Price, a Napier City Councillor, says his experience includes working under Tall Blacks assistant coach and recently Fiba-inducted hall of famer Pero Cameron as well as well mentoring national age-group sides to success. He has also engaged in professional development work in the United States.
The Hawke's Bay franchise board had submitted 26 applicants to an independent individual who helped whittle the list of name down to four.
"It was someone who is very high up there in basketball," says Price.
"We wanted to get away from someone who had knowledge of Hawke's Bay and could just look at the applications on their merit and came back to us," says Price.
The franchise then added two more hopefuls to that cull to put them through an interview process before selecting Coronel.
Price says the process treated everyone fairly and equally in what was the first time, since he took over, when the job was advertised and protocol followed.
All the interviews were conducted via Skype, including the Bay applicants, with Price, franchise general manager Kevin Wagg and Basketball New Zealand administrator Natu Taufale forming the presiding panel.
Having deemed Coronel No1, he says the franchise conducted background checks on the New Plymouth-born coach who fitted its mould.
"I refer to him as the young gun of New Zealand basketball coaching and believe he'll one day end up becoming the [Tall Blacks] coach."
He says the intention is to keep Coronel at the helm for three years but, as happens in any code, performance also becomes a yardstick of tenure.
That stance comes on the heels of the five-year contract offered to Kirstin Daly-Taylor although she resigned midway through last season, in just her second term after she was appointed when American Jay Bratschi was general manager.
However, board member and former Tall Black Benny Hill, who stepped in when Daly-Taylor quit was among the applicants but missed out.
"He's naturally disappointed but I'd like to be involved as a member of the Hawks [board] as a basketball representative because of his playing experience," says Price, who was meeting Hill late yesterday.
"He jumped in and bailed us in a very awkward situation as caretaker coach, so I really appreciate it. It's probably a bitter pill for him to swallow but the end result is it's the world of professional coaching," he says, emphasising Hill has a pathway to follow as he's passionate.
