Dave Rice, a longtime college coaching fixture in the Western U.S., has agreed to lead the SLCC men’s basketball program. A former head coach at UNLV, Rice most recently served as an assistant coach with Cal Baptist. He has also been an assistant coach at Washington, Nevada, BYU, Utah State, and UNLV. His first full-time college coaching opportunity came at Chaffey College, a community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
"Dave has decades of experience at the highest level of college basketball, is a relentless recruiter, understands what it takes to win, and is extremely well-connected nationally,” SLCC Director of Athletics Kevin Dustin said of the hire. “During the search process, the positive feedback I received was extraordinary. I am grateful Coach Rice agreed to join our terrific staff, where winning, academics, and student-athlete welfare are part of our culture. Coach Rice will be a great fit for Salt Lake Community College, and we are excited for Dave, his wife, Mindy, and their sons, Travis and Dylan, to join our team."
Rice has become synonymous with tremendous success as a player and a coach, winning the 1990 NCAA championship while playing for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels under Jerry Tarkanian. In addition, he played on two NCAA Final Fours teams. Overall, Rice has been part of 16 Division 1 conference championships and 20 Division 1 postseason tournaments, including 14 NCAA Tournaments. A Rhodes Scholar candidate as a student-athlete, Rice quickly moved into coaching after graduating from UNLV, eventually serving under three UNLV coaches (Tim Grgurich, Bill Bayno, and Charlie Spoonhour). During that time, he helped the Runnin' Rebels make two NCAA tournament appearances and five NIT appearances.
Rice's time as the head coach at UNLV resulted in two NCAA tournament appearances, including a victory over top-ranked North Carolina in his first year coaching the Runnin' Rebels. UNLV spent 25 weeks in the AP Top 25, with Rice winning ten games against ranked teams. He also recruited and coached several notable NBA prospects at UNLV, including the 2013 No. 1 NBA Draft pick, Anthony Bennett, and the 2015 No. 17 pick, Rashad Vaughn. During his head coaching tenure at UNLV, he had eight players move on to the NBA, including 4 four players who were selected in the NBA Draft. Rice has played with or coached 31 players who went on to the NBA and is third all-time in head coaching wins at UNLV, behind only Tarkanian and Lon Kruger.
Rice served as an assistant coach at two Utah programs: Utah State under Stew Morrill and BYU under Dave Rose. Utah State qualified for the NCAA tournament in Rice’s lone season with the Aggies in 2005.
While at BYU, he helped lead the Cougars to the Sweet 16 in 2011 while contributing to five NCAA berths for BYU. Rice coached National Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette and SLCC alum Logan Magnusson.
"I believe in recruiting talented players, but I also place a high priority on skill and character," he said. "It is important that I'm the same person every day, pushing our players to be the best they can be through positive reinforcement and holding them to a high standard. The concept of team is critical to our success. The bottom line is the players will get our staff's best every day, and we expect the same from our players."
Rice said SLCC is the ideal destination for developing players and providing opportunities for their future.
"I've been very fortunate to be part of many successful programs and to play with and coach lots of great players," he noted. "It is very important to me that we are competing for championships, but it is equally important to me that we are developing our players to have the opportunity to be recruited to schools where they can have an impact on the court and achieve academically. "
Coaching Career
1991-92 UNLV (Graduate Assistant)
1992-93 Claremont HS (Assistant)
1993-94 Chaffey CC (Assistant)
1994-2004 UNLV (Assistant)
2004-05 Utah State (Assistant)
2005-11 BYU (Associate HC)
2011-16 UNLV (Head coach)
2016-17 Nevada (Assistant)
2017-21 Washington (Assistant)
2023-24 - California Baptist (Assistant)
