Tayshaun Prince

Tayshaun Durell Prince

Position	Small forward
Nickname	Prince of the Palace, Tay
League	NBA
Height	ft in ( m)
Weight	lb ( kg)
Team	Detroit Pistons
Nationality	USA
Born	February 28 1980 (1980--) (age 27) Compton, California
College	Kentucky
Draft	23^rd overall, 2002 Detroit Pistons
Pro career	2002–present

Tayshaun Durell Prince (born February 28, 1980, in Compton, California) is an American basketball player for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association. Prince is a small forward, listed at ft in ( m) and 215 lb (98 kg). A graduate of Dominguez High School and the University of Kentucky, Prince was drafted in the first round (23rd overall) by the Detroit Pistons in the 2002 NBA Draft.

College career

Tayshaun Prince played four seasons (1998 - 2002) for the University of Kentucky Wildcats, averaging 13.1 points and 5.6 rebounds^[1] as the Wildcats posted a 97-39 record^[2] and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year. Prince won SEC Player of the Year in his junior season (2000-2001)^[3] - also leading the SEC in free throw percentage (84.3%)^[4] - and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC Teams in both his junior and senior years.^[5] Kentucky won the SEC Tournament in 1999 and 2001, and Prince was awarded the 2001 tournament's Most Valuable Player award.^[5]

Notable individual performances included a 31 point, 11 rebound, 4 assist, 4 steal effort in a 79-59 victory over North Carolina. In scoring Kentucky's first fifteen points, Prince made five consecutive three-point shots. Kentucky shooting guard Keith Bogans compared Prince's performance to "the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan blistering Portland in the 1992 NBA Finals."^[6] In an 87-82 victory over Tulsa during the 2002 NCAA Tournament, Prince scored a career-high 41 points (along with 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks) to lead Kentucky to the Sweet 16.^[7]

Rookie year

In his rookie season under head coach Rick Carlisle, Prince was not a member of the team's playing rotation and appeared in just 42 of 82 regular-season games. However, in the first round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs, Detroit trailed the Orlando Magic three games to one, forcing Carlisle to experiment with a different rotation. Prince was inserted into the lineup and received heavy minutes; he was even asked to defend superstar Tracy McGrady at times. The Pistons rallied to win the series, and Prince had a breakout performance during the decisive seventh game, scoring 20 points in 24 minutes.^[8] In the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers, Prince continued to see action and made several memorable plays, including a turnaround hook shot during the final seconds of the second game, forcing an overtime period that the Pistons went on to win.^[8]

2003-04 season

After the Pistons were eliminated by the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference finals, Carlisle was fired and former Sixers coach Larry Brown took over as head coach. Under Brown, Prince became the Pistons' starting small forward and increased his scoring average to 10.3 points per game, up from 3.3 as a rookie.^[8] That 2003-04 season Prince was also selected to play for the Sophomores (second-year players) in the NBA All-Star Rookie Game in February 2004.^[8]

"The Block"

In the second game of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Prince made a spectacular defensive play.^[8] In the final minute of the game, the Pacers' Reggie Miller took an outlet pass after an Indiana steal and sprinted up the right sideline for a seemingly uncontested basket that would have tied the score. Prince pursued from the left sideline. Miller, presumably thinking that Prince could not catch him, attempted a layup. At the last possible moment, Prince soared in from the other side of the basket and swatted the ball away; the ball landed in bounds and was scooped up by Pistons teammate Richard Hamilton, effectively ending the game. The Detroit Pistons went on to win the series and, eventually, the NBA championship. The block has been replayed numerous times on ESPN and sports programs on other networks. When the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one in the NBA Finals, Prince's tough defense on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was credited a key factor in the Pistons' victory.

2004-05 season

Prince continued to show improvement in the 2004-05 season, setting career highs in scoring (14.7 points per game), rebounding (5.3 per game), assists (3.0) and blocks (0.9).^[8] He was selected for the NBA's All-Defensive Second Team^[8] and was a candidate for the NBA Most Improved Player Award, where he came in third^[8] behind winner Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers and Primoz Brezec of the Charlotte Bobcats. Although he and the Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals in 2005, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in a close 4-3 series.

Prince's superb play was rewarded by the Pistons with a 5-year contract extension worth $49 million on October 31, 2005.^[9]

2005-06 season

In the 2005-06 season, Prince played in all 82 regular season games, averaging 14.1 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.^[10] In the playoffs, the Pistons were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

2006-07 season

In the 2006-07 season, Prince returned similar statistics to his 2004-05 campaign: 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.^[10] In the Playoffs the Pistons were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.

Personal

Tayshaun married his long-time girlfriend Farrah Brown on April 11, 2005 in a private ceremony on the island of Fiji. Her wedding ring cost an estimated 300,000 USD. Tayshaun and Farrah recently purchased a $15 million home in West Bloomfield, Michigan and a $5 million farmhouse in the state of Kentucky. Prince also graduated from the University of Kentucky in four years, taking a B.A. degree in Sociology in 2002.

Honors/Achievements

Gold Medal with Team USA, Tournament of Americas Olympic Qualifiers

External links

References

^ Tayshaun Prince Past Stats, Playoff Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards, Databasebasketball.com, accessed 18 February 2007.
^ http://www.ukathletics.com/doc_lib/mbb_history_yearbyyear.pdfPDF (96.4 KiB)
^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/news/2001/03/05/all_sec_ap/
^ http://www.secsports.com/doc_lib/bkc_through_the_years.pdfPDF (282 KiB)
^ ^a ^b http://www.ukathletics.com/doc_lib/mbb_history_awards.pdfPDF (99.6 KiB)
^ http://kentucky.scout.com/2/28412.html
^ http://kentucky.scout.com/2/40388.html
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Tayshaun Prince Info Page - Bio, NBA.com, accessed 18 February 2007.
^ Tony Mejia, "Prince the Pistons' All-Star non-All-Star", CBS sports, 15 February 2006.
^ ^a ^b Tayshaun Prince Info Page - Career Stats and Totals, NBA.com, accessed 18 February 2007.

Preceded by AP: Stromile Swift, Dan Langhi Coaches: Dan Langhi	SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Erwin Dudley

Detroit Pistons 2003-04 NBA Champions
1 Billups (Finals MVP) \| 3 B. Wallace \| 7 James \| 8 Ham \| 10 Hunter \| 13 Okur \| 22 Prince \| 31 Miličić \| 32 Hamilton \| 34 Williamson \| 36 R. Wallace \| 41 Campbell \| Coach Brown