Dr. L. Stephen Rice to be Honored with Athletics Contributor Award
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - In 1980, Stephen Rice received
a phone call to see if he was interested in filling the official
scorer position at Northern Arizona basketball games. He took it
and never looked back.
“I found out three or four months after I was asked to do
this that they were originally looking for my brother, Jim,”
said Rice. “It didn’t matter because I had the job and
I was going to keep it for a long time.”
Long time is an understatement. Entering his 30th season as the
official scorer, Dr. Rice will be recognized Friday night at the
Little America Hotel with the Athletics Contributor Award as part
of the Northern Arizona Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony. He will
join his father, Tuffy, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
1990.
“I was very excited,” said Rice when he was notified
of the honor. “You pack your lunch box when you go to work
everyday. Sometimes people notice and sometimes they don’t.
It was a great feeling to have somebody say, ‘We appreciate
what you have done over the years and this is how we are going to
show it’.”
Dr. Rice began volunteering as the official scorekeeper for the
NAU men's basketball team during the 1980-81 basketball season. He
is a three-time graduate of NAU with a bachelor’s degree,
master’s degree and a doctorate in education. He served as
adjunct faculty for the College of Education from 1983-04,
co-founding the PRAXIS Teacher Preparation Program. Overall, he has
been an educator and principal in the Flagstaff School District
from 1976-04.
Rice, who has collected autographed shoes from his favorite
players, has worked more than 400 games courtside at Rolle Activity
Center and the Walkup Skydome. He has gone through more pencils
than he can count but has just as many memories.
He remembers the games when the court was showered with toilet
paper after the first basket. He kept the school’s official
book at the NCAA Tournament in 2000 in Tucson when the Lumberjacks
took on Cincinnati. There have also been many last-second tip-ins
and overtime contests that have been memorable, but the
four-overtime contest against Portland State last season is one of
his favorites.
“It has been wonderful over the years seeing the young men
grow up during their college years,” said Dr. Rice.
“All of it is great highlights. It is a different kind of
enjoyment that being a spectator.”
NAU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Adras appreciates his
work and longevity in the position.
“The individuals who help out our game operations are the
unsung heroes of our athletic department,” said Adras.
“The game does not go on without them helping us out. Dr.
Rice has been a part of that for as long as I can remember. He has
a deep passion for NAU Athletics because he was raised with it. It
has been a part of Stephen’s life forever and we are the
beneficiary of his passion towards NAU Athletics.”
As a son of a former NAU employee, Rice had been a fan of the
Lumberjacks all of his life. His father, Tuffy, was the bus driver
for the athletics teams, band and choral groups from 1962-90. He
logged over two million miles during his tenure hauling Lumberjack
teams. He was also named the Homecoming Dedicatee in 1973 and
inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.
“I have always been honored for my dad to be given the
opportunity to be in the Athletics Hall of Fame,” said Rice.
“For that to happen to me is just unbelievable. It makes me
feel really good to be in that same circle with my dad.”
Dr. Rice has four children: Gabriel, Stephanie, Ammon, and Colin,
and two grandchildren.
Rice is the third person honored with the Athletics
Contributor Award, an award established in 2007 to recognize an
extraordinary contribution or achievement by someone on behalf of
Northern Arizona University. It is the highest honor given by the
athletics department outside induction to the Hall of Fame, which
is limited to former student-athletes, coaches and staff.
By Steven Shaff, NAU Media Relations
