When Shane Price arrived on the Augustana campus in the fall of 1978 he was a young (17 years old) college freshman out of Mendel Catholic High School in Chicago with a world of potential despite the fact that he had only started a few games. When he left the Viking fold four years later, he was one of the better post players in a long line of excellence at that position.
Soft spoken, intelligent and easily liked, Price was thrust into the starting lineup as a freshman during the 1978-79 season. Occupying a role on a team with senior stars Glen Heiden and Chet Jacks, Price was able to fit in without having to shoulder much of the scoring load. That would come later in his career.
As a freshman he played in 25 games and averaged 10.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game and was named to the all-tournament team and tournament MVP at the Grand Canyon Invitational as Augustana defeated the number one ranked team in N.A.I.A. He earned honorable mention all-conference honors. The next year an injury slowed him somewhat but he still managed to average 9.1 points and 6.1 rebounds. In his junior season, he was a second team all-conference selection and averaged 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game as the Vikings won the CCIW title and finished second in the NCAA Division III Final Four, which was hosted by Augustana.
During his senior year he averaged 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and once again helped his team win the conference championship. He was a second team all-conference selection as a senior. Another Final Four trip was not in the plans, however, as the Vikings fell to Wabash 54-51 in a quarterfinal game played in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
He still holds the school’s single game rebounding record when he pulled in 27 missed shots on January 6, 1981 against North Central. He led the Vikings in rebounding during three of his four seasons and still ranks fourth on the school’s career rebounding list with 809. The three people ahead of him on the career rebounding list (John Laing, Steve Snow and Bruce Hamming) are all previous inductees into the Tribe of Vikings “Hall of Fame”. Price is also the single season school record holder for field goal percentage with his mark of .650 set in 1981-82 when he made 167 of 257 attempts. He currently ranks fifth on Augustana’s career field goal percentage list at .568 (535-942). He ended his career with 1,221 points and that is 12th on the all-time list.
He was the tournament MVP at the 1982 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and following the 1981-82 season he was named second team on the all-district team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
One of the original members of the Majestic Gents organization on the Augustana campus, he graduated in 1982 with degrees in mathematics and computer science. He currently serves as the CEO of Pri-Com Inc., a position he has held since 1997. He started his work career with State Farm Insurance as a programmer/analysist and held positions at Bank of America (1985-90), American President Lines (1990-95) and Wells Fargo Bank (1995-97) before assuming his current position.
Heavily involved in an organization known as Brothers on the Green with the Northern California Golf Club Association, Shane resides in Dublin, California with his wife Sonia.
