Former Top 100 hoops recruit Rodney Rice is leaving the Virginia Tech basketball program and intends to hit the transfer portal.
“Rodney Rice recently shared with me his desire to step away from our program. While his departure is unfortunate, we wish Rodney and his family all the best in the future,” Tech coach Mike Young said in a statement released by the school on Tuesday.
Chris Graham on Rodney Rice transfer decision
It’s a big blow to Young roster-wise. Rice, a 6’4” guard, was projected to be a difference-maker for the Hokies when he committed early in his senior year at DeMatha Catholic, but he missed the bulk of his freshman season after suffering an ankle injury in August, then a broken finger in his first game back against Syracuse on Jan. 11.
Rice would go on to play in just eight games at Tech in the 2022-2023 season, averaging a modest 7.4 points per game in 19.9 minutes per game.
But you could see glimpses of why he was a Top 100 recruit when he finally got going.
Rice went for double-digits in three of his final six outings – putting up 11 points in 22 minutes in the 81-65 loss to Duke on Feb. 25, 10 points in 20 minutes in the 82-60 win over Florida State on March 4, and a season-high 17 points, on 5-of-7 shooting from three, in 19 minutes in the 97-77 loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament on March 8.
A report on the Tech Sideline website noted that Rice had lost some time in training due to a bout with mononucleosis in September, and that he was held out of the open practice at Cassell Coliseum on Oct. 14 as a precaution.
That report treated the Rice transfer news as a surprise, given what he had told the outlet in a September interview, which Tech Sideline said Rice concluded by saying, “I just want to play. That’s it. I didn’t play as much as I wanted to last year, so just playing all the games this year, that’s all I want.”
Here’s where I’ll speculate about a possible future destination for Young: Maryland.
His recruiting contact at Tech was Mike Jones, who had been Rice’s head coach in high school.
Jones has since moved on from Virginia Tech to a position on Kevin Willard’s staff in College Park.
Rice had chosen Virginia Tech from among a group of finalists that included Maryland, Georgetown, Alabama, Louisville and Notre Dame.
He will have to sit out the 2023-2024 season because of his late transfer decision.
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Chris Graham
