 Postgame interview in 2016 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Boise State |
| Conference | Mountain West |
| Record | 290–166 (.636) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | November 25, 1963 Richland, Washington, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Washington State ('86) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1989–1992 | Oregon (assistant) |
| 1992–1994 | Northern Colorado (assistant) |
| 1996–1998 | Yakima Valley CC (assistant) |
| 1998–1999 | Yakima Valley CC |
| 1999–2010 | Gonzaga (assistant) |
| 2010–present | Boise State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 290–166 (.636) |
| Tournaments | 0–5 (NCAA Division I) 3–3 (NIT) 2–1 (CBI) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Leon Paul Rice (born November 25, 1963) is an American college basketball coach, and the head men's basketball coach at Boise State University of the Mountain West Conference. He replaced Greg Graham as head coach of the Broncos on March 26, 2010.[1]
In his first season, Rice led Boise State to the finals of the WAC tournament and to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational. He is the first Boise State head coach to win twenty games in two of his first three seasons and has twenty or more wins in nine of his twelve years. In 2013, he guided the Broncos to their first ever at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. In 2015, he led the Broncos to their only Mountain West regular season championship, Boise State's first conference title since 2008, and was named the MWC coach of the year. On February 13, 2021, Rice became the winningest head coach in Boise State history with his 214th victory.
Previously an assistant coach at Gonzaga for eleven seasons, Rice was newly promoted head coach Mark Few's first outside hire in July 1999.[2][3] He is cited by Few as being instrumental to the Bulldogs' current and past success. According to Few, Rice occasionally created stories about what opposing student sections were saying about Gonzaga star Adam Morrison in order to pump him up prior to games.
On May 5, 2022, Coach Leon Rice was named as an assistant coach for Team USA[4] and helped lead them to the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship.
- ^ "Boise State hires Rice as new basketball coach". March 26, 2010.
- ^ "Yakima coach joins GU men's staff". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). July 31, 1999. p. C6.
- ^ "Leon Rice named men's basketball coach". Gonzaga University Athletics. July 30, 1999. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ "Leon Rice". Archived from the original on May 28, 2022.