Huskies hire ex-UNLV coach Dave Rice as men’s basketball assistant

The Washington Huskies announced Tuesday that Dave Rice, the former head coach at UNLV and an assistant last season at Nevada, will join the UW men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach.

The hire completes the assistant coaching staff of first-year coach Mike Hopkins, who was hired March 17 to replace Lorenzo Romar. Rice, 48, joins Will Conroy and Cameron Dollar on an assistant staff comprised of coaches with considerable west-coast familiarity.

A native of Pomona, California, Rice compiled a 98-54 record in four-plus seasons as head coach at UNLV before being fired amid a 9-7 start during the 2015-16 season. He had spent 20 years as an assistant before that, starting as a graduate assistant at UNLV in 1991 — he had played there the two previous seasons — then moving on to stops at Chaffey Community College (1993-94), UNLV again (1994-2004) and BYU (2005-11) before landing the head job at UNLV.

“I have tremendous respect for coach Hopkins,” Rice said in a statement released by the school. “He is a terrific basketball coach, and it’s evident that he makes a significant difference in the lives of his players, both on and off the court. There is a great tradition at the University of Washington, and I’m excited to be a part of this staff to build upon that history. Our family looks forward to joining the thriving community of UW and Seattle.”

Rice spent the 2016-17 season as an assistant under coach Eric Musselman at Nevada. Hopkins, a first-time head coach, now has two assistants on his staff (Rice and Dollar) with a combined 13 seasons of Division I head-coaching experience.

“Dave is a proven winner,” Hopkins said in a statement released by the school. “He has extensive coaching experience, not only as an assistant but as a head coach as well, and will be a huge asset to our program. Everywhere he has been has seen unprecedented success, and he has also had a huge impact on the student-athletes he has worked with, both on and off the court. He’s succeeded at a high level and has seen firsthand what it takes to put together a strong group that can make a run in the postseason. We’re thrilled to have him on staff and know that he will fit into the Husky family immediately.”

This story was originally published April 4, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Huskies hire ex-UNLV coach Dave Rice as men’s basketball assistant."