Last Season, Mississippi Valley State University made a splash hire by hiring Jackson native, JSU legend, and NBA Champion, Lindsey Hunter as the Men’s Basketball Head Coach. The Devils went 3-27 in Hunter’s first year. After the season, some changes needed to be made. Enter, Darius Rice, another Jackson native and Mississippi basketball legend. He is the nephew of MVSU legend Jerry “World” Rice. Rice starred for Thomas Billups at Lanier High and at the University of Miami where he was recently named an ACC Legend. After college, Rice played professionally for 16 years in the USA and in over 20 countries overseas. After his playing days were over, Rice decided he wanted to teach the next generation of basketball players Last year, Rice coached Petal High School in Petal, MS where he helped develop several young players and also made it his mission to help them find a place to play basketball and continue their education in college. Now Rice heads to Itta Bena where he hopes to help Hunter build Valley back into a winner on the basketball court. Valley fans should expect continued growth and an exciting brand of basketball under Hunter and Rice. I am hoping that top in-state talents will want to commit to playing for Valley with two of the greatest Mississippi High School Basketing Legends recruiting them. This is an advantage that should bode well for the Devils, hopefully in the very near future.