One of the freshman guards for Division III Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA, is old enough to be the other players’ father.
43-year-old Brian Rice spent 24.5 years in the U.S. Navy and recently enrolled in Geneva’s completion degree program with a major in community ministry. A longtime basketball junkie who had offers to play Division II hoops as a high school senior in 1987, Rice is back on the hardwood for the Golden Tornadoes.
“There weren’t very many days in the last 25 years that I didn’t have a basketball in my hands at some point during the day,” Rice told sportswriter John Perrotto. “I wanted to keep playing on a team once I got out of the Navy. I wanted the opportunity to play college basketball.”
The 6-foot-2 Rice is apparently in the great physical shape you’d expect from a lifelong military man, and his personality has allowed him to fit in with teammates half his age. The team is currently 0-7 but Rice has seen 5.1 minutes per game, averaging 1.1 points and 1.7 rebounds per contest.
The countdown begins for when Disney buys the movie rights to this story.
