Coppell gymnast de-commits from SEC school for first HBCU team

COPPELL, Texas — Coppell High School graduate Morgan Price will make historical past this fall together with her teammates at Fisk University.

“One of my goals in life was to go to an HBCU and be a college gymnast,” Price stated.

In February, Fisk University introduced it will likely be the first HBCU with a collegiate gymnastics team.  

“I was just scrolling through Instagram. I saw it, and I was like ‘whoa’,” Price stated. 

The 17-year-old trains at Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell. She had already dedicated to the University of Arkansas final November when she discovered Fisk’s announcement.  

“I had to call my coach at Arkansas and de-commit,” Price stated. “It was a hard conversation for me because I know I had worked hard for that, and she had given me so many opportunities…Most gymnasts don’t even get an offer to an SEC school. I was super grateful.”

Morgan’s mother, Marsha Price, stated she remembers listening to her daughter making that telephone name. 

“It was like she just decided,” Marsha Price stated. “It doesn’t matter that it’s not NCAA. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, you know. Fisk doesn’t even have a gymnastics training center on-site yet. This was definitely something that was a huge sacrifice for Morgan, but it was the conviction for her.”

Corrinne Tarver, Fisk’s head gymnastics coach, stated she was stunned when she acquired an e-mail from Morgan Price asking about becoming a member of the team. 

“That was a huge leap of faith,” Tarver stated. “It really was. I’m so blessed that Morgan took that leap of faith with me. This was building a program out of nothing. She took that leap, even though I didn’t have all the answers at the time.”

In her recruiting, Tarver stated she’s met many younger Black gymnasts with goals of pursuing the game in faculty however had to decide on between gymnastics and attending an HBCU. 

“It was a story I’d heard from so many of the girls, and I didn’t realize how much of a need it was,” Tarver said. “I knew it was important. I knew the need was there. I guess I didn’t grasp how big of a deal it was.”

Tarver was a gymnast on the University of Georgia, the place she broke information and earned a number of nationwide titles. 

“When I went to Georgia, I was the first Black gymnast to go to Georgia,” Tarver stated. “You could count on your hands how many Black gymnasts were in college gymnastics back then.”

While the area has grown various, she stated an HBCU team will solely push that mission ahead. 

“Now, it’s a different door,” Tarver stated. 

Tarver stated her objective was to recruit 15 girls for her team. She’s met that objective. Now, she stated, she’s being intentional about giving alternatives to gymnasts who could have been ignored by recruiters from bigger faculties. 

“We have the potential to have an absolutely amazing team, so I’m excited about it,” Tarver stated.

When Morgan Price heads to Nashville in a number of weeks, she might be going again residence. She spent her early childhood within the Nashville space and skilled at a fitness center in Lebanon, Tennessee. Her mom moved Morgan and her two sisters to North Texas for extra coaching flexibility and a contemporary begin after their father handed away in a bike accident. 

“Everything we do is for him and for us to be able to make him proud because we know, if he was still with us he would want us to take the chances that we do and work hard every day,” she stated. 

As a part of a rising pattern of Black athletes selecting traditionally Black faculties and universities over bigger faculties, Price stated sustaining and constructing a legacy is her focus. 

“I’m proud of not only me but, you know, other African-American athletes,” Price stated. “It’s kind of like we’re doing it for our ancestors. We’re not just doing it for us. We’re doing it for them. They made these schools.”