Courtesy of MonmouthHawks.com
HOUSTON, TX – Monmouth basketball head coach King Rice has been named John McLendon National Coach of the Year, his first national honor. The John McLendon award is presented annually to the top collegiate head coach, encompassing Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA and JUCO. Rice, the MAAC, ECAC and NABC District I Coach of the Year, led MU to a program record 28 wins and an outright regular season title in 2015-16.
Rice earns the honor after leading Monmouth to a program-record 28 victories this season. He has already notched three Coach of the Year accolades after earning MAAC, NABC District I and ECAC Coach of the Year. Rice posted 17 league victories, including an 11-2 mark at home and a nation-leading 13 road tallies. He secured Monmouth’s first regular season title in 11 years and the top seed in the conference tournament while knocking off five high-major programs in the non-conference.
He coached three All-MAAC performers, including Player of the Year and AP Honorable Mention All-American Justin Robinson, MAAC Rookie of the Year and all-conference third team member Micah Seaborn and third-teamer Deon Jones.
The John McLendon award is presented annually to the top collegiate head coach. McLendon became the first African American coach to win an integrated national championship. His team went on to win the NAIA Division I Men’s Tournament in 1957, 1958 and 1959, making him the first coach in history to win three consecutive NAIA championships.
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