Travis Trice: A Michigan State Product Taking Strides In Westchester
After spending four seasons at Michigan State, Travis Trice joined the Westchester Knicks for his rookie season in the professional ranks. Trice, alongside Jimmer Fredette, formed one of the top backcourt duos in the NBA D-League during the 2015-16 season.
On the strength of having a strong and productive backcourt, the Knicks finished the season with a 28-22 record and advanced to their first-ever playoff series.
“It meant a lot to us and it was something we took pride in,” Trice said. “I think it was their second season last year and we wanted to be the first team to make the playoffs and really wanted to make the championship. That was our goal, but it was something we definitely took a lot of pride in.”
After having a successful season in Westchester, Trice continued his professional career in Australia. He took his talents to Cairns Taipans of the National Basketball League (NBL). After starting the season off the bench, he earned a spot in the starting rotation and immediately made an impact on the club.
In his first two games as a starter, Trice shot 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
“It was a little bit of an adjustment,” Trice said. “The style play over there is a lot different than over here. I feel like it’s a lot more psychical, but it really helped me. Kind of adding pieces to my game and really just advancing myself as a pro.”
In Australia, the club saw an overall improvement from the previous season. Cairns Taipans finished with the second-best record behind the Adelaide 36ers. Unfortunately, Cairns Taipans were eliminated by the eventual champions, the Perth Wildcats, in the semi-finals of the NBL Playoffs.
Along with that, Trice earned the club’s MVP honor.
After the 2016-17 NBL season concluded, Trice returned to the Westchester Knicks. The Knicks finished at the bottom of the league (17th) in assists per game. In his first stint with the Knicks, Trice showed that he can be the facilitator that the team needed.
That’s exactly what he displayed upon his return to the Westchester County Center.
“My thing was just trying to come in and be aggressive and find guys, but it makes my job easy when you got guys like John [Jenkins] and Keith [Wright] and some of our other bigs and wings with the way they were shooting,” Trice said. “It makes it easy.”
Trice was already known for his midrange game, but his offensive game expanded as he became more of a threat with his improved 3-point shooting. Not only did Trice add another scorer to the floor, but he added another playmaker to the floor.
In five of his nine games, the 6’2″ guard totaled six or more assists, which included a season-high 13 assists against the Reno Bighorns.
Must Read: Joey Miller: From Dallas Baptist To Westchester
Despite not making the playoffs, Travis Trice made a huge impact in his second stint in Westchester. He’s shown that he can be more consistent with his shooting. In his first stint with the Dub Knicks, he shot 43.7 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from deep.
Despite a small sample size (nine games), the Michigan State product shot 44.8 percent from the field and 51.6 percent from beyond the arc in his second stint. Despite finishing the season on a positive note and potentially earning an invite to Summer League, Trice hasn’t thought about next season.
“To be honest with you, I haven’t really even thought about next year yet,” Trice said. “I’m just really focusing on finishing the season well. There are some things I still got to improve on and work on and I really just want to concentrate on playing now and I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
After a productive second stint with the Westchester Knicks, the Michigan State product could receive an invite for Summer League. If Travis Trice returns to Westchester for a third stint, he should position himself to potentially earn a call-up next season.