Armintie Price

(Courtesy of The University of Mississippi)

Armintie Price of Mississippi brought the University of Mississippi to a territory that it had never been to before, the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in 2007. Sure Mississippi fell there to Tennessee but Price made a name for herself and became one of only 22 players invited to the WNBA draft in person. Price was the 3rd pick of the Chicago Sky.

The Rebels garnered their first NCAA win since 1994 by beating TCU 88-74 in Hartford this past Sunday in the first round of the Dayton Regional. Armintie Price led Mississippi with 21 points. Price is a 5-9 senior combo guard hailing from Myrtle, Mississippi.

This season she averaged 18.1 ppg which ranked second in the SEC in 32nd in the NCAA. She also led the team in assists and steals and her 3.8 steals per game was a first in the NCAA. She is just the fifth player in NCAA history to record over 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists, and 300 steals. She was named the 2007 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in the history of the League to win the award two times.

Price had a lot to prove and a lot to overcome going into the season. She was hailed in her junior season as a weak outside shooter and a player unlikely to succeed in the rigors of the WNBA wars unless she could develop such a shot. From a personal perspective her mother Beatrice was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in July and in August, two months before practice she was gone.

Price was very close with her mother and noted after the loss that "I think about my mother everyday." That certainly never changed throughout the season.

Price was determined to make her senior season in 2007 count both for herself and for her team. Mississippi was left entirely out of the preseason rankings and largely due to the consistent scoring of Price jumped out to a 16-5 start and was ranked no. 22 in the nation. At the time the Lady Rebels owned wins over Vanderbilt and LSU.

Her former coach, Carol Ross called her a "leader" as soon as she stepped on the court as a freshman. Price is very humble and when talking about her accomplishments simply said "my teammates helped me get there."

After the strong start and the national ranking Mississippi fell on some hard times losing six of their last eleven games including a heartbreaker to LSU in the SEC Tournament 52-46. Price was held to 12 points on 3-15 shooting from the field.

(Courtesy of The University of Mississippi)

Two weeks later and after numerous good practices for Ross, Price rebounded with strong games in the 14 point win against TCU.

Price was brilliant in every phase of the game this season and led her teams to numerous mentions on ESPN throughout the NCAA Tournament. She will not only help recruiting at Mississippi but leave a legacy for herself. As mentioned earlier, Price was the third pick of the WNBA draft by the Chicago Sky. She has averaged 28.2 mpg, 6.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg in the WNBA. No one is surpised. She is a person that her mother will certainly be very proud of from wherever she is staring at her daughter's exploits both on and off the court.