Former North Carolina point guard King Rice and the Tar Heels will see a lot of each other in the next few years, as Monmouth University announced Wednesday morning it has agreed to a three-year series with UNC.

The Tar Heels will visit Monmouth, which is located in West Long Branch, NJ, next December and the Hawks will play at the Smith Center the following two seasons.

"This is an exciting game for Monmouth Basketball and I am truly thankful to Coach Williams and the North Carolina Basketball family for coming up here in what will be my 10th year to play in our home arena," Rice in the release. "This has been a dream of mine since I became a head coach and I knew I could count on my North Carolina family to make my dreams come true again.

“They made my dreams come true as a kid to be able to go there and represent the Carolina family and now they're making my dreams come true again by bringing the North Carolina Tar Heels, led by Roy Williams into the OceanFirst Bank Center to really show what the Carolina family is all about which is loyalty."

UNC will visit the 4,100-seat OceanFirst Bank Center on December 17, 2020.

Former Tar Heels’ star J.R. Reid is also on the Monmouth staff.

Also from Monmouth’s release:

King Rice played point guard at UNC for four seasons under the legendary Dean Smith, culminating in a trip to the 1991 Final Four. Rice, who is currently in his ninth season at the helm of the Blue and White, finished his career third all-time in career assists with 629 and played in 140 games in Chapel Hill.

Also on Monmouth's staff is former North Carolina standout J.R. Reid, who was a consensus First Team All-American and the ACC Rookie of the Year while at UNC before a 14-year professional career.

"This is fabulous for us, getting a chance to be a coach and playing against your alma mater is terrific," said Reid. "It's going to be a lot of fun, and I think the fans are in for a great game. This is awesome for Coach Rice. To be able to have this job for 10 years and have the respect he has throughout the coaching industry is fabulous and I'm just fortunate to be a part of it and to say he's a good friend of mine.

“For Coach Williams to come up, he didn't have to do this, and that shows how he feels about Coach Rice as well. This is a very important and special time for us."