Fueled by another high-major upset, Monmouth’s next step of rebuild already in overdrive

Head coach King Rice celebrates Monmouth’s win at West Virginia, the ninth high-major team his Hawks have defeated in his tenure. Monmouth hosts Princeton Saturday. (Photo by Gary Kowal/Monmouth University Athletics)

King Rice has been through the rebuilding process before when moving up in a conference. So when his Monmouth team defeated West Virginia a week ago, the upset in Morgantown was hailed not so much as unprecedented as it was the latest sign that his program is ready to take its next significant leap forward.

After taking over a program at the bottom of the Northeast Conference and quickly restoring its reputation in just two years, Rice did the same when the Hawks left the NEC and joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, taking Monmouth to the precipice of the NCAA Tournament in its third year in the MAAC. And following a 1-20 introduction to life in the Coastal Athletic Association last year, the progress has shifted gears yet again in a similar timeline.

“It’s college basketball,” Rice surmised. “Last year, we got beat up pretty badly. And just with the way the world is, when you’re down, a lot of people pile on and when you’re living it, it’s your life. So that was a very hard year. I have a family, I’ve got kids, and they get beat up, but it’s not their fault. For us to be able to come back, I knew we had a better team this year.”

“If we’d have played a little better down the stretch, maybe we could have one the first game (at George Mason). But I’m watching these kids come in every day with great attitudes, with great energy, and we’re just trying to make Monmouth basketball what it’s supposed to be. That’s the kids playing together, kids sharing the ball, a toughness on defense, but having fun while you’re doing it. And I think we’re starting to feel that again.”

Xander Rice is no stranger to Monmouth’s past success and highest of highs. The son of the head coach, Xander experienced the halcyon days while he was in high school, sitting on the end of the bench while Justin Robinson took the Hawks on a captivating ride that ended in 55 games and a pair of MAAC regular season championships. But to actually get to participate in a season-changing win such as the one over West Virginia, the junior Rice said, is a much different feeling from being a spectator while Monmouth took down the likes of UCLA and Notre Dame.

“It was awesome,” Xander recalled. “Like you said, I was around for all those good teams that he had and all those big wins the guys had. I was super close with those guys and I really looked up to those guys when I was in middle school, high school, all that stuff. They always looked out for me. But it was the culmination of a lot of things, a lot of hard work paying off, a lot of history, so it was an awesome moment to share with me and my team.”

While the Rice family has grabbed the majority of ink in headlines related to Monmouth basketball due to Xander's homecoming and decision to play for his father, the Hawks’ supporting cast the Hawks has done more than its share as well through the first two contests of the season. Sophomore Jack Collins tallied a double-double in the win over West Virginia, while point guard Jakari Spence — a non-scholarship player — silently makes his teammates better on every possession and Jaret Valencia continues to blossom in the frontcourt. A rising tide lifts all boats, but the entire fleet is making headway with the current to prosper on this journey.

“Jack Collins is just a special young man,” King Rice proclaimed. “A lot of people didn’t give him a chance. We almost messed up too and didn’t end up getting him. He was a three-sport star, he could play football, basketball and baseball, and now he’s here. And he had as good of a freshman year as anybody we’ve brought in here. Most kids sit on that and act cool, but he went overseas on a European trip, went over there and kept working as he always does, he had a big-time summer shooting the ball. Now as a competitor, he competes harder than anyone and he wants to prove to you that he can outplay you individually and our team can outplay you. Nothing surprises me with him.”

“I gotta praise Jakari, man. He’s come here as a walk-on and this kid has just worked, man. He’s definitely the Energizer bunny on our team. This is his second year starting and we’re fortunate that he has another year, but this man is doing all this work as a non-scholarship guy. Now Jaret, on the other hand, is as talented as anybody that’s come here in a long time, and he’s showing it early. He’s so versatile and he isn’t even scratching the surface yet. For him to be impact (games) the way he is already is incredible.”

Monmouth has a tall order ahead Saturday when it welcomes Princeton back to the Jersey Shore for the latest installment of one of the strongest rivalries in New Jersey basketball. At 3-0 on the young season, Mitch Henderson’s Tigers already have a pair of resonant wins on a neutral floor against Rutgers and at Hofstra, Monmouth’s CAA rival. Having faced Princeton previously in his career, Xander Rice knows what to expect, and insists he and his teammates will be well-prepared.

“I think for us, our biggest thing is we just have to be super disciplined,” he said. “They’re just a solid team, they have a lot of good players, a lot of guys who could shoot it. We have to focus on us and what our principles are defensively, and on offense, just take our time and get the shot that we want. They’re really good at getting you to kind of rush on offense and get outside of yourself, so I think our biggest thing is just to take our time and know that when we’re playing together and playing through our system, we’re pretty hard to guard.”