“The guys spent an hour and a half in the amputee unit,” Price said. “They were with guys all about their age, guys missing arms and legs, but guys who really taught us something about being part of a team.
“We stopped by their sports medicine unit and they were lifting weights and working on a treadmill and right off they got us involved. They said, ‘C’mon, you’re basketball players. Jump in and try this.’ And all of a sudden it became a competition and they all bonded.
“Those guys weren’t feeling sorry for themselves. They talked about getting back to their units as soon as they could. They told us 60 percent of the guys go back to active duty and that amazed us. We talk all the time about being a team and doing it for the team. Well, these guys showed us what it truly means. They couldn’t wait to go back overseas and join the guys they’d left.”
Every year Price takes his players on a trip to enrich them while also playing a little basketball.
He calls it sprinkling the “pixie dust.”
He said guys might not realize the magic at first, but they’ll remember it down the way, be it this season or later in life.
Around here they visit the VA Hospital, serve Thanksgiving dinner every year at the Boys and Girls Club and man the phone lines at the Muscular Dystrophy telethon.
Over the years the team has gone to Philadelphia, where along with playing the Penn JV team, it visits Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, maybe Ben Franklin’s grave and has Philly cheesesteaks.
Other times the trip has been to North Carolina to play the Tar Heels JV or Washington D.C. to play Georgetown.
This time, as he has before, former Speaker of the House John Boehner arranged for the Sinclair players to get some special D.C. experiences. Along with visiting the White House, Arlington Cemetery, the Supreme Court and the Lincoln Memorial, they were taken down on the floors of the House and the Senate and sat in various seats.
But the stop that stuck with the players most was Walter Reed.
“It was awesome,” said sophomore wingman Caleb Walker from Columbus. “I had a friend in the military — he lost a leg — and it was good to see other guys in that situation and hear their stories.
“A couple of them were pretty big guys and they challenged our point guard, Patrick (Crawford), he’s really strong, to do pull-ups.
“One guy thanked us for coming and not bringing cameras to show off for five minutes and then leave. They knew we came for a good reason and not just some kind of photo op. They talked to us about our hometowns, things like that, and they were good guys
“More than that, they’re warriors. I appreciate it that they go over there and protect our country. They do that for us so we can do the things we do back here.
“Those are some pretty cool guys.”
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