WORLD EVENTS A TALKING POINT FOR KING RICE...
WEST LONG BRANCH – Monmouth coach King Rice was emotional as he spoke at his post-game press conference Friday. And it had nothing to do with his team’s 70-65 loss to Saint Peter’s in a key late-season MAAC clash.
Rice was a senior point guard at North Carolina when the Gulf War broke out 31 years ago, with the Tar Heels’ game against North Carolina State on Jan. 16, 1991 called off just 30 minutes prior to tipoff. His North Carolina teammate Pete Chilcutt’s older brother, Mike, was a 24-year-old Marine stationed in the Middle East at the time.
So as television coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the news cycle this week, the scenes hit close to home for Rice. “I remember when I was 21 and that happened, and if Pete Chilcutt’s brother hadn’t been shipped off to war to Iraq I probably wouldn’t have been as tight about it,” Rice said. “But we were sitting there getting ready to play NC State and he is in there crying, and it was just a wild time back in 1991.”
Rice, who was honored in a pregame ceremony after becoming Monmouth’s all-time winningest Division I coach earlier in the week, has always worn his emotions on his sleeve.
When the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside-down, he spoke passionately about the emotional toll it was taking on young athletes. And when Black Lives Matters protests erupted across the country in 2020, he was fully engaged with his players on the issues.
So he took the time to address the current crisis within the Hawks’ locker room in the days leading up to Friday’s game.
“I’m watching this stuff and I’m trying to get my kids to understand what is going on in the world,” he said. “We are so spoiled here because we get to play basketball games and all these things and people are dying in the world right now because of a war that shouldn’t be happening.
“I said to our guys, ‘just think if someone came right now and took all of our stuff and said we couldn’t leave this building and if you went outside they might shoot you. Just think if that was happening here, guys.’ We aren’t even slowing down. Everyone went to class, was at practice on time, is going out to eat, all these things, while people are getting bombs dropped on them.”
Rice brought up several examples of the invasion’s impact on the basketball world locally, with former St. Anthony standout Lucky Jones, a Monmouth antagonist during his Hall of Fame career at Robert Morris, narrowly escaping Ukraine, where he plays professionally, before the invasion. And Rice’s North Carolina teammate and former Monmouth assistant Brian Reese is coaching for a Turkish team that was about to leave for games in Russia.
Now Monmouth faces a quick turnaround when they travel to Albany, New York to take on Siena Sunday.
“I’m watching stuff on Twitter, moms and grandmothers going up to Russian soldiers," Rice said. "This is some crazy stuff going on in the world and I’m trying to get ready for a basketball game. We’re so fortunate that we’re from the United States and I get to be the coach at Monmouth and I get to go out here in front of these people and we try to entertain them. But sometimes there’s heavier things going on.”
WEST LONG BRANCH – Monmouth coach King Rice was emotional as he spoke at his post-game press conference Friday. And it had nothing to do with his team’s 70-65 loss to Saint Peter’s in a key late-season MAAC clash.
Rice was a senior point guard at North Carolina when the Gulf War broke out 31 years ago, with the Tar Heels’ game against North Carolina State on Jan. 16, 1991 called off just 30 minutes prior to tipoff. His North Carolina teammate Pete Chilcutt’s older brother, Mike, was a 24-year-old Marine stationed in the Middle East at the time.
So as television coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the news cycle this week, the scenes hit close to home for Rice. “I remember when I was 21 and that happened, and if Pete Chilcutt’s brother hadn’t been shipped off to war to Iraq I probably wouldn’t have been as tight about it,” Rice said. “But we were sitting there getting ready to play NC State and he is in there crying, and it was just a wild time back in 1991.”
Rice, who was honored in a pregame ceremony after becoming Monmouth’s all-time winningest Division I coach earlier in the week, has always worn his emotions on his sleeve.
When the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside-down, he spoke passionately about the emotional toll it was taking on young athletes. And when Black Lives Matters protests erupted across the country in 2020, he was fully engaged with his players on the issues.
So he took the time to address the current crisis within the Hawks’ locker room in the days leading up to Friday’s game.
“I’m watching this stuff and I’m trying to get my kids to understand what is going on in the world,” he said. “We are so spoiled here because we get to play basketball games and all these things and people are dying in the world right now because of a war that shouldn’t be happening.
“I said to our guys, ‘just think if someone came right now and took all of our stuff and said we couldn’t leave this building and if you went outside they might shoot you. Just think if that was happening here, guys.’ We aren’t even slowing down. Everyone went to class, was at practice on time, is going out to eat, all these things, while people are getting bombs dropped on them.”
Rice brought up several examples of the invasion’s impact on the basketball world locally, with former St. Anthony standout Lucky Jones, a Monmouth antagonist during his Hall of Fame career at Robert Morris, narrowly escaping Ukraine, where he plays professionally, before the invasion. And Rice’s North Carolina teammate and former Monmouth assistant Brian Reese is coaching for a Turkish team that was about to leave for games in Russia.
Now Monmouth faces a quick turnaround when they travel to Albany, New York to take on Siena Sunday.
“I’m watching stuff on Twitter, moms and grandmothers going up to Russian soldiers," Rice said. "This is some crazy stuff going on in the world and I’m trying to get ready for a basketball game. We’re so fortunate that we’re from the United States and I get to be the coach at Monmouth and I get to go out here in front of these people and we try to entertain them. But sometimes there’s heavier things going on.”
