Particularly Painful Question Leaves Idaho’s Rice Stumped

The question made Idaho senior basketball player Mindy Rice uncomfortable. She squirmed, hesitated, hemmed and hawed.

“Who ate your lunch last year in basketball?” she was asked.

Long pause. “You want teams, individuals?” Rice says through gritted teeth.

“Individuals.”

“Uhm,” she stutters.

“It’s OK to admit failure once in a while.”

“Well, uh, a lot of times I got burned,” Rice finally forces out. “I really had to work on my defense. That’s the weakest part of my game. I couldn’t tell you individual people.

“That’s a painful question.”

Well, wasn’t that like a trip to the dentist’s office, Mindy?

Perhaps because failure is so foreign to Rice that it is difficult for her to utter the very word. Failure, of course, being a relative term in its application here.

Last year, the former All-American volleyball player took a bit of time off after her senior season of spiking and joined Idaho’s basketball team already in progress. In the process, she went from a volleyball team that qualified for three straight NCAA tournaments to a basketball team that would finish 5-21.

Consider Rice one of the main reasons for the five wins. She averaged 17 points, nine rebounds, shot 57 percent from the field and 69 percent at the foul line.

Doesn’t sound like failure, does it?

It isn’t. It’s just that Rice is more brutal in self-analysis than Siskel and Ebert reviewing a Jim Carrey film.

And if Rice learned anything about herself in adapting from a successful program to a struggling one, it’s that she needs to cut herself some slack.

“I learned that I still love the game (of basketball) and I learned I need to be more patient with myself. It was like being a freshman all over again and I had to learn a new philosophy and all the fundamentals I’d forgotten,” said the 6-foot-1 Rice, days before Idaho officially opens its season against Simon Fraser on Sunday.

“You can never get enough of the competition.”

After four years as one of the best volleyball players in UI and Big Sky Conference history, she turned to basketball, a sport she had exceled in at A-3 Rimrock High in Grandview, Idaho.

Now she’s back for her senior year of basketball and she’s better than ever.

“Toward the middle of the (1994-95 basketball) season, I felt much more in shape, but by that time I was getting tired from the whole year,” Rice said. “I’m in shape now.”

“It’s interesting. Everybody says, ‘What a great player Mindy was last year,”’ UI coach Julie Holt said. “I told her, ‘Mindy, you and I both know you weren’t very good last year, relative to how good you’ll be this year and how much you’ve improved.’

“She’s been with us from day one, through all the footwork and conditioning. No one is harder on Mindy than Mindy. It’s sometimes to the point of me reminding her it’s OK for her to make a mistake - she is human.”

Rice figures she’ll be better this season because players surrounding her will be better.

“I want to do my part,” she said. “I don’t really feel like I need to score 25 points a game. If I do, great. If not, no big deal. I really want to be a leader and show where this program is going.”

Idaho was picked to finish seventh in preseason polls, but Rice and Holt foresee a smaller number.

“I think we’ll make a huge jump this year, if everything comes together, which I think it will,” Rice said. “I’d rather just show them (the pundits) they’re wrong.”

“She’s going to have people keying on her, but the fact she is surrounded by better players and players that can finish (score), she’ll help us even more,” Holt said.

Rice offers glowing praise of the supporting cast, which includes point guard Ari Skorpik, guards Kelli Johnson and Melisa McDaniel, and interior players Michelle Greenwood, Natalie Hawks and Jennifer Stone.

“I’m confident people will step up and do their jobs,” Rice said.

Rice, who carries a 3.2 grade-point average, said there’s a slim chance she’ll play pro volleyball overseas next year. More likely is Rice student-teaching next fall and eventually coaching - volleyball and basketball, of course - at a small high school.

No matter what path she chooses, don’t expect failure to follow along.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO The roster and schedule of the Idaho women’s basketball team, 5-21 overall last season, 3-11 in the Big Sky Conference.

Rosters Name Ht Position Year Hometown Jill Ortner 5-5 Guard Junior Kettle Falls, Wash. Kelli Johnson 5-10 Guard Sophomore Moscow, Idaho Natalie Hawks 6-0 Forward Junior Rexburg, Idaho Jill Morris 5-10 Guard Senior Moscow, Idaho Ari Skorpik 5-5 Guard Junior Kennewick, Wash. Melissa McDaniel 5-7 Guard Sophomore Grandview, Idaho Mindy Rice 6-1 Center Senior Grandview, Idaho Michelle Greenwood 6-0 For/Cen Junior Spokane, Wash. Jan Ackerman 6-0 Forward Senior Cody, Wyo. Sarah Blakley 5-10 Forward Freshman Boise, Idaho Heather Beard 5-8 Guard Senior Twin Falls, Idaho Jennifer Stone 6-2 Center Freshman Craigmont, Idaho

Schedule (Times PDT) Nov. 19 vs. Simon Fraser 7 p.m. Nov. 28 vs. Gonzaga 7 p.m. Nov. 30 vs. Lewis-Clark State College 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at Sacramento State 7 p.m. Dec. 8 vs. Idaho Tournament 7 p.m. Dec. 9 vs Idaho Tournament (consolation, championship) 5 or 7 p.m. Dec. 12 vs. Washington State 7 p.m. Dec. 16 vs. Portland 3 p.m. Dec. 29 at Wichita State TBA Dec. 30 at Kansas State TBA Jan. 5 at Loyola-Marymount 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at Pepperdine 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 vs. Idaho State 7 p.m. Jan. 13 vs. Boise State 7 p.m. Jan. 18 vs. Eastern Washington 7 p.m. Jan. 19 vs. Southern Utah 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at Weber State 6 p.m. Jan. 27 at Northern Arizona 6 p.m. Feb. 2 vs. Montana 7 p.m. Feb. 3 vs. Montana State 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at Boise State 6 p.m. Feb. 10 at Idaho State 6:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at Eastern Washington 7 p.m. Feb. 22 vs. Northern Arizona 7 p.m. Feb. 24 vs. Weber State 7 p.m. March 1 at Montana State 6:30 p.m. March 2 at Montana 6:30 p.m. March 8-10 at Big Sky Tournament TBA