UNC Basketball Alumni

Complete coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball Alumni.

Despite result, Rice revels in Tar Heel family reunion

It was more like a Tar Heel family reunion than a basketball game Sunday when North Carolina played Monmouth at the Smith Center. That became evident during pregame introductions when the opposing coach, former Tar Heel point guard King Rice, received an extended standing ovation from the better-than-expected New Year’s Day crowd of 18,614. (Wilmington Star News)

Rice, Phelps, Reese return in UNC win

When Monmouth coach King Rice was introduced Sunday afternoon at the Smith Center, the standing ovation went on for so long that tears started to well. “When the crowd did that, and then I thought it was over but it kept going -- it got me, it really got me. And I almost started crying,’’ said Rice, who is in his first year as a head coach. (ESPN.com)

Always a Tar Heel, Rice has happy homecoming

The mind of University of North Carolina head coach Roy Williams is a little foggy after so many years and so many players. He’s pretty sure he went to go see former Tar Heels player and current Monmouth University head coach King Rice play in a football game for Binghamton High School in the late-1980s, but he’s not quite certain if that’s his earliest memory of Dean Smith’s point guard on the 1991 Final Four team. (Asbury Park Press)

Beyond the blowout: Interesting scene unfolds in Rice's return to UNC

The idea had been shot down in the locker room minutes before, but when King Rice returned to the Smith Center floor and noticed Lennie Rosenbluth seated nearby, he immediately invoked his coaching veto power. Monmouth indeed would start Sunday afternoon’s game with Jesse Steele, a 5-foot-8 point guard, stepping into the tip-off circle and “jumping” against North Carolina’s 6-11 John Henson. (Burlington Times News)

History sticks with Monmouth's former Tar Heels

King Rice was making his way down a hotel hallway the other day when a woman stopped him. Staring at him, she said he looked familiar but just couldn't place him. "Well, I hadn't been down here in a long time," Rice began to say. "Flat top?" she said. "Yeah, King Rice. That's it!" (Fayetteville Observer)

Monmouth's visit to UNC recalls memories

A coach or player from each of UNC's five NCAA Tournament championship teams was in attendance for the Tar Heels' 102-65 demolition of Monmouth. But far more intriguing than any of John Henson's dunks, Harrison Barnes' jump shots or Kendall Marshall's nifty assists was this unique collection of winners and how this Carolina family connects all previous eras. (Fox Sports Carolinas)

Thad: King's Homecoming

For most Carolina fans, the tilt with Monmouth on Sunday was an opportunity to see the Tar Heels in a low-stress, feel-good environment. For three decorated former Tar Heels, the game was a quite a bit more—a homecoming, a brutal test, and an early measuring stick for a rebuilding program. (Inside Carolina)

UNC-Monmouth: Postgame Quotes & Audio

On the UNC coaching tree: "It was started by Coach [Frank] McGuire and Coach [Dean] Smith enhanced it in every area. I feel very fortunate to just be the guy who's sort of in charge of it. And I say sort of in charge, because I don't know if I'm in charge or if those guys in the short pants are in charge. This program is the best basketball family there is in college basketball." (Inside Carolina)

Three things to know: Monmouth at No. 5 North Carolina

Biscuit watch: In what has become a long-standing arrangement, a fast-food joint (Bojangles) has agreed to offer discounted sausage biscuits the day after the Tar Heels score 100 or more points. If North Carolina can break the century mark for the third time this season, walk-on David DuPont could be part of it. He’s scored the Tar Heels’ 100th point twice this season. (Fayetteville Observer)

UNC hopes to burn Rice in coaching return

Monmouth is coached by former North Carolina point guard King Rice, who’s in his first year at the West Long Branch, NJ, school. Two of Rice’s assistant coaches are Tar Heels from the same era — Derrick Phelps, also a former point guard, and Brian Reese, an athletic forward during his playing career. Phelps and Reese were starters on UNC’s 1993 NCAA championship team. (Shelby Star)

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