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Dave Rice joined the BYU coaching staff in May 2005. Rice has 14 years of coaching experience, including 12 seasons at the Division I level at UNLV and Utah State. As a player, Rice was a member of UNLV’s 1989-90 National Championship and 1990-91 Final Four teams that won a school-record 45 consecutive games.
Rice came to BYU from Utah State University, where he helped the Aggies earn a 24-8 record, Big West Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament bid in 2004-05.
In his one season at Utah State, Rice’s coaching duties included working with the offense and coaching the guards. In 2004-05, the Aggies led the nation in field goal percentage (school-record .525) and ranked fourth nationally in scoring margin (+14.6), 10th in assists (17.2) and 20th in three-point field goal percentage (.391).
Rice spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at UNLV, which is the second-longest tenure ever for an assistant in that program. During his time at UNLV as both a player and a coach, the Rebels had 12 players go on to play in the National Basketball Association, six of whom were NBA lottery picks.
While in Las Vegas, Rice worked under four head coaches in Jerry Tarkanian, Tim Grgurich, Bill Bayno and Charlie Spoonhour. In his last eight seasons at UNLV, the Runnin’ Rebels received seven postseason invitations and averaged 20 wins per year.
In addition to his Division I experience, Rice served as an assistant coach for one season at Chaffey (Calif.) College in 1994, helping the Panthers to a 32-6 record and an appearance in the California State Final Four. He also spent one season as an assistant at Claremont (Calif.) High School as that team went 21-7 and reached the CIF quarterfinals.
Rice earned his bachelor's degree in political science from UNLV in 1991 and his MBA in 1993. He was also a two-time UNLV Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a Rhodes Scholar candidate.
Prior to playing at UNLV, Rice began his college career at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., where he earned All-South Coast Conference honors as a sophomore and was chosen the 1989 California Junior College Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He graduated from Claremont High School in 1986.
A native of Pomona, Calif., Rice, 36, and his wife Mindy have two sons, Travis (7) and Dylan (2).
Dave Rice on Coming to BYU: "I have always had tremendous respect for the BYU tradition and am excited to be joining Coach Dave Rose's program. I have great confidence in Coach Rose and his staff and look forward to being part of something special.”
Coach Rose on Rice: “Dave has exceptional experience in all facets of coaching. He is an excellent recruiter and on-the-floor coach, as well as an outstanding teacher of the game. He has always been part of successful programs as both a player and a coach and has years of coaching experience in our league. He is also a tireless worker and a great person. I’m elated to have Dave join our staff.”
Dave Rice Coaching Experience: Claremont (Calif.) High School, Assistant Coach, 1993 Chaffey (Calif.) College, Assistant Coach, 1994 UNLV, Assistant Coach, 1992, 1995-2004 Utah State, Assistant Coach, 2005
