King Rice’s 200th win a milestone of not just hardwood success, but overcoming hurdles of life

King Rice (center) won 200th game at Monmouth Saturday, a milestone he credited to those who trusted him when no one else would. (Photo by Monmouth Athletics)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — For better or worse, King Rice has always been, at his core, brutally honest and unafraid to speak his mind.

Never one to mince words, Rice has garnered his share of attention over his 12-plus years as head coach at Monmouth, through ups and downs, successes and setbacks. Some of the extra eyeballs have come after rather deflating losses, in which some of his candid remarks were taken far beyond their intended context, but most of the additional publicity has been earned — legitimately — through his devotion and determination to build a consistent program while also atoning for his past failures and reinventing himself in the process.

Saturday, the former North Carolina point guard earned his 200th win on the bench in West Long Branch after his Hawks scored a come-from-behind victory against Hofstra. It was a seminal moment for the 55-year-old, who admittedly became emotional when discussing the events that led him to the momentous plateau, one he is perpetually indebted to former Monmouth athletic director Marilyn McNeil for allowing him to reach when she offered him the job in 2011 following Dave Calloway's dismissal.

“I’m so thankful to Dr. McNeil,” a humbled Rice reiterated. “I acted like a fool when I was a kid, that limited me getting jobs. It’s just what it is. I played at Carolina, most guys that stay in this business like that, you get one. I had a lot of success with Kevin Stallings, but maybe they were right to not trust me when I was younger to be the head coach.”

“But Dr. McNeil saw something in me 13 years ago, that she thought I was the right person. And I thank her all the time still, to this day. I’m so thankful because she believed in me, and then my son got to grow up here. How incredible is that? Your kids get to grow up on a college campus, and then (Xander) being here and being able to get an education and go to Bucknell. That’s all because Dr. McNeil brought me here. (Xander) having a chance to play for Mr. Hurley, that’s life-changing stuff. The kid who kept getting in trouble at Carolina? The man has all these things now.”

Rice’s abundance of wealth from an accolade sense was by no means handed to him, though. Navigating two different conferences within his first three years at the helm, he strategically guided the Hawks to the Northeast Conference tournament in his second season before going through the wars the following year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2013-14. Despite an 11-21 mark in that transitional year, McNeil reaffirmed her faith in Rice with a contract extension some may have questioned at the time. But with a young core that would soon transcend the MAAC behind the emergence of Justin Robinson, Josh James, Chris Brady, and Micah Seaborn, among others, the trust was handsomely rewarded.

“I’m thankful to the board of trustees at Monmouth and all the presidents we’ve had,” Rice again stated. “When you start your career 33-62, you usually get fired. And they gave me a re-up that year. Then we won 18, 28, 27, and since then, we’ve had a really good program. We’ve had some years where we started terribly and even turned that around.”

“Now it’s been 13 years, (Xander’s) on my team, which is the best thing ever for a dad, and my younger son is watching his brother do this in front of him. Julian plays football, baseball and basketball, but he gets to grow up here in this community and he’s an A-student just like his big brother. So Monmouth has blessed me and my wife, and I’m a kid that came from nothing. We had a lot of love, but my parents made $13,000. We didn’t have anything. And now we have a bright future because Monmouth believed in me.”

As the Hawks continue to climb the ladder and challenge themselves in stronger mid-major leagues, the commitment of the administration to Rice is matched in lockstep. Now, 200 repayments later, the significance is not lost on the man who defied the odds and adversity, but takes on a greater meaning when looking back at what it took just to get this far.

“I’m always going to be thankful for Monmouth for giving me this opportunity,” Rice declared. “And not just this opportunity, but when it wasn’t going great at the beginning, believing in the work we were doing in the community and in the classroom so I could get to  200 wins. A lot of people went into this, so I’m thankful. It’s just cool that you’ve gotten to have a job this long to be able to hit this number.”