On February 5, 2020, Josh Rice surpassed his father, Jon Rice (’90), for 18th on the all-time scoring list for Men’s Basketball at Eastern Nazarene College (ENC). Josh and his dad are the first father-son
duo to appear on the all-time scoring list in the history of ENC men’s basketball. The Rice family
bleeds basketball, especially when it comes to playing at ENC.

Josh Rice has been playing basketball ever since he could walk. He played football and
baseball throughout elementary school and middle school, but nothing stuck with him as
basketball did. His father coached him throughout his youth until high school. “Having three
boys, we played a lot of two on two games,” said Jon Rice about raising his sons. It was always
Ben and I versus Josh and Ty.” These were fun and memorable moments but also competitive,
which pushed the boys to work harder.

Josh Rice and his father, Jon Rice, pose after a game. 

Choosing to play with the number 33 was an easy decision for Josh. Taking the same number
that Larry Bird played with, Josh’s favorite Celtic of all time, was influential. He also wanted to
carry on what his previous high school captain, Shane Devlin, did for their program at Whitman
Hanson High. Josh looked up to Shane like a role model. “He was a really great shooter, really
hard worker, and a really smart kid,” said Josh.

Josh has had a very successful basketball career due to the amount of time and effort he
has dedicated to the game. However, he explained that he would not be able to score many
points at all without the help of his teammates. “I have been very blessed my entire basketball
career with really great playmakers: guys who can handle the ball, beat the defense, and find an
open shooter in the corner, which usually happens to be me.” He looks forward to the playoffs,
seeing that the Lions are in a strong position, being one of the best teams in the conference. “I
definitely think we can make some waves and win the conference championship,” said Josh. He scored his 1,000 points on November 22, 2019. Josh remembers it falling on his parents’ shared birthday.

Josh’s youngest brother, Ben Rice, is currently senior at Whitman Hanson high school. His
father shared, “ENC is one of the schools that Ben is strongly considering.” Ben is being
recruited by some Division II colleges but has not made a decision where he will play yet. Josh
shared “I obviously want him to be a Lion, but if he thinks he would be more successful or
happier somewhere else, then I would hope that he pursues that, I hope he doesn’t feel like he
has to come here, but if he does then that would be really cool.”

ENC will have to wait and see if the Rice legacy will continue.