UNC Basketball: Rice and Miller lead Monmouth to best start ever

Two members of the UNC basketball family have teamed up to lead the Monmouth Hawks to their best Division I start in program history.

The Monmouth Hawks beat the Colgate Raiders 77-66 on Sunday, extending their winning streak to three games and increasing their season win total to 10. With the victory, the Hawks are now 10-2 on the season and 2-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. It’s the program’s best start in their Division I history, and much of that is thanks to a pair of former Tar Heels.

King Rice, former point guard for the University of North Carolina from 1987 to 1991 that played under legendary head coach Dean Smith, is now in his ninth season as the lead man at Monmouth. Rice, who holds a career record of 170-156, is off to his best start as a head coach, and much of that is due to the roster he’s been able to run out onto the court each game this season.

One of the players that Rice has been glad to have on his squad this season is Walker Miller, a former Tar Heel reserve that transferred to Monmouth following a four-year stint in Chapel Hill. Miller has been really good this season, averaging career-highs in just about everything including points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, and three-point percentage.

Miller, younger brother of former UNC sharpshooter Wes Miller, had another solid performance on Sunday when he scored 15 points on a 7-for-13 shooting performance to go with a team-high eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal. It was the ninth time in 12 games that Miller has hit double-digits in scoring and the fifth occasion he’s pulled down eight rebounds or more.

Monmouth is sitting atop the MAAC standings, currently a half-game ahead of Rick Pitino’s Iona squad. Rice, Miller, and the whole Monmouth program will look to continue their strong play as they now enter the meat of their conference season.

Keeping It Heel will continue to follow them both throughout the course of the 2021-22 season, as well as everything on the UNC basketball program.