Orange County All-Star Basketball Game : Rice Is No Straight Shooter, but He Can Make His Points

There’s something a bit unorthodox about Craig Rice’s jump shot.

First, he doesn’t jump straight up and launch his shot. Instead, he appears to lean to his right and slightly at an angle to the basket.

He shoots the ball off the outside of his hand, and the shot sometimes doesn’t appear to have much arc.

But there’s certainly nothing wrong with the result. Rice often hits nothing but net as he pumps one jumper after another into the basket.

Rice, a 6-foot 3-inch senior from Ocean View High School, never gave much thought to his shot.

“Nobody ever said anything about my shot because it’s always worked,” he said. “I never really thought about it looking different. I only concentrate on making my shot.”

Rice’s outside shooting was instrumental in Ocean View’s drive to the Sunset League title last season. He averaged 16 points and 4.5 assists per game and shot 47% from three-point range.

“He’s got NBA range,” Jim Harris, Ocean View coach, said. “The three-point shot is no problem for him. In our playoff game against Lakewood, he made five straight three-point shots in the last quarter, and each shot kept coming from farther out.”

Harris acknowledged that Rice’s shot may look awkward, but he said he wasn’t about to tamper with success.

“Mechanically, Craig’s release is fine,” Harris said. “Craig cocks his wrist to the right and his elbow comes in, which might give his shot a different look.

“As far as leaning to the side on his jumper, we teach all of our players to fall forward on their shots. Craig has so much potential. I was smart enough to know that if a player’s shot is going in, don’t change it.”

Rice has quickly earned the reputation as a sharpshooter in seven practice sessions for the South team that will participate in the 23rd Orange County All-Star basketball game Saturday night in UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

Bill Shannon, the South coach, said Rice has been the biggest surprise in camp.

“He’s grown on us,” Shannon said. “From the first day of practice, he’s made as much progress as anybody on the team. He works real well without the ball, getting open for his shot.

“Once he became acclimated to what we’re trying to do offensively, he blossomed. He runs the lanes well and spots up quickly for his shot.”

Rice’s steady progress in camp is similar to the gradual improvement Ocean View made during the 1987-88 season. The Seahawks, who were picked by most in preseason polls to finish fifth in the Sunset League, surprised everyone by winning nine consecutive league games to take the title.

“Nobody gave us a chance to win,” Rice said. “We started slowly, but the team came together in the Raleigh Times tournament back in North Carolina. We lost our first game to Carlisle, Pa., by 38 points, and Coach Harris decided it was time for a change.

“We went to a straight man-to-man defense and a power game on offense. We lost to Raleigh the next night by eight points, but the team came together in that game.”

Ocean View returned to California a new team. The Seahawks beat Long Beach Poly on its home court by 40 points.

Rice received the coaches’ award at the end of the season, but he also received more than his share of constructive criticism from Harris during the season.

“Coach got on me a lot,” Rice said.

Said Harris: “I usually go after the best players, and I was on Craig a lot. But whenever I criticized him, he would respond and come out tougher. We were always very frank with each other. That’s why we understood each other.”

Rice will continue his basketball career at Rancho Santiago College. He graduated 30th in a class of 522 students at Ocean View with a 4.0 grade-point average and scored in the upper 90th percentile on the American College Test.

“I didn’t get a big scholarship offer, so I decided to go to a JC and try to get a Division I scholarship after a year or two,” he said.

Said Harris: “Craig is an immensely talented guard with good height and a great shot. I find it shocking that he wasn’t recruited, with his talent and grades.”

Rice said he will major in education or business and plans to become a high school teacher and basketball coach.

All-Star Notes

The scholar-athlete awards, sponsored by Adohr Farms, were announced at an awards ceremony Wednesday night at the Irvine Hilton. Andrea Young (4.19 grade-point average) and Eric Speaker (4.17), both of El Toro, were the South’s award winners. Claudia Morris (4.4) of Mater Dei and Brett Pagett (3.6) of Los Alamitos were honored from the North. . . . John Mayberry, North coach, when told that area sportswriters had made the South a 10-point favorite, said, “Only 10 points? That’s the lowest spread I’ve heard since I was named to coach this team.” . . . Said Tandy Gillis, coach at Orange Coast College, after his team scrimmaged the South: “That’s the best all-star team I’ve ever seen for this game.” . . . Sportswriters listed the South girls’ team as a three-point favorite.