Leon Rice

For the Australian rules footballer, see Leon Rice (footballer).

Leon Rice

Postgame interview in 2016
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Boise State
Conference	Mountain West
Record	290–166 (.636)
Biographical details
Born	(1963-11-25) 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
MWC tournament (2022) 2 MWC regular season (2015, 2022)
Awards
2× MWC Coach of the Year (2015, 2022)

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.

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. 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 and helped lead them to the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Boise State Broncos (Western Athletic Conference) (2010–2011)
2010–11	Boise State	22–13	10–6	2nd	CBI semifinals
Boise State Broncos (Mountain West Conference) (2011–present)
2011–12	Boise State	13–17	3–11	T–7th
2012–13	Boise State	21–11	9–7	T–4th	NCAA Division I First Four
2013–14	Boise State	21–13	9–9	T–5th
2014–15	Boise State	25–9	14–4	T–1st	NCAA Division I First Four
2015–16	Boise State	20–12	11–7	3rd
2016–17	Boise State	20–12	12–6	3rd	NIT second round
2017–18	Boise State	23–9	13–5	2nd	NIT first round
2018–19	Boise State	13–20	7–11	T–7th
2019–20	Boise State	20–12	11–7	T–5th
2020–21	Boise State	19–9	14–6	4th	NIT quarterfinal
2021–22	Boise State	27–8	15–3	1st	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2022–23	Boise State	24–10	13–5	T–2nd	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2023–24	Boise State	22–11	13–5	T–2nd	NCAA Division I First Four
Boise State:		290–166 (.636)	154–92 (.626)
Total:		290–166 (.636)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Personal

Born in Richland, Washington, Rice graduated from Columbia Basin College, a junior college where he played football, followed by Washington State University in Pullman in 1986 with a degree in physical education. He later earned a master's in athletic administration from the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Rice and his wife, Robin, have three boys together, Brock, Max, and Kade. The eldest, Brock, completed his freshman basketball season at Northwest Christian University, where he averaged 5.1 points off the bench for the Bearcats. Max is a Graduate Student, playing for his dad at Boise State, as well as Kade who is currently playing his redshirt freshman year.

External links

• Boise State University athletics – Leon Rice
• Gonzaga profile
• Sports-Reference.com – Leon Rice