Drexelle Price drives a lot.
She said she drove her son, Ohio redshirt sophomore forward Khari Harley, to Orlando, once to watch the Magic play the Philadelphia 76ers — the two’s favorite professional basketball team — for Harley's ninth birthday.
She also drives nine hours from her home in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, about 10 minutes outside Atlantic City, to watch Harley play in The Convo as much as possible.
Regarding grades, she drove Harley’s teachers “crazy” during grade school and texts him often when he's in the middle of class.
But more importantly, Price drives her son to “do the right thing when no one is looking.”
"Khari is real low-key," Mike Laster, sophomore guard, said smiling. "He's always in the back, like Batman or something."
Growing up with Price’s mother, who's funeral took place on Harley's 19th birthday last year, Harley took his education seriously matching the support of his mother. Price said Harley needs to “one-up” her master’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Price and Laster said Harley is a “homebody” and grew up around childhood friend, and Bucknell defensive lineman, Abdullah Anderson's family, while Price worked four to five jobs and Harley's father was mostly absent.
Regardless, basketball was always there.
“My mom always had a little Fisher-Price basketball court in the house — that's all I ever used to do is shoot on the basketball court,” Harley said.
Some parallels could be drawn between Harley and his mother.
They’re both over 6-feet tall (Harley is 6-foot-9) and have a passion for former 76ers guard Allen Iverson.
"Growing up, we we're big Philadelphia fans, so whenever you would turn on the TV — my mom is a big sports fan — it was always the Eagles and more specifically the 76ers," Harley said. "You would always see Allen Iverson. Allen Iverson this. Allen Iverson that. Had the jerseys, the headbands, wanted to be just like him."
So when Harley returned to New Jersey last summer to recover from a back injury that included acupuncture sessions, full-body massages and an array of doctors, Price gave him the support she had altruistically given from the beginning. She started researching other players who had similar back troubles to help ease his burden.
"Other people, other doctors, said, 'Maybe (Harley) should consider other things'" Price said. "But for me, I was like, 'Uh, you can play.' He was a little damp. It was a little tough and I had to not be in 'mom-mode' and cheer him (on) and say 'You can do this.'"
So Price drove to find examples of players suffering from back problems, offering support to Harley, who at times could hardly walk.
"I started looking up other players and I was like, 'Do you know Steve Nash and his back problem?'" Price said. "So I started digging into Yahoo and trying to come up with every player under the sun who had a back injury that was worse than his to give him confidence that he can play."
Price said Harley is now concerned with his weight at 185 pounds, according to the Ohio Athletics website, in which she rebuttals with the slender frame of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he came into the NBA.
Similar to Harley's support system on the East Coast, Ohio's rebuilding process under second-year coach Saul Phillips is multi-layered and one Harley might have an integral part in.
Harley will fight for minutes with other flex-players like Laster, Treg Setty, Drew Crabtree, Gavin Block and Kenny Kaminski, with his length and spacing, said Phillips.
In 2014, Harley played in 24 games while shooting .360 from the 3-point line and garnering just 62 points. Phillips said Harley's role will evolve as he stays healthy and doesn't want to put limitations because "he can do a lot of different things on the court."
"He's kind of the silent assassin," Phillips said. "He doesn't take high-volume shots, but his percentages are very good. He doesn't need the ball in his hands to make an impact on a possession or a play."
No matter how big, or small, of a role Harley plays in 2015 though, Price will drive to see her son.
"My mom raised me, by herself," Harley said. "So whenever I need any type of advice, I automatically go to her."
@Lukeoroark
Lr514812@ohio.edu
