Jimmy Price Hometown: Fritch, Texas Last College: Texas Tech '01 Position: Strength and Conditioning Coach Birthdate: 08/19/1977 Experience: First Year

One of the first people hired by head coach Bruce Weber, Jimmy Price was hired as the strength and conditioning coach for the Kansas State men's basketball team on April 23, 2012.

Price comes to K-State after spending the last nine seasons at Illinois, where he coordinated the strength and conditioning program for the men's and women's basketball teams as well as serving as a sports nutritionist. Overall, he has over 10 years of experience training basketball teams at both Texas Tech and Illinois.

Price is reunited with Weber for the second time after serving as his strength coach during his entire tenure at Illinois (2003-12). He helped coach a Fighting Illini program that posted a 210-101 (.685) record the past nine years with one Final Four, six NCAA Tournament appearances, two Big Ten regular-season championships and one Big Ten Tournament title. Seven times the squad reached the 20-win plateau, while the 2004-05 team won a school-record 37 games.

Price trained five All-Americans at Illinois, including consensus first team selection Dee Brown (2005), while four players went on to be selected in the NBA Draft, including first round picks Deron Williams and Luther Head in 2005. In all, he helped coach 27 All-Big Ten selections, including seven first team honorees, one Big Ten Player, Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year and three Big Ten All-Freshman and All-Defensive Team members.

In addition to his experience in men's basketball, Price worked with Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Theresa Grentz (2003-07) and Jolette Law (2007-12) during his time at Illinois. While training the women's team, the Fighting Illini made five trips to the postseason and won at least 16 games in five seasons. He also helped coach one honorable mention All-American (Jenna Smith, 2007-08) and 16 All-Big Ten selections, including four first team picks, along with five All-Freshmen Team and three All-Defensive Team honorees.

Prior to Illinois, Price spent two years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at his alma mater Texas Tech, where he worked with legendary head coach Bob Knight from 2001-03. He helped train a Red Raider program, which posted a 45-22 (.672) overall record and earned back-to-back postseason appearances, including
a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2002. It marked the school's first NCAA Tournament in six seasons. He coached three All-Big 12 picks, including two-time first team selection and all-time leading scorer Andre Emmett. In addition to men's basketball, he also worked with Texas Tech football, men's and women's tennis and track and field teams.

A Texas native, Price, 34, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1996-2004. He earned his bachelor's degree in exercise sports science with an emphasis in fitness, wellness and nutrition from Texas Tech in 2001. He currently holds certifications as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Specialist in Performance Nutrition.