Former Virginia Tech guard Rodney Rice to transfer to Maryland men’s basketball

Rice, Maryland’s first transfer addition this offseason, will help fill the void in the Terps’ backcourt.

Former Virginia Tech guard Rodney Rice will transfer to Maryland men’s basketball, it was reported Sunday. Joe Tipton of On3 Sports was the first to report the news.

Rice, a native of Clinton, Maryland, is the first player to announce that he will transfer to Maryland this offseason. Noah Batchelor, Jahnathan Lamothe and Caelum Swanton-Rodger have all exited the program since the season ended.

Rice entered the portal on March 15 and is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 27 transfer available and the fifth-best shooting guard. He stands at 6-foot-4 and has three years of eligibility remaining.

Rice will look to fill a hole in Maryland’s backcourt left by the departure of star Jahmir Young, but will need to rediscover his game after missing most of his freshman year due to injury and stepping aside from the Hokies program this past October.

All told, Rice has played a total of eight college games as he enters his third year. In those games, he averaged 7.4 points while playing 20.1 minutes per game. He also shot 33.3% from 3-point range.

A former four-star prospect out of DeMatha Catholic High School, Rice was ranked as the No. 73 overall prospect in his class. He averaged 18.5 points across three years at the local powerhouse and was named to the Washington Post All-Met first team as a senior (2021-22). He initially chose the Hokies over Louisville, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Maryland and Alabama.

Former DeMatha head coach Mike Jones was an assistant on Maryland’s staff this past season before leaving to become the head coach at Old Dominion.

After Rice’s addition, Maryland has two open scholarships for next season.