BIO: Andrew Rice was born in Red Hill (England). Rice received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1998. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (1998, 1999).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Andrew Rice made his NBL debut with the Canberra Cannons at 19 years of age. He scored seven points in his first game.

In 1999/00, Rice averaged 4.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.4 assists as a rookie playing for the Canberra Cannons who finished with a record of 11-17 and in ninth place during the regular season.

2001/02
After not being offered a NBL contract in 2000, Rice spent a year playing in the state league competition before getting another chance to play in the NBL, this time with the Townsville Crocodiles.

Rice would put up 9.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.8 assists and play a key role in helping the Crocodiles to a ninth-place finish during the regular season with a 13-17record.

2002/03
During the 2002/03 season, Rice averaged 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists and helped the Crocodiles finish with a record of 19-11 and end the regular season in third place.

2003/04
In the days following their grand final loss to Sydney, Perth choose not to renew Alan Black’s contract and parted ways with him for a second time (he was sensationally sacked in 1990 after just one season as a coach before being brought back in 1998 to replace the outgoing Adrian Hurley. After the change, Perth struggled to retain a lot of the roster which had reached the 2003 NBL Grand Final under Black, with only five players returning for 2003/04. Team captain Ricky Grace, James Harvey, Tony Ronaldson, Matthew Burston and Ben Thompson remained as the club’s core group after losing Brett Wheeler (Sydney) and last season’s leading scorer Rob Feaster (Victoria) after both were asked to take 30% pay cut. They were then replaced with import tandem Reed Rawlings and John Jackson. Young guns Travis Lane and Liam Rush were also signed to fill out the team’s second unit.

Past Wildcat legend Mike Ellis was brought in as head coach and struggled to retain the previous season’s roster, which had reached the Grand Final under Black. Only five players would return, Ricky Grace (team captain), James Harvey, Tony Ronaldson, Matthew Burston and Ben Thompson. Brett Wheeler (Sydney) and last season’s leading scorer Rob Feaster (Victoria) both signed with other clubs after being asked to take a 30% pay cut and replaced with young talent Travis Lane (Sydney) and rookie Liam Rush. Imports Reed Rawlings and John Jackson were both added to round out the roster.

After losing the first two games of the season, Reed Rawlings (12.5 points and 2.5 rebounds) was replaced by Rashad Tucker (17.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.3 steals), who was forced to take over point guard duties when Ricky Grace went down with a injury. During that time set the record for triple doubles in a season, notching up six during his first season with Perth.

This season also saw James Harvey (20.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists) develop into one of the league’s most potent offensive weapons, his scoring increasing by 6 points per game, becoming the team’s leading scorer. while Rice averaged 2.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.3 assists.

In Ellis’ lone season as coach of the Wildcats, the team would record their first losing season (15 wins, 18 losses) since 1986, finishing in the seventh spot after a season destroying team’s at home (13-3) but failing to win on the road (2-15). In a year where the league’s top eight team’s would make the playoffs thanks to a early format of the play-in tournament, the Wildcat’s faced sixth-placed Cairns in a qualification game. There, former Perth guard Anthony Stewart (30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists) led Cairns to victory (103-96) and ended the Wildcats’ season.

2004/05
The Hawks returned to the NBL Grand Final in 2004/05, where they lost to the Sydney Kings. Rice added 8.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.8 assists.

2005/06
In 2005/06, Rice averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds, and helped guide the Hawks to a third place finish in the regular season with a 19-13 record.

2006/07
In 2006/07 Rice averaged 4.2 points and 2.7 rebounds, and helped guide the Crocodiles to a fifth place finish in the regular season with a 19-14 record.

Andrew Rice played seven seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Canberra Cannons, Wollongong Hawks, Perth Wildcats and Townsville Crocodiles. He averaged 6.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 194 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (833 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.