Father and Son: Rice Comes Home for Special Season at Monmouth

By John Spinelli

WEST LONG BRANCH – For Xander Rice, his final college basketball season means more than just the game. Although it’s not uncommon for a Two River athlete to compete in their fifth year of eligibility at a New Jersey college, there is something special about West Long Branch native Alexander Rice coming home to play basketball for the Monmouth Hawks: Alexander’s head coach at Monmouth is King Rice, who also happens to be his father.

“This year has already been incredible; it’s been a blessing to see my family in the stands every game,” Xander said, noting the uniqueness of his final season.

Rice comes to Monmouth after playing four years for the Bucknell Bison where he compiled an impressive résumé. Rice was a starter for all 32 games Bucknell played last season, averaging 14.1 points per game and 3.8 assists per game. He shot double figures in 25 of those games and was named to the All-Patriot League team. Rice scored 1,076 points over four years. 

The Two River area is “a great place,” Xander said. “I literally grew up going to Monmouth’s gymnasium as a kid and going to the beach in the summer. There’s something special about the fans, student body, and basketball community here.”

Before college, Rice was a star point guard at (now closed) Mater Dei Prep in Middletown under Coach Ben Gamble and finished his high school career at The Patrick School in Hillside. 

Xander and his teammates have already improved on the Hawks’ 7-24 record from last year to 11-10 overall record this season, 4-4 in the Coastal Athletic Conference. 

“Honestly, the sky’s the limit” this season, Xander said. “We’re a young team this year and there’s a long way to go, but we’re here to compete as we are getting better as the season goes on. We have a good chance to be a championship team in March.”

Joining Xander on the Hawks are other former Shore Conference standouts.

“The Shore Conference is so competitive. You could just see Shore alums play with a chip on their shoulder with guys on the team like Jakari Spence (Toms River North) and Jack Collins (Manasquan),” and Sam Fagan (Manasquan) Rice said. 

This season Xander passed the 1,500-point mark for his collegiate career and scored 12 free throws in one game, another career high. And his father is happy to have him on the court.

“He could have chosen to go to so many large basketball schools, but it was his choice to stay close to his family,” said King Rice. “He was blessed to be able to do this because of the automatic COVID-19 redshirt year in 2020.”

King described the dynamics of coaching his son at Monmouth. 

“With Alexander joining, he’s been an incredible leader and teammate. We don’t talk a whole lot or treat him any differently with him being here. It’s special because initially when he went off to college, I thought something like this would never happen,” he said.

On Jan. 27 against Hofstra, King won his 200th game, another achievement for this historic season.

But no matter how the season ends, the Rice family knows that there is something more important than the game. 

“Even though he lives off campus, Xander is always going to his little brother’s basketball games and having dinner with us almost every night. That just shows the type of man he is,” said his mother, Summer Rice.

Monmouth plays at home Thursday against rival Drexel, ranked first in the conference. The Hawks, currently eighth in the conference, seek to beat the odds and pick up more momentum before the conference championships the first week of March.

This article originally appeared in the February 1 – 7, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.