Maryland Basketball: Virginia Tech transfer Rodney Rice commits to the Terps

As first reported by On3's Joe Tipton, Virginia Tech transfer Rodney Rice has committed to play for Maryland Basketball next season. He is Kevin Willard's first transfer portal addition of the offseason.

Rice, a 6'4" shooting guard hailing from Clinton, Maryland, attended DeMatha Catholic High School just down the road from UMD's College Park campus. With the Stags, Rice averaged 18.5 points per game over three years and was a top-75 prospect in the class of 2022. He originally chose Virginia Tech over offers from Maryland, Georgetown, and Alabama, among others.

Rice spent a little more than a year with the Hokies, and an injury during his freshman year limited him to just eight games in the 2022-23 season. In 20.1 minutes per game, he averaged 7.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and and 0.9 assists while shooting 32.1% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc. He stepped away from the Virginia Tech program back in October and joins the Terrapins with three years of eligibility remaining.

Assuming he can round back into form after extended time off, Rice will likely slot into Maryland's rotation as a regular contributor in three-guard sets or as a bench scorer playing in relief of returning sophomore DeShawn Harris-Smith. He projects as a secondary ball handler that, assuming his reputation as a high-level shooter from his prep days holds true, will help assuage UMD's notable shooting woes from this past season. The Terrapins' team three-point percentage of 28.9% was the 16th-worst nationally and the third-worst among power conference teams.

Outgoing transfers Noah Batchelor, Caelum Swanton-Rodger, and Jahnathan Lamothe opened up three scholarship spots for Kevin Willard to work with, one of which will be filled by Rice. Willard plans to hit the transfer portal hard to retool the roster following a rough campaign where the Terps finished 16-17 overall and in the bottom three of the Big Ten standings.