Rewind Wednesday..... Darius Rice

Welcome to Week 25 of Rewind Wednesday, where we catch up with a former high school standout athlete from Mississippi. This week, we catch up with former Lanier basketball player Darius Rice.

Rice was a first-team All State pick in 2000 and was named Mississippi’s Gatorade player of the Year. (Timmy Bowers was named Mr. Basketball). Rice averaged 24.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists and led Bulldogs to a 5A title as a junior and a 4A runner-up finish as a senior before going on to play with the University of Miami. As a member of the Dakota Wizards, he scored a record 52 points in a win in the 2007 NBDL Championship Game and has spent most of his time since playing professionally overseas. Rice is one of just 13 Mississippians to play in the prestigous McDonald's High School All American Game.

RW: Where are you these days?
DR: I’m  playing in Hungary. We have three more regular season games left and we’re currently in second place. (Rice is currently third in the league in scoring (19 points. And Is No. 1 in 3-pointers made. Former Mississippi State star Winsome Frazier, by the way, leads the league in scoring).  Rice scored 26 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and had 6 steals in lat week’s All-Star Game and fell one vote short of being named MVP).

RW: Where all have you played?
DR: China twice. The Phillipines Puerto Rico. Italy Poland. Uruguay.

RW: What’s it like playing oveseas?
DR: I have been to places where they treat you real well, and I’ve been to places where they treat you bad. But the money is good and the game is good. It’s more physical. The Americans are expected to do so much. We come over here and they beat on us, but when we touch them, it’s a foul. It’s a lot of adjustments. But it’s still fun and it’s still professional basketball.

RW: Do you think you’ll get another shot at the NBA? (Rice has had brief stints with the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers)
DR: I thought I had a real good chance last year. But I had wrist surgery in March. I had a workout with the grizzlies and the Magic this past year but I really wasn’t ready because of the surgery. But it’s healed now and my agent is lining up some stuff for me this summer so hopefully I can get in.

RW: What do you remember the most about your high school days at Lanier?
DR: Aw man I still go back. The last three or four years I have gone back to work with those guys. Those days were the best. Me. Justin Reed. Mo Williams. Jimmy Boykins at Murrah. Mario Myles at Callaway. There was a lot of competition, especially in the city. The city was the best place in Mississippi as far as getting you ready. We all knew each other and just loved to get together and just play ball. And especially Coach Billups. He’s a great coach, especially a defensive coach and he gives you the freedom to play. I wouldn’t have wanted to go to any other school in Jackson. There are so many schools in Jackson and it’s so competitive. You’ve got to come and play in Jackson sooner or later to measure your game. I think Jackson is overlooked a lot. People talk about New York and L.A, but I think I could put the talent in Jackson against any of the 50 states.

RW: How much did Billups help you?
DR: He was tough, a disciplinarian. But my father was too. Sometimes me and Coach Billups had it out, but I still go back to him now. He made me  a stronger person. A better person. Out of all the coaches, he instilled the most in me as far as toughness.

RW: How much pressure was it growing up with that last name and being the nephew of one of the greatest athletes (Jerry Rice) to ever come out of Mississippi?
DR: It was a blessing and  curse. It was good thing because I got to go to all these football games and meet people. But it was a bad thing because a lot of people because when I got to college a lot of people said I never had to work for anything. I was this. I was that. That was the worse accusation anyone could have had because Jerry didn’t aise me. He was my uncle. My father raised me. So nothing was really handed to me. I had to work for everything. So that was tough. I heard from NBA scouts that I never had to work. He isn’t as strong. But people around me knew that I worked just as hard as he worked, Every offseason even now and that’s why I’m still playing today.

RW: What kind of advice would you give a kid today?
DR: If you have a goal, set it high. You can only play this game so many years. Work hard and do the right thing in class. Without school, you can’t do anything. Fortunately I was the valedictorian and I can go back and fall on my degree. And I always tell the kids back home to keep working. Every single day. Because if you don’t , someone else is going to be out there outworking you.

RW: What do you remember about that 2000 McDonald’s All-American?
DR: It was a great experience and I remember the whole week. I had a rough week at first because I had never played in that atmosphere. All those guys were ranked ahead of me. Nobody really looked at me. Darius Miles, Zach Randolph. Eddie Griffin. Gerald Wallace. All those guys were ranked ahead of me. I think I left that game ranke ahead of them. I wish I had come out (and entered the NBA draft). If I could do it all over again, I would have come out after that game. I think that’s one of the biggest mistakes I made. (laugh)
I came off the bench and scored 20 points in the first half. They interviewed my father at the game. You can’t ask for anything better?

RW: What made you go to Miami?
DR: My five visits were Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia tech, Mississippi State and Miami.  I officially committed to Kentucky twice. But Leonard Hamilton was a great recruiter and he had a great class coming in and I knew I could come in and play immediately.  He promised me he wouldn’t go anywhere and unfortunately he left two weeks after I signed and went to coach the Wizards. They wouldn’t let me out of my letter of intent so I could go and play at Kentucky, so I had to ride it out.
RW: Give me your top five guys to play at 833 Maple Street (Lanier).
DR: I’d have to put Jerry Nicholas one. He’s one of the best players to ever play in Mississippi that I have ever watched. Tang Hamilton. Corey Mangum. Me. I’ll have to go with James Thomas. That was my road dog. I can put him on the court right now and he’s the same guy, lightning fast  and can shoot the ball form anywhere. That would be my five.

RW: You know you‘ve had some good players to come through your school when you leave Monta Ellis off.
DR:  Ohhhh, I forgot. Let me go back.. Ok, let’s make Corey the sixth man. (LAUGH). I’ve got to have Monta and James together.

RW: Give me your five to come through Mississippi?
DR: I would say Monta and Jerry at the 1 and 2. I’d go with a 3-guard lineup with Chris Jackson . There are so many. Al Jefferson. Ronnie Henderson. Jessie Pate. It’s really too many. I’d have to do an A-team and a B-team. Justin Reed. Man I can’t do just five.

RW: Where do you see yourself 5-10 years form now?
DR: Five years form now I’ll be about 31, so hopefully I’m still playing. Ten years, I’d like to be coaching and designing video games, working for EA sports. I have a passion for it. I can program a computer from scratch. I’d like to do something liket that where I can work my own hours and coach at the same time.

RW: What level would you want to coach?
DR: I’d want to do it on the high school level. I’d like to work with kids. Once you get to college, you think you know everything. I want to teach the young guys. I go back now and work with coach Billups and those young guys. I’ve worked with (Wingfield’s) Trency (Jackson) and (Callaway’s) Deville (Smith) and I talk to them all the time. I want to help show them the path and get them to where I am and where they want to be and beyond.

RW: You keep up with guys in the city. We announce the Metro Player of the Year on Friday. Who would your vote go to?
DR: Based on this season I would give it to Deville. Him and Andre Stringer (Forest Hill) had good years, but you have to look at what Deville did for that team. He got everybody involved, he could score and just the toughness that he had.

RW: What do you want folks to remember about Darius Rice?
DR: He was the best shooter to ever come through Mississippi. Period. (Laugh) And I will say that to any shooter that has ever come through. I will outshoot them any time, anywhere.


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