Isaiah Prince Making Most of Humble Beginnings

Steel City Yellow Jackets guard Isaiah Prince came from humble beginnings and has turned it into a professional basketball career in the city he loves. He was a star at both Imani Christian Academy and Edinboro University and is now staring in the American Basketball Association

The basketball courts on the east side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are the stomping grounds for many Pittsburgh natives every year. Thousands of players have found the sport of basketball here and turned it into a professional aspiration. Isaiah Prince was no different. He would always admire the older kids as they played the game and it pushed him to be the best player he could be. He was always the younger kid on the court and he tried to use that as motivation to better his game to get on the same level as the older kids he was competing against.

Through this experience, Prince found the sport of basketball and has been playing it ever since. A self-taught basketball player, Prince would work tirelessly at the sport always being the youngest on the court. In his third grade year, he was already playing on the fourth grade basketball team showing what skills he had.

“[My basketball career] really started when I was around third grade playing on the fourth grade team,” said Prince. “I grew up on the east side of Pittsburgh and I started on the basketball courts outside Collinwood. Just seeing the older people play, some of them boys inspired me to play.”

He took inspiration from many players on these back courts with him throughout his childhood and into the high school years. Prince played his high school basketball at Imani Christian Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In his senior season with the Saints, Prince would lead the Saints to a 19-3 record. He ended up scoring 1,136 points over his four years with the Saints as well as earning all-conference honors in his junior and senior years and was the conference MVP as a senior.

Despite all of the success he was having at the high school level, the college search was no walk in the park for Prince. Coming from a small school he had to work from the bottom up to get his name out there. He spent two years at community college before he found his perfect fit with the Edinboro University Fighting Scots.

“Coming out of high school the college search really wasn’t there for me because I came from a little school,” said Prince. “I really had to build my own foundation. I did two years at community college, Community College of Butler County, and then Edinboro found me. I left my print on every program that I left.”

Edinboro would be no different. He played for two seasons with the Fighting Scots and accumulated a career 874 points, 225 rebounds, and 140 assists. He lead the team in scoring in each of his two years with the Scots and twice won All-PSAC honors. He also ranked third in the PSAC in steals in his junior season with 53 and averaged 32.2 points per game for his career.

Edinboro is also where Prince made his first connections with the Steel City Yellow Jackets. Prince and current Yellow Jacket Gilmore Cummings both played for the Fighting Scots and Cummings was one of Prince’s good friends. After the Yellow Jackets first season, Cummings gave Prince a call and set him up for a tryout.

“[I made my first contact with the Yellow Jackets through] Gil Cummings,” said Prince. “We went to Edinboro together and that was one of my good friends up there. When he started the team the first year I wasn’t around because I was overseas. The second year I came back and got in contact with him and you know the rest is history.”

Prince, Cummings, and current Yellow Jacket Antonio Reddic had all played against each other before growing up in Pittsburgh. Because of the age difference they would never be playing on the same team, but Prince relishes in the opportunity to play with them today. He continues to learn the game of basketball from them and he says that it helps him grow as a player every single day.

“It’s been a good experience because you know we always played pick-up ball together and they were older than me so I never really got the chance to play with them,” said Prince. “After it all came together it’s a good experience I am happy to get on the court with them. They teach me a lot of things because their older and wiser, so I might be young and athletic but them boys teach me a lot.”

Prince has learned valuable lessons both on and off of the court with the Yellow Jackets. On the court he learns from the teammates around him and the competition. However, off the court he has a great mentor as well in Head Coach Averill Pippens. Prince praises Coach Ace’s efforts both for the team and for the community in general and it has helped him earn a respect for that as well.

“Coach does a lot for this whole team,” said Prince. “He really impacts his community as well, and his heart is full of gold. You know I can’t ask much more from that guy.”

Being from Pittsburgh, Prince loves having the opportunity to go out and represent the city on the basketball spectrum. He moved around a lot throughout his college career and it caused his friends and family to not be able to come to his games as much. However, now here in Pittsburgh they don’t miss a beat and can come see him night in and night out while he represents the city.

“It means a lot [to represent this city],” said Prince. “You know my friends and family they might not have been able to make it to one of my games because I played far away in college. For them actually to be able to come out and see me night in and night out is a moment to cherish.”

Prince comes from humble beginnings and those humble beginnings have turned into a great professional basketball career that turned into a trip overseas and now a stint in his home town. No matter where Prince goes or what he accomplishes he always brings it back to that beginning playing on the streets with the older kids and what it taught him about playing smart and playing hard.

“It’s tough on the streets,” said Prince. “The competition level was there and I was playing against the athletic kids and everything like that. Then you know we just had that go getter mentality on the streets and it just carried over.”

That go getter mentality has been a driving force for Prince throughout his playing career and he uses it now to help the Yellow Jackets succeed. He has worked his way up to one of the starting five on this year’s team and has played a big role both offensively and defensively for this team. With his determination and intensity, he looks to help take the Yellow Jackets to the American Basketball Association playoffs for the third season in a row.

Yellow Jackets Cant Catch Break on the Road Fall to PG Valor

The Steel City Yellow Jackets went on the road last night to face off against the Prince George's Valor in American Basketball Association action. The Yellow Jackets could not catch a break, however, as they would fall by the final score of 114-107 dropping their record to 7-7 on the year.

The Steel City Yellow Jackets continued their battle through the 2016/2017 regular season as they traveled down to Prince George's County Maryland to face the Prince George's Valor. The Yellow Jackets fought hard in this game but unfortunately were unable to catch a break on the night as they dropped the game by the final score of 114-107 moving their record to 7-7 on the season.

The last time these two teams faced off, it was a highly contested ball game at the Neighborhood Academy where the Valor would come out on top by the final score of 95-93. The Valor would get off to a hot start in that game and the Yellow Jackets defense would stiffen up to allow their team back into this one. In the end, however, it would not be enough as the Yellow Jackets would drop the contest and take their third loss of the year.

This game would start in the exact opposite way as the Yellow Jackets had the momentum early on in this one and midway through the second quarter of play they would be up by the score of 35-33. Road games have not been kind to the Yellow Jackets this season as coming into this one their road record sat at just 2-2 so far on the year.

The Yellow Jackets would keep fighting offensively and held on to the lead with just under two minutes in the second quarter as they lead 58-52. The Yellow Jackets would add another bucket before time expired and would go into the locker room up 60-52 over the Valor. Building up half time leads is something that Coach Ace and the Steel City Yellow Jackets have done a tremendous job of all season long. Of the Yellow Jackets 14 games this season, they have only trailed at half time in four of those games.

The Yellow Jackets played some great defense on the day limiting the Valor to under 30 points in each of the first two quarters of play. While the Yellow Jackets offense has been great all season long, lead by Antonio Reddic and Gil Cummings, the Yellow Jackets defense cannot be forgotten here in 2016/2017. Lawrence Baker has lead the crew as the big man under the net with a team high 52 rebounds on the season. He has been helped out by great defensive play from guys like Isaiah Prince and Antonio Reddic who play very sound defense to help the Jackets stay in ball games.

The third quarter started out with a surge by the Valor as they were looking to fight back into this contest with the Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets defense continued their string of holding the Valor under 30 points in a quarter, however, the offense couldn't get anything going as they were outscored 27-19 to make the score tied at 79-79 with one quarter to play.

Then, the fourth quarter got ugly for the Yellow Jackets. The Valor continued their offensive surge and would go up 90-85 with just over eight minutes to play in regulation. Offense would end up ruling the fourth quarter and, thanks to an offensive surge, the Valor ended up scoring 34 points to the Yellow Jackets 28 to secure themselves the 114-107 victory. The loss dropped the Yellow Jackets road record to 2-3 on the year and their overall record to 7-7.

Things got ugly late in this one for the Yellow Jackets as there were a couple of questionable calls that put the Yellow Jackets down late in the fourth quarter. Yellow Jackets head coach Ace Pippens collected the first two technical fouls of his career and Isaiah Prince also got tagged for a technical foul late in the fourth. To add to the loss on the scoreboard and the questionable calls throughout the night, the Yellow Jackets also may have lost one of their star players for a while as Isaiah Prince suffered a serious eye injury late in the game. 

Up Next:

The Steel City Yellow Jackets return to the friendly confines of the Neighborhood Academy on January 28th when they take on the Imperial National Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. The Yellow Jackets have played some of their best basketball on their home court as they own a record of 5-4 at home and look to improve upon that once again. Tickets for the event are ten dollars for adults and five dollars for student tickets. The Yellow Jackets need your support as the season comes to a close, so be sure to come on out and Catch the Buzz.

Jackets Fall in Late Comeback Attempt

The Steel City Yellow Jackets dropped another heart breaker as they fell to the Prince George Valor on Saturday by the score of 95-93. The Jackets had a chance late, but a failed three point attempt by Lawrence Baker sealed the Yellow Jackets fate.

After almost coming back last week against the number three team in the country, the Yellow Jackets were back at it again as they took on the Prince George Valor Saturday at The Neighborhood Academy. It came down to the last second once again and unfortunately the Yellow Jackets came up just short once again as they fell 95-93 when Lawrence Baker missed a three point attempt at the buzzer that ended the game.

The Yellow Jackets retained possession with six seconds remaining on the game clock down by just two points in the game. The Valor were in a full court press making it tough for the Jackets to move the ball up the court. Eventually, Gil Cummings got the ball into the offensive zone and fed Baker the ball with two seconds left. Baker shot a 25 footer but had it bounce off the rim and fall to the court.

This was another game in which the Yellow Jackets had to fight back from being down by a considerable margin. The Prince George Valor took control of this game early on as before the first whistle even blew they got two free throws after a pre-game foul. Chris Lee came to the line and made both of his shots to start the Valor with a 2-0 lead.

The Valor would continue that lead through the first quarter and would come out of that quarter leading by the score of 36-28. Lawrence Baker hit two three point shots to lead the Jackets in the quarter with eight points. However, Winston Veney lead the way for the Valor with 12 points and Jamahl Brown added nine points of his own. 

This would be a very low scoring game throughout as both defenses played tough, physical, in your face defense and held the opponent in check. The second quarter featured the Valor pulling out to their biggest lead of the night as they would hold the Jackets to just 18 points in the second quarter of play. The Valor jumped out to a 20 point lead and would go into half time up by the score of 66-46.

Brown and Veney were the stars of the first half for the Valor as they scored 19 and 14 points respectively. Ed Dyson added seven points of his own to round out the top three for the Valor. The Yellow Jackets were lead by Baker's eight points in the contest with Gil Cummings, Marcus Smith, and Johnathan Logan scoring seven points each. Coach Ace rallied his troops in the locker room as the Jackets were better than ever when they came out for the second half.

Offensively, Antonio Reddic paced the Jackets after having scored only two points in the first half. He came out and scored eight points in the third quarter to bring the Yellow Jackets right back into this ball game. Logan also came out of the locker room with a hot hand as he hit two big three pointers to pace the Yellow Jackets offense.

Defensively, Isaiah Prince came off the bench and played almost impenetrable defense. He got in the face of the Valor shooters and caused multiple turnovers on the evening. Prince also added a big three point shot in the third quarter and was an essential part of bringing the Yellow Jackets back in this game.

The Jackets were able to score 31 points in the third quarter compared to the Valor's 21 to pull back into the game cutting the lead in half as the Valor now lead 87-77. The energy in The Neighborhood Academy was brought up as the Yellow Jackets crept closer and closer to coming back in the game. The Yellow Jackets saw their opportunity last week but didn't come through and they did not want a repeat in this game.

Reddic continued his strong second half in the fourth quarter putting up 14 more points. However, it was Isaiah Prince and the Jackets defense that kept the game close as they caused many bad shots that would not fall in the net. This allowed the Jackets to pull within two points of the Valor late in the ball game. The stage was set, the shot was taken, but unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets their hopes of winning the game just bounced off the rim and they had to settle for the 95-93 loss dropping their record to 3-3 on the season.

Reddic lead the Yellow Jackets offensively on this night scoring 22 points in the contest. He was joined in double digits by Lawrence Baker, 15, Johnathan Logan, 13, and Isaiah Prince, 10. For the Valor Jamahl Brown lead the way with 24 points and he was helped by Winston Veney's 16 points on the evening. This will be another tough pill for the Jackets to swallow, but they will bounce back like they always do better than ever.

Steel City Yellow Jackets Player of the Game: Isaiah Prince

Defense was key to the Yellow Jackets comeback on this night and Isaiah Prince provided just that for the Yellow Jackets throughout the second half. He knocked down several shots and caused turnovers that allowed the Yellow Jackets to control the ball in their territory. He also finished in double digits in scoring finishing with 10 points on the night including a three point shot in the third quarter of play. Prince was the reason the Yellow Jackets were able to come back on this night and that crowns him player of the game.

Up Next:

The Yellow Jackets will have a quick turnaround as they take on the Reading Wizards Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. in Reading Pennsylvania. It will be the Yellow Jackets first time away from the firendly confines of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The Yellow Jackets will be looking to get back on track as they have dropped each of their last two games to fall to 3-3 on the season. This team will dust off its boots and get back to work as they always do. Be ready to catch the buzz.