Leon Rice

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Leon Rice

| image = Leon Rice 2025.jpg

| image_upright = 1.2

| alt =

| caption = Rice in 2025

| current_title = Head coach

| current_team = Boise State

| current_conference = Mountain West

| current_record = {{winpct|316|177|record=y}}

| contract =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|11|25}}

| birth_place = Richland, Washington, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater = Washington State ('86)

| coach_years1 = 1989–1992

| coach_team1 = Oregon (assistant)

| coach_years2 = 1992–1994

| coach_team2 = Northern Colorado (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 1996–1998

| coach_team3 = Yakima Valley CC (assistant)

| coach_years4 = 1998–1999

| coach_team4 = Yakima Valley CC

| coach_years5 = 1999–2010

| coach_team5 = Gonzaga (assistant)

| coach_years6 = 2010–present

| coach_team6 = Boise State

| overall_record = {{winpct|316|177|record=y}}

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record = 0–5 (NCAA Division I)
3–3 (NIT)
2–1 (CBI)
2–1 (CBC)

| championships = *MWC tournament (2022)

2 MWC regular season (2015, 2022)

| awards = *2× MWC Coach of the Year (2015, 2022)

| coaching_records =

}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=5031502|title=Boise State hires Rice as new basketball coach|date=March 26, 2010}}

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.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=92NWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G_IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6859%2C7770719 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=Yakima coach joins GU men's staff |date=July 31, 1999 |page=C6}}{{cite news |url=https://gozags.com/news/1999/9/28/Leon_Rice_Named_Men_s_Basketball_Coach.aspx |publisher=Gonzaga University Athletics |title=Leon Rice named men's basketball coach |date=July 30, 1999 |access-date=May 17, 2021}} 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{{cite web | url=https://www.usab.com/basketball/staff/r/rice-leon.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528225330/https://www.usab.com/basketball/staff/r/rice-leon.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=May 28, 2022 | title=Leon Rice }} and helped lead them to the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship.

Head coaching record

{{CBB Yearly Record Start|

|type=coach

|conference=

|postseason=

|poll=no

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead|

|name=Boise State Broncos

|conference=Western Athletic Conference

|startyear=2010

|endyear=2011

|}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2010–11

Leon Rice

Head coaching record

Personal

References

External links