Former Sidwell Friends girls basketball star earns NCAA Elite 90 award

Kiki Rice honored after helping lead UCLA to the women's Final Four

UCLA Bruins guard Kiki Rice (1) controls the ball against the Connecticut Huskies during first quarter in a semifinal of the women's 2025 NCAA tournament at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Sidwell Friends School, a prestigious private school located in Washington, DC, boasts a variety of famous alumni from the arts, business, education, film, television and sports world. 

The list includes UCLA standout point guard KiKi Rice, who is making a name for herself on the NCAA college basketball hardwood. 

Rice, who graduated from Sidwell Friends in 2022, helped lead the UCLA women’s basketball program to its first Final Four appearance in school history. She was also honored with the NCAA Elite 90 award for the 2025 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship. 

The Elite 90 award honors the exceptional achievements of student-athletes. This prestigious accolade is given to those who have not only excelled at a national championship level in their sport but have also achieved the highest academic standards among their peers. The award is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships. 

“It’s an incredible honor to win this award just knowing that I pride myself both not only on basketball but also on excelling in school,” said Rice, a 5-foot-11 junior who was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award given to the nation’s top point guard, “and for that to be recognized and for that to happen during the season, doing a lot of traveling in a tough time, it’s an incredible honor.” 

During her high school career, Rice earned various individual accolades including the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year and the Naismith Prep Player of the Year in 2022. 

The Bethesda, Maryland native was named Co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game in 2022. She shared the award with future UCLA teammate Gabriela Jaquez.  

Ironically, the MVP of the 2025 McDonald’s All-American Game was Sienna Betts, sister of Rice’s UCLA teammate Lauren Betts. Sienna has signed with the Bruins and will join the women’s basketball program in Westwood next season.  

This season, Rice was joined on the UCLA women’s basketball roster by a pair of fellow Sidwell Friends School graduates, freshmen Kendall Dudley and Zania Socka-Nguemen also known as “Big Z.” 

Dudley’s mother, Tamika Dudley, was the Sidwell Friends School head coach for the past six years until she resigned last month to accept the position as Academy Head Coach and Director of Girls Basketball at The St. James in Northern Virginia.