COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Fannisha Price and coach Anwar Gladden are in agreement on the key to her season. It’s not the consistency of her jump shot, improving her handle or a greater attention to defense.
“I think everything will fall in with conditioning,” the South Shore girls’ basketball coach said.
The 6−foot−1 sophomore forward has all the skills to be one of the Vikings’ best players. Price has an excellent handle, can step back and hit a 3−pointer and also score from the post. For Gladden, the question is not whether she can do it, but for how long. Sporadically throughout the game is not enough.
“She is going to be asked to play 32 minutes and not just be out there for 32 minutes, but be playing for 32 minutes,” Gladden said. “Anyone can stand out there, but can you play for 32 minutes?”
In order to get ready for the season, Price said she occasionally runs a mile on a track at a local park near her Brownsville, Brooklyn home. She said that she does need to push herself even more. Price knows that more is expected of her, but admits she may not fully understand exactly what until she starts playing.
“I’m young, so I really don’t understand, but I do,” Price said. “As time progresses I’ll learn more. I’m going to know in time.”
Price, who will also need to be mentally tough, will give Gladden a consistent inside scoring presence, something he said he has been lacking during his time at South Shore. But what makes Price even more valuable is her ability to step away from the basket and score, by either connecting on a jumper or breaking down her defender off the dribble.
“I think she can play point guard,” South Shore rising junior Jasmine Odom said. “She has a lot of talent. If she can slim down, she can play the guard with me.”
Price’s role will grow exponentially next season with the graduation of forward Valerie Patterson and guard Baytania Newman. As a freshman, Price was a key reserve on a team that didn’t lose a PSAL game all regular season and fell to Murry Bergtraum in the Vikings’ first−ever trip to the PSAL Class AA title game at Madison Square Garden. Price came off the bench, scoring three points and grabbing eight boards in the 51−36 defeat.
“I thought she played tremendous at the Garden,” Gladden said. “She came in and she played hard and she showed some flashes.”
This season, though, is about consistency for Price, who said the loss to the Lady Blazers will serve as motivation for her and South Shore this season. She expects the practices to be even more intense after getting that far.
“We tasted how it feels already,” Price said.
She wants to be ready to help lead the Vikings back.
“I want to surprise my coach,” Price said. “I want him to have confidence that he can depend on me… [For] me having the conditioning, gives me the confidence that you could put the team on my back.”
