The Gonzaga Bulldogs might be nearing their first addition from the college basketball transfer portal.
A 6-foot-4 guard who played a key role in Maryland’s run to the Sweet 16, has included Gonzaga in the list of six schools he’s considering for his junior season. As reported by Dushawn London of 247Sports, Rice is also looking at Villanova, Tennessee, Auburn, USC, and the possibility of returning to Maryland.
According to Jon Rothstein, Rodney Rice held a Zoom meeting with Gonzaga on Thursday and has upcoming visits scheduled with Villanova on Thursday and Friday, followed by Tennessee on Saturday. He’s also already had a Zoom call with USC. Gonzaga was one of many programs to reach out to Rice after he entered the transfer portal on March 31.
Last season, Rice played in all 36 games for Maryland, averaging 13.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. His contributions helped the Terrapins finish 27-9 and make their third Sweet 16 appearance since their 2002 national championship run. Rice was efficient from beyond the arc, hitting 37.4% of his 3-point attempts on nearly six tries per game, and he made 81.4% of his free throws. He also ranked 13th in the Big Ten in win shares (4.8), a stat that estimates a player’s overall impact on their team’s wins, according to Sports-Reference.com.
A native of Clinton, Maryland, Rice was a star at nearby DeMatha Catholic High School, a college preparatory school located in Hyattsville, Maryland, and the alma-mater of NBA talents Jerami Grant, Markelle Fultz and Jordan Hawkins. Rice was a four-star recruit and ranked among the top 100 high school seniors in the 2022 class before committing to the Virginia Tech Hokies. After one season in Blacksburg, Virginia, he took a step back from the program in October 2023 and transferred to Maryland in March 2024.
Rice is currently one of eight players from Maryland who’ve entered the portal in the wake of Kevin Willard’s decision to leave College Park, Maryland, for Villanova in late March. Maryland hired former Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams to fill its coaching vacancy on April 1.
For the Bulldogs, Mark Few and the coaching staff look to add depth to their backcourt this offseason with Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman and Khalif Battle all set to graduate this spring. More specifically, a versatile guard who can pair alongside Braeden Smith, the 6-foot-tall Colgate Raiders transfer who’s expected to take the reins at point guard after spending last season as a redshirt player. Smith, a Seattle native, was the Patriot League Player of the Year in 2023-24.
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