UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel King Rice named Coach of the Year
Former UNC basketball player King Rice has been named NABC Coach of the Year
Monmouth University men’s basketball head coach King Rice has been named the National Association of Basketball Coaches District I Coach of the Year. It’s the third time in six seasons that Rice has been the recipient of the award, which was announced by the organization on Tuesday.
Rice was also recently named the MAAC Coach of the Year, his third such time winning that award, too. In fact, each time he has won the MAAC Coach of the Year award, he’s simultaneously been the District I Coach of the Year honoree. District I is made up of players and coaches from the MAAC and America East Conference,
This season, Rice led Monmouth to a 12-8 record, tying fellow MAAC programs Sienna and Iona with 12 conference victories. Rice had three players named to All-MAAC teams this season, including senior guard Deion Hammand, who was also a first team All-District selection in 2021.
https://twitter.com/MonmouthHawks/status/1369673163840315394
Rice just completed his eighth season at Monmouth, and has a record of 108-81 (.571) in that time. Rice was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt for five years prior to his time as the lead man at Monmouth, which followed a three-year stretch as head coach of the Bahamas men’s national basketball team. He had stints as an assistant an Oregon, Illinois State and Providence before that.
Rice graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1991 following a four-year basketball career with the Tar Heels. He played 140 games at North Carolina, starting in 83 of them, and averaged 6.2 points, 4.5 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game. He averaged a career-high 9.2 points, 6.4 assists and two rebounds as a junior, a season in which he averaged a career-best 32.9 minutes per game, and was a starter in 31 of 34 appearances on the court.
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