Boise State Athletics
Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- leonrice@boisestate.edu
Hired by Boise State on March 26, 2010, Leon Rice enters his 17th season as head coach of the men's basketball program in 2026-27.
The winningest coach in program history, Rice has guided the Broncos to five NCAA Tournament appearances and 13 20-win seasons at the helm. Since taking over, Rice has led the Broncos to 336 wins, which ranks 47th in the nation during that span.
Last season, Rice coached the team a 20-12 record, securing 20 wins for the fifth-straight season. Additionally, Rice (170) surpassed Steve Fisher (168), former San Diego State head coach, for the most regular season conference wins in Mountain West history.
The previous year, Rice eclipsed the 300-win plateau, becoming just the second head coach to reach 300 victories in the Mountain West. He guided the team to 26 victories, an appearance in the Mountain West Tournament Championship, and an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Crown held in Las Vegas. Boise State finished one win shy of tying the program's all-time single-season win total.
The Broncos had two all-conference honorees (Tyson Degenhart - first team; Alvaro Cardenas - second team) and Javan Buchanan as the Mountain West's Sixth Man of the Year. Degenhart also became the school's all-time leading scorer and eclipsed 2,000 career points.
In the 2023-24 campaign, the Broncos amassed a 22-11 mark and reached the NCAA Tournament for the third-consecutive year. It marked the first time in program history that Boise State made the 68-team tournament in three-straight years.
Rice’s efforts in the 2022-23 season culminated in a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season. It marked just the second time Boise State reached March Madness in back-to-back seasons, and the first since 1993-94. Finishing the year 24-10 (13-5 MW) and second in the Mountain West, the Broncos defeated three Power-5 teams (Washington State, Colorado, Texas A&M).
Despite the established track record, Rice and the Broncos raised the bar yet again during the 2021-22 campaign. Boise State set program bests for total wins (27), conference wins (15) and consecutive wins (14), on its way to winning the Mountain West regular-season title outright and capturing the Mountain West Tournament crown—both firsts for the program. Rice was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year for his efforts, his second time claiming the award.
Boise State stood alone atop the conference that season, going 15-3 in league play. The record still stands as the most conference victories and best conference winning percentage for single season in program history.
That season, Boise State entered the championship as the top seed for the second time as a member of the Mountain West and went on to not only reach the title game for the first time, but hoisted the trophy at the end of the week with a 53-52 win over San Diego State.
The win also made the 2021-22 Broncos the fifth team in Mountain West history to win an outright regular-season championship and the tournament title in the same season.
Boise State accomplished the feat without a single first-team all-conference performer. It was the first time in Mountain West history that a team won the regular-season title outright without a player named to the all-conference first team.
Two Broncos were named to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team—Abu Kigab and Emmanuel Akot. Kigab collected Most Valuable Player honors.
The dream season culminated with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Boise State earned the No. 8 seed in the West Region—the highest seed in program history.
It was the first time in team annals that the Broncos were the better seed in a tournament game. The tournament appearance was Rice’s third with the Broncos, following the first two at-large bids in program history in 2013 and 2015.
Rice became Boise State’s all-time wins leader during the 2020-21 season, passing Bobby Dye with his 214th victory. That season, the team went 19-9 overall and were 11-1 at home.
From the 2010-11 season through the 2019-20 campaign (10 seasons), Boise State was 1-of-33 Division I schools nationwide to amass eight 20-win seasons and 1-of-17 to do so with the same head coach leading the way:
| Arizona | Sean Miller |
| Baylor | Scott Drew |
| Boise State | Leon Rice |
| Creighton | Greg McDermott |
| Duke | Mike Krzyzewski |
| Florida State | Leonard Hamilton |
| Gonzaga | Mark Few |
| Iona | Tim Cluess |
| Kansas | Bill Self |
| Michigan State | Tom Izzo |
| North Carolina | Roy Williams |
| Oregon | Dana Altman |
| Saint Mary’s | Randy Bennett |
| Villanova | Jay Wright |
| Virginia | Tony Bennett |
| Wichita State | Gregg Marshall |
Boise State joined the Mountain West prior to Rice’s second season (2011-12) as head coach. In the 15 years as a member of the conference, Boise State and San Diego State were the only teams to have 12 or more seasons with 20 overall wins. Over the last five seasons (since 2021-22), the Broncos and Aztecs are the only Mountain West teams to win 20+ games each year.
Boise State’s first Mountain West title came under Rice’s guidance in 2014-15. After starting conference play with three losses, the Broncos reeled off 14 of their next 15 to claim a share of the crown and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Rice picked up his first conference coach of the year award.
His personal accolade was one of many postseason honors for Boise State that season, which boasted MW Player of the Year Derrick Marks and MW Newcomer of the Year James Webb III. Marks became the first All-American in school history, making the Associated Press honorable mention team. Marks was also named first-team all-league and United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District, while Webb added second-team all-league and all-defensive team honors.
Rice was also named USBWA District VIII Coach of the Year, and was the first Boise State head coach to earn the distinction. He garnered NABC District 17 Coach of the Year honors as well.
Boise State also cracked the top 25 in the Associated Press Poll for the first time in school history in 2014-15, checking in at No. 25 in the March 9 poll. That team won 25 games, which was tied for the school record, and was selected as an at-large team to the NCAA Tournament. The bid was Boise State’s second in three years.
The NCAA Tournament at-large selection in 2012-13—the first in school history—was a product of 21 impressive wins.
The Broncos also posted two road wins over ranked opponents in 2012-13, more than Boise State had combined to win in school history (one). Boise State finished tied for fourth in the Mountain West, which was the top-rated conference in the country per the RPI.
The Broncos led the MW in scoring average (73.2) in 2012-13, and were also one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country, ranking 11th nationally (.391) from beyond the arc. Boise State was also 25th nationally in free throw percentage (.747).
Under Rice, Boise State has appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) three times and the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) once. The Broncos won four games across those four tournament appearances.
In addition to wins, Rice’s head coaching tenure has also been marked by player development. Among the highlights: the two highest NBA Draft picks in Boise State history (Chandler Hutchison and Justinian Jessup); the program’s first All-American (Derrick Marks); Boise State’s first and third all-time leading scorers (Degenhart and Anthony Drmic); the first Bronco to leave early for the NBA Draft (James Webb III); and a walk-on who turned into an all-league performer and an NBA G League standout (Derrick Alston, Jr.).
Rice became Boise State’s seventh head coach March 26, 2010, and wasted no time making his mark on the program. In 2010-11, Rice put together the finest campaign for a Boise State first-year men’s basketball head coach, one that culminated in an appearance in the Western Athletic Conference tournament championship game.
After falling one game short of the NCAA Tournament, Boise State was selected to play in the CBI, and advanced all the way to the semifinals.
The Broncos went 22-13 (.629) in his debut season, making Rice the winningest first-year head coach in school history. The Broncos also reached the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational and surpassed 20 wins for just the ninth time since becoming a four-year institution (1968-69).
The 22 victories were tied for the fifth most in school history, and signified the fifth-largest turnaround all time at Boise State.
One-of-54 first-year head coaches nationally, Rice was one of only 14 to reach 20 wins. Five of the coaches to accomplish the feat at their respective institutions were in their first years as Division I head coaches, but of those five, only Rice inherited a team with a losing record.
Rice joined the Broncos after spending the previous 11 seasons at Gonzaga, where he served as an assistant (1999-2007) before being promoted to associate head coach (2007-10). In his final season with the Bulldogs, Rice helped lead Gonzaga to its 10th-consecutive West Coast Conference regular season title, with a conference record of 12-2, while finishing 27-7 overall.
At Gonzaga, Rice worked under head coach Mark Few and played a major role in the Bulldogs’ NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his seasons in Spokane. Gonzaga earned Sweet 16 berths in 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2009, and reached the second round in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010.
Rice helped lead the Bulldogs to five top-10 appearances in the final Associated Press Poll, including a No. 3 ranking in 2004. Gonzaga also finished fifth in 2006, sixth in 2002 and 10th in both 2005 and 2009.
The Bulldogs went 291-73 in Rice’s tenure on the Gonzaga staff, including a school-record 29-4 mark in both 2002 and 2006.
Rice joined the Bulldogs from Yakima Valley College, where he served two seasons as an assistant coach (1995-97)Â before becoming co-head coach (1997-98) with the legendary Dean Nicholson and head coach (1998-99). YVC went from worst to first in the debut season of the Rice-Nicholson partnership, and in 1999, YVC went 31-2 en route to capturing its fourth-straight Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Eastern Region title.
The 31 wins were a school record and came four seasons after Rice and Nicholson inherited a program which had gone 3-20 overall during the 1994-95 season. YVC went a perfect 12-0 in the NWAACC in 1999 and Rice earned his second-straight Eastern Region Coach of the Year honor.
The duo guided YVC to a 103-26 overall record and 40-8 league mark in four seasons. Rice coached 18 student-athletes who went on to play basketball at four-year schools, including the Bulldogs’ Quentin Hall who was a 1999 Gonzaga senior. YVC had six players from the 1999 squad who joined four-year programs.
Rice received his bachelor’s in physical education from Washington State in 1986 and his master’s in athletic administration, management and program development from Oregon in 1991. After one year of high school coaching, he began his collegiate career as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon in 1989, and then served two seasons as a full-time assistant coach for the Ducks. He was the head assistant coach at Northern Colorado in Greeley for three seasons prior to going to YVC.
Rice and his wife, Robin, have three sons: Brock, Max and Kade.
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| Rice Coaching Timeline | ||
| 1987-88 | Pasco High School (Wash.) | Assistant Coach |
| 1988-90 | Oregon | Graduate Assistant |
| 1990-92 | Oregon | Assistant Coach |
| 1992-95 | Northern Colorado | Assistant Coach |
| 1995-97 | Yakima Valley College | Assistant Coach |
| 1997-98 | Yakima Valley College | Co-Head Coach |
| 1998-99 | Yakima Valley College | Head Coach |
| 1999-2007 | Gonzaga | Assistant Coach |
| 2007-10 | Gonzaga | Associate Head Coach |
| 2010-Present | Boise State | Head Coach |
