Return of the King - Monmouth Magazine

As a point guard for the University of North Carolina from 1987 to 1991, King Rice led his team to two ACC titles and a Final Four. Last December, he returned to the school for only the second time as a head coach. We followed Rice throughout game day as he reunited with old friends and prepared his Hawks to take on the Tar Heels, who at the time were ranked 9th in the country.

» Rise and shine: Rice heads to the team breakfast and first meeting of the day.

» Family matters: The coach departs for the Dean Smith Center with his wife, Summer, and their youngest son, Julian. Older son Alexander, a sophomore guard for prep school powerhouse St. Anthony’s High School, missed the trip because his team had games.

» Meet with a president—or two: The coach has a laugh with President Emeritus Samuel Magill (below, at left), a 1950 UNC grad, and President Paul Brown.

» Keeping things loose: Rice and Julian squeeze in some one-on-one during the Hawks’ morning shootaround.

» Working lunch: The team watches game film of North Carolina to do some last-minute scouting.

»Final prep: “Play hard, play smart, play together, have fun,” is the team motto.

» Friendly competition: “He’s top notch as a man, as a coach, and as a mentor,” says Rice about Tar Heels Head Coach Roy Williams, who as an assistant to Dean Smith helped recruit Rice to UNC.

»Game face: The Hawks take an early lead and keep it close into the second half before UNC runs away with it late. Final score: 102-74.

»King’s court: “I’m the luckiest guy that, in 1987, Coach Smith gave me a scholarship and it’s made me have a great, great, great life,” says Rice, who played 140 games for the Tar Heels.

»Debrief: “We didn’t have our best night tonight. North Carolina is awesome,” Rice says at the post-game press conference.