Price gets long-awaited shot at head coaching

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —

For a guy with such a textbook shot, Mark Price’s path to college coaching followed anything but form.

The former Georgia Tech point guard and NBA star who rarely bothered with the rim had to settle for a circuitous route to his first head coaching job with the Charlotte 49ers. At age 51 he is atop a Division I program and he shed the “shot doctor” title he picked up in multiple consulting and assistant coaching jobs in the NBA.

“I took a little bit different path, but I’m finally here,” Price said, from a couch in his new office, a 49ers warmup jacket on, smile on his face.

Behind every sharpshooter is a killer instinct, and Price’s desire is what ultimately got him where he…