Introducing Mr. Basketball Candidate 1: Colin Rice

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>As part of our preseason preview content, we're counting down the top 15 candidates for this year's Mr. Basketball award, presented annually to the top senior in the state. Our countdown concludes with our No. 1 player, Waukee Northwest wing [player_tooltip player_id='1978099' first='Colin' last='Rice'].</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Name: </strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1978099' first='Colin' last='Rice']<br><strong>Height: </strong>6-7<br><strong>Position: </strong>SF<br><strong>School: </strong>Waukee Northwest</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 stats:</strong> 338 points (12.5/game), 195 rebounds (7.2), 69 assists (2.6), 42 blocks (1.6), 36 steals (1.3), 134-250 FG (53.6%), 34-90 3P (37.8%), 36-48 FT (75.0%)<br><strong>Career stats: </strong>365 points (9.6), 225 rebounds (5.9), 78 assists (2.1), 43 blocks (1.1), 43 steals (1.1), 145-271 FG (53.5%), 36-97 3P (37.1%), 39-52 FT (75.0%)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>About Rice: </strong>A long, athletic, and highly intelligent two-way threat on the wing, Rice is one of the best all-around prospects to come through the state in recent years. He can score from all three levels, handle the ball and create quality looks for his teammates, and he's a versatile, skilled defender with the size, length, and intelligence to impact the game in a major way on that end of the floor. Rice was fantastic throughout each of the last two summers with [program_tooltip program_id='2075630' first='Martin' last='Brothers'], was really good as a junior on a loaded Waukee Northwest team, and will be the focal point of the attack as a senior. He picked up a slew of high-major offers before committing to play his college ball for Fred Hoiberg at Nebraska. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Why he can win Mr. Basketball: </strong>While Rice doesn't have the overwhelming four-year varsity resume that some of the other players on this countdown feature, and that many recent Mr. Basketball winners possess, he should be the best player on a team that is <em>supposed</em> to be the best in the state this winter. With his ability to dominate games on both ends of the floor, and having the ball in his hands much more this winter, he'll put up some really impressive numbers for a team that is favored to win the 4A title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->