Tulsa World: Friendship follows duo throughout life

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Friendship follows duo throughout life

OSU's Ricky Price and Andre Sexton, shown as teammates at Houston Cypress Falls High School, have played together for the past eight years. Courtesy

By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
Published: 11/27/2008 2:29 AM
Last Modified: 11/27/2008 3:21 AM

STILLWATER — For more than eight years, Ricky Price and Andre Sexton have been bringing out the best in each other.

Whether it was in middle school, high school or as football teammates at Oklahoma State — Price and Sexton have been inseparable.

"It's been a blessing that they have had each other all this time," said Ernest Sexton, Andre's father.

Battles as middle-school rivals brought them together. The bond strengthened when both attended high school together and became ironclad when each decided to continue their playing careers at OSU.

Following Bedlam and OSU's bowl game, the Price-Sexton combo will be no more.

Price, OSU's starting strong safety, is a senior and will graduate next month with a degree in economics. Sexton, a starting linebacker, broke his wrist prior to the start of the 2005 season and redshirted that year. He will be a senior next year.

"I was thinking about that when coach (Mike) Gundy called all of us seniors up at a team meeting recently," Price said. "I only have these last few games left with Andre. Then I'll head off to the real world, and he'll still have another year left here (at OSU)."

But, many memories will remain from when Price was at Truitt Middle School and Sexton was at Labay Middle School, on to high school and college.

There have been some friendly little squabbles over the years. Their middle-school basketball matchups are a point of contention

"He was always hand-checking and fouling me," Price said.

"Nah, I was just D-ing him (defending him) up," Sexton said.

Then came their freshman year at OSU when they had trouble agreeing on the temperature setting for their dorm room.

"Ricky always had it on 50 degrees. It was freezing cold. I couldn't stand it," Sexton said.

"Now, when I go to his room, it's freezing cold in there," Price said.

But both said it was naturual they were able to gravitate toward each other in the first place. Their competitive natures meshed. Their families had similar backgrounds and quickly became friends. Their goals were the same.

"Everything just clicked. It was perfect that we were working together all the time and we grew close," Sexton said. "It was great that we got to do this together in college."

Playing together in college, though, was not always planned.

Before their high school senior seasons in 2004, Sexton had committed to OSU and Price had given a verbal commitment to Missouri.

However, OSU assistant coach Joe DeForest kept tabs on Price. DeForest and OSU head coach Mike Gundy offered Price a scholarship less than a month before signing day in early 2005. The idea of playing closer to home intrigued him. So did the opportunity to continue playing with his friend.

"It's rare to get that opportunity to play together for that long," Price's father, Roderick, said. "But I remember telling Ricky when he was making that decision to choose Oklahoma State for the right reasons, academically and athletically, and not just because Andre was going there."

Nearly four years later, that decision was the best for all parties.

Price has started all four years. His first two were at wide receiver before switching to defense last season. He is OSU's third-leading tackler this season with 64 stops. Price credits his friend for help making the transition to defense.

"He always helped me to continue to learn the game of football," Price said about Sexton. "He's such a smart guy and that made it a little easier for me when I changed positions."

Sexton, who leads OSU in tackles for the second time in three seasons, was glad Price made the change. Not only was it like high school when they both played on the same side of the ball, but Sexton got to avoid the hard-crunching blocks Price liked to dish out on him during practice.

"It seemed like the coaches did it on purpose because they always sent Ricky in to crack-back block me," Sexton said. "They knew we're both so competitive. But that's way it works with us. We've always made each other better."

Matt Doyle 581-8316
matt.doyle@tulsaworld.com By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer

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Rhymeister, Tulsa (11/28/2008 7:45:24 AM)

Lucky guys it sounds like. Nice human-interest type article.

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