PULLMAN, Wash. —
In his third year in Pullman, Myles Rice has finally received his opportunity to shine on the basketball court for the Washington State men's basketball team.
He is now WSU's leading scorer, the leader to receive the PAC-12 freshman of the year award and the floor general of a Cougar team on the cusp of its first NCAA tournament berth in 16 years.
The journey to this point has been a difficult one for Rice. It all began with being recruited during Covid.
"Coach Smith and the coaching staff watched film and live streams and we got on Zoom and they showed me how much they really loved me and believed in me and wanted me to be a part of their program and I thought to myself if they can take a chance on me, it would not hurt for me to take a chance on them," Rice said.
Rice stepped foot on campus in the summer of 2021 and had to battle with Michael Flowers, Noah Williams and Tyrell Roberts for playing time. After a strong competition, WSU head coach Kyle Smith decided to roll with his veteran players and redshirt Rice.
"We had a couple of older guys that were good and you could tell that Myles's talent was on par, he was just younger and I did not know if he was mature enough to lead a veteran group of guys and now we will never know because we did not let him. Now I am like, maybe we should have," Smith mused.
Rice took that year as an opportunity to learn and grow his game and was ready to accept an important role on the 2022-2023 edition of the Cougs, but on September 12, 2022, everything changed.
Rice went to the doctor to get a lump in his neck checked out and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He had to relay that horrible news to his mother, Tamara, on her birthday.
"Having to break that news to her was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but she stayed strong for me and let me know that everything was going to be okay. My parents being my rock through my chemotherapy journey was everything I could have asked for," Rice said.
After losing another year battling cancer, Rice was declared cancer free on March 9, 2023. Then the process began to build back his strength to return to the sport he loves.
"It was a mixture of don't rush yourself and understanding there is a level of expectation that you need to be at. It was definitely a little challenging at times especially mentally. You would say to yourself, 'Am I really cut out for it here and there?' Just pushing through that wall when that doubt tries to creep in, you have to knock that out and just keep working," Rice said.
Coming into this season, Rice earned a starting role alongside Joseph Yesufu in the Cougar backcourt. Coach Smith was impressed with the progress Rice continuously made to return to the court.
"He is just a big believer in himself and others and he has a charisma that he is able to inject into others. Each milestone he hits, he does not take too many steps back, he keeps moving forward," Smith said.
The Cougs began the season 8-1 and Rice proved early on that he would be a main focal point of the WSU offense along with newcomer Isaac Jones.
"I think a lot of us at the beginning of the season were trying to prove we belonged at this level, but as the season has gone on, we have settled into our roles and realized we need to band together as a collective unit to keep on winning and get to where we want to go. We have improved each and every game," Rice said.
After Yesufu went down with a season ending injury, Coach Smith turned the point guard role over to sophomore Kymany Houinsou to lighten Rice's load and keep him at the shooting guard position.
Soon thereafter, Smith realized allowing Rice to run the point gave his team the best chance to win and turned to his redshirt freshman to take over the keys to the offense.
"He wanted to get me more assimilated into the offense and have me make a little more decisions. He did not want to just throw me into the fire and put everything on my plate at once, so he did it gradually and since he put me at the point guard, we have been able to take off and I am grateful for it, I love it and I love the way that we have been playing as a team," Rice said.
"He has been even better than expected. With him being your quarterback and being able to do what he is doing in his first year has really raised the level of what we can be," Smith said.
Rice has now won six PAC-12 freshman of the week awards and is leading the Cougs to a level of success the program has not seen since 2008, which is no surprise to his teammates.
"God keeps blessing the kid. He is extremely talented and is probably the fastest person I have ever played with when the ball is in his hands in transition, he just gets to go. When I took a visit here and played against him I was like, 'Yo, this kid is pretty good,' and then we found out he had cancer. He battled it and beat it and everyone is rooting for him and he keeps us all going," graduate forward Isaac Jones said.
With Rice as the leader of a team filled with guys with chips on their shoulders, the Cougs are on the verge of an AP top 25 ranking and an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 2008 and the first time in Kyle Smith's career.
"We expect to win every game, so the success that we are having right now is no shock to any of us. That belief that we belong here and that we can go out there and compete with the best, that is where it all stems from. I definitely see us being a tournament team, now we just need to go out there and execute it," Rice said.
Throughout his battle with cancer, Rice and his father Joel came up with the phrase, "All you need is one," to help Myles get through his treatment. Now, that phrase has new meaning for the budding superstar.
"We just need one more opportunity. As long as we have the opportunity to prove that not just me, but Washington State belongs and we can go out there and prove to everybody in the country that we are here and we are here to stay and can compete with the best night in and night out, that is all we can ask for," Rice said.
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