By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
April 9, 2010 

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - Mike Rice, after what the Robert Morris University men's basketball coach called "a very interesting last three weeks,'' isn't going anywhere after all.

However, his program sure seems to be headed somewhere.

RMU President Dr. Gregory G. Dell'Omo said Friday the school is making "a firm commitment to building a program that can compete at the highest levels of Division I basketball.''

And that's just fine with Rice, who despite three seasons of dizzying success, thinks the program can achieve even greater things.

"This program can be a Cornell. This program can be a Butler,'' Rice said. "This program can go to new heights. The future's unbelievable here. We're going to continue to build. Who knows where we're going to be in three years?''

Based on what's happened in the past three years, who knows indeed.

In his three seasons at RMU, Rice has guided the Colonials to a 73-31 record overall and to a 46-8 regular-season record in the Northeast Conference. Add RMU's 7-1 record in NEC Tournament games under Rice, and that mark rises to 53-9 against league competition.

The Colonials have won or shared three consecutive regular-season championships. They've played in one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and two straight NCAA Tournaments.

That success earned Rice another contract extension. The school announced Friday that Rice received a one-year extension which carries him through the 2016-17 season.

"He has a tremendous record by the numbers,'' Athletic Director Craig Coleman, M.D., said. "But he's also a great face of the university. He's a unique individual in many respects. This is our way of showing we want him around.''

Friday's announcement, which included plans to enhance the basketball arena at the Charles L. Sewall Center, ended several weeks of speculation about Rice's immediate future.

He became a "hot coach'' because of his success at RMU, and a lot of people thought he'd leave for another job.

Didn't happen.

Oh, Rice did draw interest from other schools, no question. But he's staying.

"I'm definitely not going to lie to you,'' Rice said. "The way my profession is, you tend to win and get out. But I feel comfortable that this is the right place for me right now. I don't have to go anywhere. The grass is not always greener on the other patch. There's a reason I'm staying here. It works.

"I realized how good I had it at Robert Morris, how good the leadership is at Robert Morris. They want this program to be one of the biggest mid-majors there is. Why can't we make an NCAA run like Cornell and Butler did?''

Or become like, oh, say, Gonzaga? Before Butler's magical NCAA run this season, Gonzaga arguably was the model for mid-major success.

"Gonzaga, Butler. Those are schools we can emulate,'' Coleman said.

Coleman said he wasn't surprised Rice had at least a few suitors after this season that ended with a painful 73-70 overtime loss to No. 2 seed Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I'm not surprised that he generated a lot of interest,'' Coleman said. "He's a great coach. Why wouldn't teams be interested in him? But we haven't reached the ceiling here yet. It's not easy to walk away from that.''

There is definitely that factor, too.

For all of his success and achievements at Robert Morris, and there have been plenty, Rice can add more pages to his résumé here.

For example, if he can direct what figures to be a young team to another NEC championship next season, he'd become the first coach to win three consecutive NEC titles.

And maybe he can become the first NEC coach to win a couple games in the same NCAA Tournament.

Sound impossible?

It could have happened this season.

What if the foul-plagued Colonials had managed to hold off Villanova in regulation? Might they have then had a chance to knock off St. Mary's in the second round?

Possibly.

So there's that carrot out there, too.

"No one thought we could do what we did in these three years,'' Rice said. "We definitely set the bar high.''

Now, perhaps, no one thinks Rice and his staff can't raise that bar.

"It's his passion,'' Dell'Omo said. "He truly loves basketball. He truly loves basketball players. He's an excellent teacher. But the moment he walks off the court, it's like he's an accountant.''

That remark drew laughs from the assemblage at the press conference. The fiery Rice an accountant?

However, there's no question that Rice has begun to build a groundswell of enthusiasm for his program at Robert Morris.

"You can't say enough about how this campus has reacted,'' Dell'Omo said. "With his candor and his sense of humor, he reaches out. He's a great ambassador. After that Villanova game, people are clearly recognizing who Robert Morris is. And we're going to continue to pursue excellence. We're going to make plans about what we can do to spruce up the arena.''

Rice cited his staff - associate head coach Andrew Toole, assistants Jimmy Martelli and Robby Pridgen, director of basketball operations Dave Scarborough and video coordinator David Richards - as strong factors in the Colonials' success.

"They deserve a ton of credit. They don't get a lot of credit,'' Rice said. "They do a tremendous job.''

He also credited his players.

"I'm not (the coach) for everyone,'' Rice said. "For these young men to buy into this is incredible. They get it. They get my staff. Their acceptance to be driven every day is (another reason) why I'm staying.''

There are the fans, too.

"The amount of pride our students showed is incredible,'' Rice said. "It's building and it's becoming part of their university lives.''

It's worth noting, too, the academic side of Rice's program.

He said Friday that in his three seasons the program will be 15-for-15 in graduating seniors. He also said the team's grade point average is 2.9.

"And rising,'' he added.

There's something he can also aspire to then - getting that GPA over 3.0.

Truth is, as difficult as it might be to consider, there is more Mike Rice can do at Robert Morris.

So he's staying put.

The program, though, probably won't.

"We're going to do incredible things,'' Rice said.