVU is close to Price's heart. That's where he met his wife, Jenni.