Price’s hopes began with hoops

By Doug Chapin

dchapin @vindy.com

Everyone who follows high school sports in the Mahoning Valley knows of the exploits of Austintown Fitch graduate Billy Price on the football field — he was Defensive Player of the Year in Division I in Ohio — and in the throwing circles, where he finished second in the state in the discus and fourth in the shot put.

Price’s prowess in football and in the field events earned him the honor of Vindicator Male Athlete of the Year.

Price also has earned a football scholarship to The Ohio State University. But interestingly, the first varsity letter Price earned at Fitch was in basketball, and the first time Fitch head football coach Phil Annarella saw Price was at a youth basketball camp.

“When he was in seventh or eighth grade he came to a basketball camp at our place,” Annarella said. “I don’t know if it was a relative or a friend or who that said, ‘You’ve got to talk to this young man.’

“You could see at that age he was a man then. I watched him playing basketball a little bit and for a kid the size he was he had so much athleticism. He had that knee bend, he had those great hips. You saw what a great athlete he was. And you knew he wasn’t going to be a receiver or a quarterback but you could see at the same time that this kid probably was going to be very special.”

For his part Price mentioned his basketball experience as one of the highlights of his Fitch athletic career.

“Freshman year I started on the varsity basketball team for the last 10 games or so, so I got my first varsity letter which was pretty cool,” he said. “Sophomore year I made it to state in the discus and also started at left tackle on the football team. We beat Canton McKinley in two overtimes and put it to GlenOak pretty good, those were highlights. Junior year made it to state again in track, committed to Ohio State in February.

“Senior year pretty much every game was a highlight for me but probably the biggest was beating Boardman 52-7. Also playing against St. Ignatius [in the playoffs], we only lost by nine points with guys going down with injuries left and right. Then making it to state again in track was another highlight.”

Price helped the Falcons to 9-1 seasons and playoff berths in both his sophomore and senior seasons.

“The first time I saw him play football was in our ninth-grade program and he dominated which wasn’t a big surprise. He’s got wonderful parents, a tremendous home life, a mother just constantly on his back about his grades,” Annarella said. “He was over 3.5 [grade point average] the whole time taking advanced classes. He’s just a special kid, a real leader.

“We don’t like to start a sophomore; that’s an exception. But I guess a kid who winds up the defensive player of the year in the state of Ohio as a senior is probably good enough to start as a sophomore. He started on the offensive line for us as a sophomore and he progressively just got better at everything.”

Price, who was not averse to working hard even in junior high, recalls a moment when he was made aware that he had the potential to reach great heights.

“My freshman year of football, Coach Annarella, he kind of took me aside one day for a short meeting. He told me if you work hard and keep pushing yourself, push yourself, push yourself, you can be like these other guys, like Korey Stringer, like Maurice Clarett. He said I could be that type of player,” Price said.

“I was always working and doing extra stuff. Even in junior high I started lifting weights and conditioning more. You can see, especially in football, when you do the extra stuff and you come into practice and you’re fine and everybody else is gassed. In the weight room you can see, obviously, your body changes and you see the result a lot quicker.”

Price credits his work in the shot and disc circles for helping him in football.

“I do think it has helped me in football a lot, especially with the positioning of your feet. It really helped me to maintain stability especially when you get hit say on a down block and you can stabilize yourself,” said Price, who also placed second in the weight throw and 12th in the shot put at March’s indoor state meet. “It’s being able to do the same thing you do with the shot or discus.

“I think it helps with the explosiveness too. You can’t throw the shot 60 feet without having some explosiveness.”

And though he has spent time on the offensive line while at Fitch, Price clearly prefers the other side of the ball.

“Absolutely the defensive side. There is a different type of personality required for the defensive line,” he said. “It has more impact getting a sack or knocking a runner back a few yards. You hear the crowd erupt, the emotion, the energy. It just makes you want to get up and do it again.”