Ray Rice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Raymell "Ray" Rice
College	Rutgers
Sport	Football
Position	RB
Class	Sophomore
Career	2005 – present
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	195 lb (89 kg)
Nationality	United States
Born	January 22, 1987 (age 20) New Rochelle, NY
High School	New Rochelle High School, New Rochelle, New York

Raymell "Ray" Rice (born January 22, 1987) from New Rochelle, New York is a American college football sophomore running back who plays for Rutgers University.

[edit] High school career

Rice was the primary running back in high school, playing alongside current Rutgers teammate Courtney Greene, who plays free safety. His sophomore and junior seasons saw him take the primary duties, but he became the feature back his senior year.

In his junior year, he helped lead New Rochelle to a New York state championship, and he took the team to the finals his senior year. The quarterback of his football team was Providence foward Geoff McDermott.

Ray's brother plays on New Rochelle also. He is a wide receiver.

[edit] College career

Ray Rice is viewed as being an important part of Rutgers' recent resurgence after years of losing seasons. In 2005, (Ray's freshman year) Rutgers had its first winning season in 14 years and made its second bowl game ever. In 2006, the Scarlet Knights won a school record-tying 11 games and registered the school's highest ever season-ending national poll ranking, finishing at #12 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls.

As a true freshman Rice finished the season as the starting tailback for Rutgers. Rice rushed for 1120 yards and 5 TDs during his freshman campaign, including a 217-yard performance against the University of Connecticut.

Rice gained 1794 rushing yards in 2006 with 20 touchdowns. His total in 2006 set Rutgers' single-season rushing yardage record, shattering J. J. Jennings' mark of 1,353 set in 1973. Rice also ran behind Brian Lenord, a player that would have gone in the second round of the NFL Draft but decided to stay for his senior year. Rice was also a finalist for the Maxwell Award and finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting. Rice was named Big East offensive player of the week a school-record three times in 2006. All three times, Rice rushed for over 200 yards, including a career high 225 yard game against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Rice ended his sophomore season with 170 yards on 24 carries with 1 touchdown during the inaugural Texas Bowl to give Rutgers its first bowl victory ever in a 37-10 win. He was named MVP of the game.^[1]

Before attending Rutgers, Rice had initially committed to Syracuse University; he switched his commitment to the Scarlet Knights following the firing of Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni in 2005.