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Alaina Rice didn’t know if she’d return to SU for the 2023-24 season. She was going through a stretch of poor performances amid the 2022-23 campaign, prompting Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack to text Rice an encouraging message.

The first-year head coach expressed interest in coaching Rice another season, saying that “nobody’s given (Rice) the belief that they believe in her.”

“Selfishly, I love her. But secondly, I think that she needed to come back to get some foundation underneath her so now that when she leaves us and goes out in the world, she’s gonna be ready and more equipped,” Legette-Jack said.

Rice waited until after the season to decide her future, eventually choosing to come back to SU for her third and final year. She returned to play for Legette-Jack, who is Rice’s fourth coach at the collegiate level and the only one she’s played under for multiple seasons. She’s on pace to set career-highs in almost every statistical category, nearly doubling her scoring average (11.3 points per game) while knocking down nearly 41.5% of her 3-pointers.

Rice heavily considered leaving SU in the offseason, according to her mother Lakenya, whether it’d be the transfer portal or exploring professional options overseas. Yet she bet on herself, sparked by Legette-Jack’s faith in her.

Lakenya said her daughter is a calculated individual who wants to make decisions for herself. Ever since high school, Rice always had the final say.

“We’ve always told her look, you can try it. And if you don’t like it, that’s fine, but you have to finish it and then you move on after you’re done. But we don’t quit in the middle. That’s how she’s always been,” Lakenya said.

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At previous programs, Rice dealt with instability stemming from constant coaching changes. A promising freshman season at FAMU, which ended with a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year win, was derailed when head coach Kevin Lynum left the program on April 22, 2020. Rice transferred to Auburn two days later.

Lynum was a major reason for Rice’s commitment to FAMU. Lynum, now the Norfolk State head coach, saw Rice at Brandon Clay’s unsigned senior event in Atlanta during spring 2019. Despite being the interim head coach at the time and having only one scholarship left, Lynum admired Rice’s game and instantly wanted her to join the Rattlers.

“A lot of times when you go to these unsigned senior events, you get kids trying to put up 20 shots because they feel like this is your last chance…She didn’t do that,” Lynum said. “She allowed the game to come to her. She made excellent decisions. She took the right shots. She didn’t force anything.”

In her lone season at FAMU, Rice averaged 10.3 points per game while shooting 32.1% from 3-point range. After practice, she stayed to shoot with graduate assistant Kelsey Jones. Rice said she was “intentional” with everything she did, working on shots she’d get within the offense, coming off ball screens and making reads in the paint.

Then, after spending the 2020-21 season at Auburn, Rice entered the portal again. This time, she found a home in Syracuse, committing in July 2021. After a year under then-head coach Vonn Read, Legette-Jack took over at the helm, providing Rice with a chance to prove herself once again.

Instead, Rice still had mixed success, coming in and out of the starting lineup. She had seven games scoring in double figures, but 20 with five or less points. She pondered leaving again.

Lakenya hounded Rice over the offseason about her decision, encouraging her to make her final season memorable. It got to the point where Rice didn’t want Lakenya to ask anymore but the decision eventually came. She was staying.

“I have always trusted myself because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here right now. So at the point I am in my life, I’m happy,” Rice said.

Then Rice did what she’d do in any regular offseason. She got to work.

Lynum often ran into SU assistant coach Khyreed Carter while traveling to different AAU events. The first time was in April 2023 at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Carter revealed Rice was putting in the work and felt she was “going to be very good for (Syracuse)” in the upcoming season. Carter repeated the same message when they crossed paths in Pittsburgh in July.

The work Rice put in, not just this past offseason but her entire life, has culminated into her best statistical year.

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“It’s not just one season that got me to where I am today,” Rice said. “It’s been multiple seasons like I’ve always worked hard so to see it finally like showing the surface is something different.”

The consensus response when asked what the difference has been this season is simple — Rice is having more fun.

Watching from afar, Lynum sees a more free-flowing Rice who is making better decisions with the ball. Legette-Jack has noticed the same. The second-year SU head coach felt Rice never had fun because of the constant coaching changes she went through.

Fun was a word Rice “needed to have to become anything else,” according to Legette-Jack. And it’s shown. On Jan. 10, after practice during weekly media availability, Legette-Jack said Rice had to do an extra sprint because of a missed free throw but she smiled the entire time.

“You wouldn’t have found that in Alaina last year,” Legette-Jack said. “I knew there was something deeper inside of her. I wanted to see if I was right. And 100%. Right, she is having the best time of her life right now on the basketball court.”

When trying to get Rice to return, Legette-Jack explained it would be not only in her best interest but the team’s as well. Legette-Jack was right. This season, Rice has been a solid secondary scoring option outside of leading scorers Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley.

More shots have come Rice’s way, leading to performances like Nov. 25 against Iowa St. when she finished with a career-high 26 points, going 4-for-6 from 3 while playing all 40 minutes. Most recently, Rice’s 16 points and three 3-pointers against Clemson helped spark a 19-point comeback win.

After four seasons at three different schools, Rice finally has a concrete role. It took time but her patience paid off. All it took was a coach to believe in her — and a simple text confirmed that.

“I never thought she’d be this type of player, but I think she has more in her tank. I love that she’s having fun and celebrating after hitting 3s,” Legette-Jack said. “Some people think that’s silly, but from where this young lady came from to where she is now, I’m just so grateful that she could be with me for another year and I can see her to emerge into the player and person she is right now.”

Published on January 17, 2024 at 11:00 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22