East Central University Athletics

Zack Price is in his third year with the Tiger coaching staff as the assistant coach of the ECU men's basketball team.

Price was hired as the assistant coach in May of 2022 one month after Daniel Wheeler was hired as the 13th head coach. 

Price helped bring in eleven student-athletes with a mixture of skill, size and experience to add to the 2023-24 roster. The Tigers went on to post a 13-15 overall record with a 9-13 mark in the Great American Conference. ECU men's basketball's lone senior, Keyon Thomas, was awarded All-GAC Honorable Mention honors after amassing 398 total points this season for an average of 14.2 points per game.

In his first season, Price assisted the ECU men's program to an 18-11 overall record and 13-9 in the GAC. The Tigers also saw five players earn 2022-23 All-GAC accolades. Keyon Thomas, Luke Harper, and Quinton Johnson were all named to the All-GAC Honorable Mention Team while Romello Wilbert and Bryce Woolridge also represented ECU as Distinguished Scholar-Athletes. 
 
A native of Leawood, Kan., Price arrives at ECU with valuable coaching experience, including stints at the college, high school and club level, as well as a supporting role with USA Basketball. He played collegiately at Texas Christian University (2010-11) and Missouri Western State University (2012-15).
 
Price joins the Tigers after spending last season (2021-22) as a graduate assistant at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. At KSU, he was under the tutelage of the 2005 Naismith Coach of the Year and 2013 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Bruce Weber. Price assisted the Wildcats in player development and opponent scouting. While with the Wildcats, Price coached Big 12 first-team selection Nigel Pack along with the Big 12’s rebounding leader, Mark Smith, and steals leader, Markquis Nowell.
 
Before joining the KSU staff, Price spent three years (2018-21) on the coaching staff of legendary Kansas high school basketball coach Ed Fritz at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kan., where he was a varsity assistant coach and junior varsity head coach. During his tenure, the Huskies captured the 2019 Kansas 6A State Championship, three Kansas 6A Sub-State Championships (2019, 2020, 2021), and a pair of Eastern Kansas League conference championships (2020, 2021) in route to posting a 65-6 combined record.
 
Prior to joining the staff at Blue Valley North West, Price was a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Missouri Western, from 2016-18 for his college coach Brett Weiberg. He was involved in all aspects of the program, including day-to-day operations, travel, scouting, recruitment, evaluation and development.
 
In addition to his coaching experience, Price has been involved in the development of players in the USA Basketball system, including stints as a support staffer with both the 2021 U19 and U16 Men’s Junior National Teams. He helped head coach and current TCU head coach, Jaime Dixon, and the U19 staff prepare for the FIBA U19 World Cup, where they won a second-straight gold medal, while he also assisted head coach Sharman White and the U16 staff who also won a gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship.  Price was selected to help with the annual Nike Hoop Summit game in Portland, Ore., in which USA defeated the World Team, 102-88.
 
Price played one season (2010-11) for head coach Jim Christian at TCU before finishing his playing career (2012-15) at Missouri Western for head coaches Tom Smith and Brett Weiberg. He was a three-time academic honor roll selection (2013, 2014, 2015) and the recipient of the inaugural Griffon Award (2015).
 
Price earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from Missouri Western in 2015 before adding a master’s degree in sport and fitness management in 2018. Coach Price has a pet betta fish named Alpha in his office.