April 16, 2004

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State head men's basketball coach Stew Morrill announced today the hiring of Dave Rice to the Aggie staff.

Rice has spent the last 11 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas which is the second-longest tenure ever for an assistant in that program. During his 11 years at UNLV, Rice worked under four head coaches in Jerry Tarkanian, Tim Grgurich, Bill Bayno and Charlie Spoonhour. Over the last eight years, UNLV has played in the postseason seven times and has averaged 20 wins per year.

"Dave is an exciting addition to our coaching staff," said Morrill. "His variety of duties at UNLV has prepared him to wear many hats and I am confident he will do an outstanding job in all areas of our program. Not only is Dave an excellent coach, he also is a quality person with high character."

Prior to his 11-year tenure at UNLV, Rice served as an assistant coach for one season at Chaffey (Calif.) College helping that team to a 32-6 record and an appearance in the California State Final Four. He also spent one season as an assistant at Claremont High School as that team went 21-7 and reached the CIF quarterfinals.

"I'm really excited to join coach Morrill and his staff," said Rice. "I have followed the Utah State program very closely and have been really impressed with the quality of the program they have built both on the court and in the classroom. As a player and coach I have had the opportunity to come to Logan and I have been very aware of the great support of the fans and their commitment to the Aggies."

Rice, who earned his bachelor's degree in political science from UNLV in 1991 and his MBA in 1993, was a member of the Runnin' Rebel's 1989-90 National Championship team and the 1990-91 Final Four team that won a school record 45 consecutive games including 31 straight away from home. Rice was also a two-time UNLV Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a Rhodes Scholar candidate.

Prior to signing at UNLV, Rice began his playing career at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., were he earned all-South Coast Conference honors as a sophomore as well as being chosen as the 1989 California Junior College Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Rice was born in Pomona, Calif., on Aug. 29, 1968 and graduated from Claremont High School in Claremont, Calif., in 1986. He and his wife Mindy have two sons, Travis (6) and Dylan (1).

Morrill also announced on Friday that current assistant coaches Don Verlin and Tim Duryea would each be elevated one position.

"Coach Verlin has been with me for 11 years as an assistant and has proven many times over his value to our program," Morrill added. "It's always a pleasure to elevate deserving people that you know are capable of handling new challenges. Don will continue to be very important in all aspects of Aggie Basketball.

"Likewise, Tim has shown during his time at Utah State that we are fortunate to have him. He is excited to take on new responsibilities and I have no reservations that he will handle them in a first-class manner. Assistant coaches provide the backbone for any Division I program and we can feel very good about our situation in that regard."