INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Former West Virginia State University (WVSU) men’s basketball coach and Kanawha Valley community leader Curtis Price died Thursday.
He was 63.
Price coached the WVSU Yellow Jackets for five seasons from 1972 through 1977 compiling a 76-60 career coaching record. He was recognized by the West Virginia Sportswriters’ Association as the top college coach in West Virginia in 1973 after the 1972-73 season.
At the time he came to WVSU he was the youngest college head coach in the country at age 21.
He came to the Yellow Jackets after playing three years of college basketball for the West Virginia University Mountaineers.
Price played his high school basketball for the former Charleston High School, where he led his team to an undefeated season and state championship in 1967-68. He was named a Street & Smith’s All-American as a senior in high school.
Price left WVSU to work in Gov. Jay Rockefeller’s Affirmative Action program.
He later went to work for Job Corp, an education and training program that helps low-income young people earn a high school diploma or a GED, and get job training.
Most recently, Price was employed with the Charleston Job Corps Center. He had worked for the Job Corps for more than 20 years in various positions across the county before returning to his hometown.