FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2014
Contact:   Craig Fata, Vice President
(844) THE-MPBA / craig.fata@theMPBA.com

ST. LOUIS – Eryck “Rick” Pryor has been named the first-ever head coach of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association’s Chicago Force, the team announced today.

                    Pryor is no stranger to leading a basketball program in the Windy City, with coaching and administrative experience ranging from the Chicago Public Schools to the National Collegiate Athletic Association to a not-for-profit aimed at teaching basketball fundamentals to disadvantaged kids.

                    “Rick brings a tremendous amount of ‘old school’ basketball knowledge, wisdom and skill development he can pass on, and he will mentor and guide our Force players for the next level,” said Force owner Steven Sanders.  “With more than twenty-five years of basketball experience and a Master’s Degree in Education, Rick will impart upon our players his passion and love for the game,” Sanders said.

                    Pryor began his coaching career as an assistant at Chicago State University in 1979, before moving in 1984 to Norman, Oklahoma, to become athletic academic advisor at the University of Oklahoma in 1984 while Billy Tubbs was the head basketball coach.   In 1987, Pryor returned to Chicago to become an assistant at University of Illinois-Chicago, where he served until the fall of 1990, when he was named the head men’s coach at Chicago State University.

                    After leaving Chicago State in 1994, Pryor served in a variety of capacities for the City of Chicago Park District, as well as the City Colleges of Chicago system.  In 1996, he founded Skills Thru Drills, a not-for-profit aimed at teaching basketball fundamentals to inner-city kids, a program he continued to run while becoming a coach and athletic director in the Chicago Public Schools system.

                    Pryor also has professional coaching experience, having led the Chicago Steam of the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Development League tryout camps in 2011-12.

                     “We are truly honored to have a coach with this kind of experience and a true commitment to the community,” said La Chelle Sanders, general manager for the Force.  “His work with the NBA D-league, the ABA, and various collegiate levels will be a great benefit to our players and our program,” Sanders said.

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