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Leon Rice, (11-25-63), Washington State University '86, didn't hesitate when head coach Mark Few called and asked Rice to come to Gonzaga University. Rice's hiring on July 30, 1999, completed Few's inaugural staff, and on April 12, 2007, he was promoted to associate head coach. And since becoming a Bulldog, Rice has contributed to the wildest ride in Gonzaga's storied basketball history. In his eight seasons Rice has been a major part of the Bulldogs' NCAA Sweet 16 berths in 2000, 2001, and 2006; a NCAA berth in 2002; a 2003 NCAA second-round appearance that ended with a thrilling, albeit disappointing, 96-95 double-overtime loss to top-seeded University of Arizona and second-round rides again in 2004 and '05. This past season the Bulldogs made their ninth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and Rice has been a part of the last eight. The Bulldogs finished the 2004 season ranked third in the final Associated Press Top 25, and followed that with a No. 10 ranking in 2005 and a No. 5 spot in the final 2006 AP poll. "Coaching both as a head coach and a Division I assistant, Leon has been a fantastic addition to our staff. To be able to get someone with as much experience as Leon has recruiting on the road and knowing the ins and outs of the Northwest was a big advantage for us," Few said at the time of Rice's hiring. "He has grown with this program and has been a great asset for me to rely on the past eight seasons. He'll continue to help lead this program to the next level with his high level of enthusiasm and his positive attitude." Gonzaga is 236-60 in Rice's tenure, including a school-best 29-4 record in 2002 - a record that was matched in 2006 - and a No. 6 ranking in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs received their best-ever seed into the 2004 NCAA Tournament at No. 2. Rice joined the Bulldogs from Yakima Valley College where he served two seasons as an assistant coach and one as co-head coach with the legendary Dean Nicholson, then served as head coach for the 1998-99 campaign. YVC went from worst to first in the first season of the Rice-Nicholson partnership, and in 1999 YVC went 31-2 in capturing its fourth straight Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Eastern Region title. The 31 wins were a school record and came four seasons after Rice and Nicholson inherited a program which had gone 3-20 overall during the 1994-95 season. YVC went a perfect 12-0 in the NWAACC in 1999 and Rice earned his second straight Eastern Region Coach of the Year honor. The duo coached YVC to a 103-26 overall record and 40-8 league record in four seasons. Rice has coached 18 student-athletes who have gone on to play basketball at 4-year schools, including the Bulldogs' Quentin Hall who was a 1999 Gonzaga senior. YVC had six players from the 1999 squad who joined 4-year programs. Few and Rice have known each other for 16 years, the two of them becoming acquainted when Rice was on Don Monson's staff at the University of Oregon and the two worked Monson's camp together. "He's definitely someone you'd want your son to play for. I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for Mark," Rice said. "He has the character and values of someone I'd like to work for." Rice received his B.A. in physical education from Washington State University in 1986 and his M.A. in athletic administration, management and program development from Oregon in 1991. After one year of high school coaching, he began his collegiate career as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon in 1989, then served two seasons as a fulltime assistant coach for the Ducks. He was the head assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley for three seasons prior to going to YVC. Rice and his wife, Robin, have three sons, Brock (1997), Max (1999) and Kade (2003). |
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