La Salle right for Georgia native Price

THE LIGHT BLUE stands at Tom Gola Arena hummed from the boisterous devotees screaming at the top of their lungs. There was barely any time left. He had to make his move in 4 seconds.

The inbounds pass popped into his hands. Three dribbles, then another step to halfcourt and the release flowed from his fingers as quickly as his flight from the baseline. Forty seven feet later, Jordan Price had his first big moment at La Salle University: a buzzer-beating, midcourt prayer answered in the 40th minute. The shot at the final buzzer sent the game against American into overtime, where the Explorers eventually lost, 68-66.

He had truly arrived. The 6-5 sophomore guard from Decatur, Ga., is in his fifth school since 2008. He never truly had found a place, from high school to college, that made him feel at home.

Alicia Bloom's section erupted when Price's big shot went down. The wife of the Explorers' director of basketball operations, Matt Bloom, couldn't have been prouder.

"Jordan brings dedication, he brings commitment, he brings intensity," Alicia Bloom said. "Those are three things that La Salle shows on the court every game and he complements the rest of the squad."

Price, a transfer from Auburn, is averaging 17.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Explorers (9-7, 1-2 Atlantic 10), who visit Dayton tomorrow night. He has won Big 5 and Atlantic 10 player of the week awards this season.

Although Price has begun to assimilate into the area, he hasn't forgotten his roots, particularly the numerous places to get wings in southeast Georgia.

"We have a lot of wings spots I like to go to in Decatur and that's what really makes it home," Price said of his hometown. "I've got a little spot in the mall we go to called Fletcher's; my best friend's uncle owns the spot."

Price would get the "sweet and mild baked wings, 14 or 16 of them, fries and homemade blue cheese," at Fletcher's before and after home games.

The restaurant showed high school sports on 15 televisions every weekend. Football ruled the South. But when Southwest DeKalb High played, everyone in Decatur watched him.

Orville Richards, the day manager at Fletcher's, said "sports are a big deal in Southwest DeKalb, especially at Fletcher's."

Felicia C. Penn agreed. She went to middle school and high school with Price and her cousin was his best friend.

She played high school basketball when Price was in school there. Penn still remembers rivalry games between Southwest DeKalb and Miller Grove. She said Price was unstoppable.

"I went to a lot of the games," Penn said. "Miller Grove games were the craziest. Any time you would enter the gym, the tension was there. Each night, Jordan came out and played 110 percent It's like we played Miller Grove every night."

Southwest DeKalb was Price's third high school. He started at Columbia High in Decatur during the 2008-09 school year, then transferred to Chattanooga McCallie, in Tennessee, for 2009-10, when he was selected that state's Mr. Basketball.

But while the basketball was a success, Price missed Decatur. So he returned for his senior season, in 2011-12.

Price was selected first-team all-state, was the 71st-ranked player on rivals.com, and was a teammate and friend of current University of Memphis player Shaq Goodwin.

Price said he didn't feel Columbia was right for him, and "then when I went to Tennessee, I got homesick.''

"I didn't feel like those places were the best fit for me when it comes to basketball and growing as a person,'' he said. "If you don't feel like you're going to grow, you can't stay in the same position you are in. That's being complacent. And I didn't want to be that."

Price left Auburn in April 2013, after a freshman season during which he average 5.4 points. Months later, on the last day of summer sessions at La Salle, Amar Stukes, Tyrone Garland, Tyreek Duren and others, including Price, walked to Gola Arena. They were gearing up to play some hoops.

But the courts were filled. On this day, the last day of Price's visit to the university, it was filled with professional players.

It was that day, when the team made him feel like family, that he felt at home for the first time since his college basketball career started.

"We just clicked right then," Price said. "I got to play right then. It was a day when pros were working out and it seemed that this situation was best for me to grow as a person and basketball player. All the coaches were going to help me grow as a person before a player."

Garland would take Price to get cheesesteaks and Duren and the rest of the team made his redshirt year a learning one as he sat out due to NCAA transfer rules. Price started taking his family (Felicia Price, his mother; Reaman Price, his dad; and his brothers Tim and Chris) to Dalessandro's for steaks and hoagies.

Getting comfortable in Philly came quickly for Price, because he always felt like he was a part of the Explorer family. From nights hanging with Stukes to adventures on South Street with Garland, the old Explorers team ushered in their new guard.

"The whole team were deciding factors," Price said about his reason for transferring to La Salle in 2013. "I love this city. It's my second home. The city is helping me grow being this far away from home. I feel like, now that I'm here, I'm basically from here."

As the referees reviewed his game-tying shot, hours before it became the No. 2 highlight on the "SportsCenter" Top 10, while Alicia Bloom was shouting from the stands, Price stood at midcourt. His arms rose above his head while a teammate sprinted over and hugged him.

His coronation had come. He was the big man on campus, the leading scorer and go-to guy.

Price, a redshirt sophomore communications major, was finally where he'd wanted to be for years - with a team that supports him and a new family that wants to win as badly as he does.

"The community is great, the people here, the teachers, the brothers, they take care of us, they take us in," Price said. "I'm an Explorer. I support every team here. I go to every possible game I can go to . . . I wasn't thinking about the shot. I didn't shoot it for me, I shot it for my team."