SHE’S GOT THAT MAGIC TOUCH

SHE’S GOT THAT MAGIC TOUCH

8/20/2019 6:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Promoted to Assistant Coach, Rice Has Been Part of 2 National Championships.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Not that she would ever take credit, but Kaylin Rice seems to have something of a magical touch when it comes to winning basketball championships.

Moving to Waco in 2008, she was a reserve guard on Midway High School's 35-4 state championship team as a sophomore the next spring. In her first year as a student manager at Baylor, the Lady Bears went 40-0 and won the second of three NCAA national championships in 2012.

"It was pretty special," said Rice, who was recently promoted to assistant coach after two years as a grad assistant and the last two as associate director of basketball operations. "You kind of got spoiled a little. You walk in, first year, win a national championship. As a freshman manager, you are kind of naïve at that point to what all goes into it."

Seven years later, she got more a taste of exactly what all goes into it when she assumed the duties of an assistant coach last December while assistant coach Toyelle Wilson was on maternity leave.

"I was able to start doing some of these duties in December when I could go out on the road and be on the floor during practice," she said. "That was pretty special, because in an operations position you can't be as involved. So, just being able to get out there on the floor in practice and help out was great. It was a nice little introduction."

That "little introduction" became even more special when the Lady Bears finished off a 37-1 season with an 82-81 win over Notre Dame in the national championship game in Tampa, Fla. While the 2012 championship was expected, the 2018-19 team had a little more of an unknown factor.

"Chloe Jackson was the first grad transfer this program had ever had, so you don't really know what to expect from that point," Kaylin said. "You like Chloe and what she brings to the program, but how is that going to translate on the floor in a point guard position, a position she's learning? But, Coach (Kim) Mulkey was able to take her under her wing and mold her into the point guard we needed. And ultimately, I don't think we win the national championship without her."

Now, at 26 years old, Rice has what she calls her "dream job" as an assistant coach for a team that will try to repeat as national champions.

"Somebody asked me the other day: 'What's your dream job?' And I said, 'I'm in it.'''

Mulkey recognized Kaylin's abilities as a 16-year-old sophomore basketball player at Midway High School.

"I wanted her to be a manager in our program, because I could tell she had the work ethic and the basketball knowledge to be a great coach someday," said Mulkey, who's had little turnover among her coaches in 19 years at Baylor. "There is not one area of basketball that she cannot do. She is very willing to do anything asked."

Kaylin Rice

Sports have been a part of her life basically since birth. Her father has been a longtime athletic trainer and administrator on the football side, while her mom was a basketball coach until Kaylin's younger brother was born.

"That was my first introduction to the game of basketball," Kaylin said. "I always knew, at a young age, that I wanted to coach, just growing up and being around great coaches and programs. I wanted to play college basketball, but I never really had that dream of playing professionally. It was always wanting to coach, eventually, when I got done with school."

Kaylin Rice

That state championship Midway team included 6-4 post Cokie Reed, who played at Texas; 6-1 forward Delisa Gross, a four-year letterwinner at TCU; point guard Krissica "Spoon" Harper, who signed with Texas Southern; and a junior guard named Makenzie Robertson, Mulkey's daughter, who played for her mom at Baylor and remains on the Lady Bear staff.

"That was as stacked a high school roster as I think I've ever seen," said Kaylin, who started the season on the junior varsity and got moved up to basketball during district. "Makenzie was such a great shooter. Our relationship has grown so much from my sophomore year of high school playing basketball together, being a manager when she was playing at Baylor. We were both bridesmaids for each other's weddings."

Kaylin's dreams of playing college basketball all but died when she tore the ACL in her right knee in each of her last two seasons at Midway. After sitting out her junior season, she tore it again at Midway's M.T. Rice tournament in December 2010.

"That was one of the only games my parents ever missed. They were at the Texas Bowl," Kaylin said. "Coach Mulkey was actually there, and she reached out to my parents to let them know I had gotten hurt. But, she got a hold of me and said, 'I don't know what your plans are, but if you end up coming to Baylor, come work for me.' She knew I wanted to coach, and she knew I loved basketball."

After finishing out her senior year at Midway wearing a knee brace, Kaylin had reconstructive surgery and got to Baylor in time to work the summer camps.

"Right after I graduated, I was up at the Ferrell Center helping Johnny (Derrick) and everybody organize for camps," she said. "That was the first real introduction to the program. Jordin Westbrook, who was just hired back on staff, was the head manager at the time and showed me the ropes of being a manager."

Because she comes from that background, Kaylin has a true appreciation of managers and "what all they do to help make this program go."

"The things that you don't really think about, that's what managers are doing," she said. "The basic things are the laundry, organizing gear, setting up for practice and games, all that good stuff. But honestly, they are always a step ahead in the game in just about every aspect."

After four years as a student manager, Kaylin stayed on as a grad assistant for two years, handling the Dream Team and working with scouting and video after Edsel Hamilton left to take a head coaching job.

Kaylin Rice

"That was probably my biggest jump was from manager to a graduate assistant," she said.

Kaylin graduated from Baylor in 2015 with a degree in secondary social studies education, then earned a master's in sport management two years later. That same month, she married former men's basketball manager Jesse Rice.

"I actually didn't know him from the basketball aspect of it," Kaylin said. "Some of my Dream Team guys knew him, and we started dating. Marriage has been great. We actually just bought our first house. Jesse's already in full swing with school. He's a middle school teacher and coach at Midway Middle School, so he's in football mode right now."

Very little changed when she transitioned to the full-time basketball operations job two years ago, but now Kaylin gets her first shot to coach and recruit.

"I think (recruiting) takes some time to develop relationships with athletes and coaches, but I'm learning from the best in the business," Kaylin said. "I enjoy sitting in the stands with Coach (Bill) Brock and Coach (Sytia) Messer and Coach Mulkey and picking their brains about certain players. "At times, we're not necessarily at the same games, but watching, taking notes, and then coming back to the office and talking about who we saw as a staff has been very beneficial."

Let's see if her magic continues with a team that added a pair of grad transfers in Te'a Cooper and Erin DeGrate and freshman guard Jordyn Oliver to a returning cast that includes All-American forward Lauren Cox and guards DiDi Richards and Juicy Landrum.

"The expectations are going to be high, obviously," Kaylin said. "We know our expectations in the Big 12 and what we're trying to get to in the postseason, which is another national championship.

"Last year, we had six newcomers. There was definitely a learning curve there, some slower practices and a lot more teaching. But, with JO (Oliver) as the only freshman –they've been working with each other during the summer – I'm excited to hit the ground running in September."