About Inductee

Horace Rice is widely regarded as the second finest African-American tennis player the city of Huntsville ever produced, trailing only former professional Bryan Shelton, who was inducted into the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006. Rice, a graduate of Councill High School and Alabama A&M, was a top junior player in the late 1950s and early '60s, winning his first adult tournament as a high school senior. From 1975-2005, he was among the top-ranked players in Alabama from the 35-under to 65-under age groups. From 1978-2010, he won numerous singles, doubles, and mixed doubles trophies in Huntsville and six other Alabama cities, and has won several gold medals in the Alabama Senior Olympics. Now 74, Rice is retired from the Alabama A&M faculty, where he taught business law and ethics.