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Incoming UCLA Guard Kiki Rice Wins MaxPreps National Female Athlete of the Year

The McDonald's All-American and top recruit had already been named the Naismith and Gatorade Player of the Year on the hardwood.

Sam Connon

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Just a few weeks out from moving to Westwood, one incoming Bruin added one last trophy to her shelf before hitting the college ranks.

Rising UCLA women's basketball freshman guard Kiki Rice was named MaxPreps National Female High School Athlete of the Year, the outlet announced Tuesday. The award is given to the top female high school athlete in the country across all sports, and Rice picked up the distinction thanks to her efforts on the court and the pitch.

"It's an incredible honor to win this award," Rice told MaxPreps over the phone while at the Team USA Basketball camp in Colorado. "We had such an amazing year in basketball and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But I'm so glad I stuck with soccer. It gives validation to play multiple sports and be a total athlete."

Rice was the No. 2 girl's basketball recruit in the country, according to espnW, and a consensus five-star prospect. The 5-foot-11 guard averaged 15.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game for Sidwell Friends (DC) while leading the Quakers to a 30-0 record and a national championship.

Earlier this offseason, Rice won Gatorade Player of the Year and Naismith Player of the Year. All of that led up to Rice appearing at the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago, where she won co-MVP alongside fellow UCLA commit Gabriela Jaquez.

Rice and Jaquez were two of the headliners for coach Cori Close's top recruiting class in the nation, and they join a program that has made four Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight in the past seven postseasons.

The basketball aspect of Rice's senior year was only half of the equation in her winning female athlete of the year, though, as she also excelled playing soccer for Sidwell Friends.

Rice led the Quakers with 15 goals, wrapping up her soccer career with 97 goals in 51 appearances. Her success in both sports is what helped set Rice above the other 11 finalists for MaxPreps' award.

In picking up the honor, Rice joined several other basketball stars who have won it in the past, including Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike and Paige Bueckers. To follow in their footsteps would mean a laundry list of awards at the college level, plus a future in the WNBA.

Rice will have a chance to win her third gold medal with Team USA at the Women's Americas Championship in Argentina this month, and she will join the Bruins not long after.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon was the Publisher and Managing Editor at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s All Bruins from 2021 to 2023. He is now a staff writer at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s Fastball. He previously covered UCLA football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country and golf for The Daily Bruin from 2017 to 2021, serving as the paper's Sports Editor from 2019 to 2020. Connon has also been a contributor for 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' BruinBlitz, Dash Sports TV, SuperWestSports, Prime Time Sports Talk, The Sports Life Blog and Patriots Country, Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s New England Patriots site. His work as a sports columnist has been awarded by the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon graduated from UCLA in June 2021 and is originally from Winchester, Massachusetts.