Collin Mitchell is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain Pointe for AZPreps365.com.

Typically, a head coaching job comes with a goal of winning a state championship or winning a select number of games in a season. For Mountain Pointe basketball head coach Kaimarr Price, it has always been about more than sports.

Developing a roster with diverse perspectives and upbringings has helped form the family-like bond the Pride hold today on and off the court. Educating his team on diversity, equality and inclusion is paramount to Price, and it has translated into an ample amount of success for Mountain Pointe, which has won at least 15 games in each of his first two seasons.

“Each person is judged based on their character and not what they look like, what their gender is, where they were born or what their economic status is,” said Price. “They’re judged based off of the character they have.”

Over the past year, with equality, diversity and inclusion in the spotlight more than ever before, there has never been more of a key time for Price to rally his team together.

Following the tragic killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Jacob Blake, the Mountain Pointe boy's basketball team decided they needed to step up.

Not only did they make their voices heard, but they also paired up with Ahwatukee foe Desert Vista. The two teams held a “Rivals for Justice” march in the preseason, making the 4.2-mile trek from Mountain Pointe to Desert Vista while peacefully holding up signs in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“We saw the bigger picture of what this is when we took the walk,” said sophomore shooting guard Aiden Price. “It’s much more than sports.”

Kaimarr Price credits his parents for putting him in diverse situations growing up. Ever since he started coaching, he’s brought a “student approach” to understanding different ways of life.

“[Kaimarr Price] is always speaking on it and making sure our voices are heard,” said Aiden Price. “It’s nothing new to us. He’s kept us well educated on what’s going on in the world.”

Mountain Pointe is also home to Tomas "Tomi" Stevens, a junior forward who grew up bouncing around different European countries. Stevens is a prime example of someone who has been exposed to numerous cultures and languages, in addition to struggles with inclusion.

Born in England, Stevens moved around Germany and the Czech Republic, struggling to speak German and Czech before his family emigrated from Europe across the pond to the United States to reside in Arizona.

“It was definitely hard in school,” said Stevens. “It was a disaster in the Czech Republic. It’s tough to fit in when you don’t speak the language.”

When Stevens began attending Mountain Pointe, he noticed he was welcomed right away. In a diverse atmosphere, inclusion is key, and the Pride seem to have found their perfect mesh.

“Our team is really diverse – we have a lot of different backgrounds,” said Stevens. “I really like it because everyone gets along and we’re all friends.”

Since Kaimarr Price took over as head coach, the Pride have appeared in the Arizona 6A boys basketball championship in back-to-back years.

Price has made it clear that success on the court is just a small representation of the development of the team. The pride that Price places on evolving his players into mature adults and educating them on the world has factored into their accomplishments.

“I’ve tried to create an environment where everybody can be themselves,” said Kaimarr Price. “Whether that’s with Black kids, white kids, Asian kids, Hispanic kids, it doesn’t matter – if everybody can be their authentic self, that’s good enough for me.”