UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel signs lengthy extension

Former UNC basketball player King Rice has inked a new contract extension that will keep him at Monmouth for the next five years.

Monmouth University has given a five-year contract extension to men’s basketball head coach King Rice. Terms of the deal, which was announced on Monday afternoon by university president Patrick Leahy and athletic director Jeff Stapleton, were not disclosed.

Rice was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches District I Coach of the Year in 2021 for the third time in the last six seasons. He was also the recipient of the MAAC’s Coach of the Year award, his third such time earning that honor since joining the conference in 2011. Furthermore, each time that he has won one of the aforementioned awards, he’s simultaneously won the other.

Rice led the Hawks to a 12-8 record last season, tying fellow MAAC programs Sienna and Iona with a dozen conference victories. He had three players named to All-MAAC teams, including senior guard Deion Hammond, who was also a first team All-District selection.

The former Tar Heel guard just completed his 10th 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 current post, which followed a three-year stint as head coach of the Bahamas men’s national basketball team. He also worked as an assistant at Oregon, Illinois State and Providence from 1992 to 2000.

Rice graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1991 following a four-year basketball career with the Tar Heels. He played in 140 games during his time at UNC, and was a starter in 83 of them. He 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 personal-best 32.9 minutes per game, and was a starter in 31 of 34 appearances.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on King Rice, and the UNC basketball program.