Vandals focus on Rice for coaching vacancy

The University of Idaho, searching for a new men’s basketball coach, has contacted Gonzaga assistant coach Leon Rice.

“I’ve been contacted and I’m interested in taking a look,” said Rice, a Bulldogs assistant since 1999. “But right now my priorities are on this Gonzaga team and the upcoming NCAA Tournament.”

The Vandals are replacing Leonard Perry, who was officially dismissed Thursday, the same day Idaho’s season ended with a 68-55 loss to Nevada at the WAC tournament in Reno.

Idaho athletic director Rob Spear declined to identify potential candidates, but he has a set of qualifications in mind.

“The most important thing to me is getting someone from a successful program,” Spear said. “Head coaching experience would be a plus, but it won’t be the driving force.”

The search appears to be centering on Rice, who has extensive experience in the Northwest with assistant coaching stops at Oregon, Northern Colorado and Yakima Valley.

He was co-head coach at Yakima in 1997-98 and the head coach in 1998-99. At GU, Rice’s main responsibilities are coordination of recruiting efforts and game-plan development. The Bulldogs will make their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week.

“He has head coach responsibilities here and makes head coach-type decisions all the time, so he’s more than ready to move up,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of Rice. “That’s the best thing, probably, we have going here is that all three of those guys (assistants Rice, Bill Grier and Tommy Lloyd) all share head coach responsibilities.”

Rice, 42, declined to say when he’ll meet with the Vandals, but there were indications it could take place as early as this weekend. The timing would make sense, with Gonzaga’s NCAA Tournament preparations intensifying after Sunday’s selection show.

“I’m quite far along in the process and, depending on scheduling, we’re going to start interviewing as soon as possible,” Spear said.

Rice interviewed for the Montana job in 2002 that eventually went to Pat Kennedy.

Other names that could surface who also meet Spear’s requirements are Washington assistant Cameron Dollar and Vandals assistant George Pfeifer.

Former Idaho standout Don Newman, an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, said he hasn’t heard from the Vandals, but would at least listen if his phone rang.

“I feel comfortable about being here and it’s been a great opportunity for me and we think we’re back in the race for another (NBA) championship,” Newman said. “You’re talking about college and certainly the Vandals … that’s my neck of the woods and I’ll always have a sweet spot for them.

“I don’t know right now. I’d have to sit back and look where I am. Certainly being a head coach is what my aspirations are.”

Dollar told the Seattle Times last week he would be interested in the Idaho job if it opened up.

Dollar is credited with helping recruit Washington’s nationally ranked classes the last couple of years. He was also a head coach, at age 22, at Southern California College in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Dollar, however, served a one-month suspension after committing 28 recruiting violations in 2002, soon after joining Lorenzo Romar’s staff at Washington, according to a UW internal investigation.

Some of Dollar’s missteps reportedly involved improper recruiting contact with then-Clarkston High standout Josh Heytvelt, a redshirt freshman at Gonzaga.

Dollar didn’t return a phone message.

Pfeifer, who has 27 years in the coaching profession, was 296-208 in 16 seasons as head coach at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston. He led LCSC to six NAIA national tournaments.

Pfeifer declined comment.

Spear credited Perry for his “class and professionalism” in dealing with a tough situation.

“I have the utmost respect for how he’s handled himself and the players because it was a tough year and there were no behavior problems and they competed to the end,” Spear said.

Spear said Idaho will pay Perry for the remaining two years on his contract, but the amount is between $100,000-$110,000 annually and not the $170,000 annually as previously reported.

Per terms of the contract, Idaho doesn’t have to pay the stipend for Perry’s media obligations, which accounts for the difference.

“I enjoyed my tenure here,” said Perry, who was 48-97 at Idaho. “The program is in good shape in everything except wins.”