Add Rayvonte Rice to the recruiting roster

[From the Barn]

My apologies for the alliteration

http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog/marchmadness/index.htm

RICE PICKS UP OFFER, HIGH-MAJOR INTEREST

In some other Midwest recruiting news, class of 2010 swingman Rayvonte Rice has added to his varying list of offers and schools.

“TCU has offered,” Rice stated in a text message earlier Monday, “and Minnesota and Cincinnati are interested highly.”

When I spoke to the 6-2, 190-lb. Rice at the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando in late July, he stated that he holds offers from Kent State, Ohio, Oregon State, Western Michigan, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Akron, Miami (Ohio), Nevada, DePaul, Drake, Saint Louis, Niagara and Detroit.

He also said he is seeing interest from Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston College, Missouri, Northwestern and Stanford.

At the time, Rice said that he wanted to play in a major conference in college.

"I want to go high-major, but it depends on the best situation for me,” Rice said. “I want it to have a good campus and a coach I can trust. I also am looking for playing time."

Rice plans on taking a visit to Missouri Valley school Drake on Wednesday, he said today.

 

[From the Barn]

More...
Monday, August 03, 2009
Rice a fast-rising prospect
Note: This article was originally published on Rivals.com.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – With the Rising Stars (Ill.) down by three in the waning moments of overtime in the semi-finals of the AAU Super Showcase against Each One Teach One (Fla.), they had several options for the game-tying shot.

They could have gone to Cal-commit Alex Rossi, who hit a three at the buzzer of regulation. Ohio State-bound Lenzelle Smith had been the go-to-guy all game, while Iowa-pledge Ben Brust had helped lead the Stars to a win over All-Ohio Red the day before.

However, the choice for the final shot? Rayvonte Rice.

It didn’t matter that Rice’s attempt hit the back rim and the Rising Stars lost, it was the decision
to leave the fate of the team in the hands of Rice.

“I love close games,” said Rice, who finished with 18 points in the loss. “I love having pressure on me; I should have hit that last shot.”

Rice is a strong, 6-2, 190-lb. swingman out of Centennial High School in Champaign, Ill., and a rising prospect in the class of 2010.

He has a solid build and can score around the basket as well as from the perimeter. He is stronger than most players at his position, which gives him an edge on the backboards and in the paint.

“I’m more of a power guard,” Rice said. “I can play on the wing, and I like to get to the hole.”

With some of the top AAU teams in the country participating at the Wide World of Disney Sports Complex in Orlando, the Midwest-based Rising Stars were overlooked heading into the tournament. However, they finished second in their pool, including a 34-point win over Hoop Planet and a 20-point victory over the Alabama Lasers.

They really made waves, though, when they knocked off the best AAU team in the country over the past three years, All-Ohio Red – led by Jared Sullinger, Adreian Payne and a host of other high-major recruits. The Rising Stars followed that up with a thrashing of Nike Baltimore Elite, home to Memphis-commit Will Barton and Syracuse-bound C.J. Fair.

“We didn’t just want to beat All-Ohio,” Rice said. “We really wanted to get a TV game.”

Although the Rising Stars fell short of getting to the title game and playing on ESPNU, Rice’s excellent performance this summer has seen his interest rise considerably in the past couple of weeks.

Rice lists offers from Kent State, Ohio, Oregon State, Western Michigan, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Akron, Miami (Ohio), Nevada, DePaul, Drake, Saint Louis, Niagara and Detroit. He also says he is seeing interest from Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston College, Missouri, Northwestern and Stanford.

“I plan on visiting Nevada, Drake and a couple of big schools,” Rice said, later mentioning Ohio as another possible visitation. “I want to go high-major, but it depends on the best situation for me.
I want it to have a good campus and a coach I can trust. I also am looking for playing time.”

Missouri is one of those “big schools” that is likely to receive more than a cursory look from this fast-rising guard.

“I like their program and campus,” Rice said. “I’m highly interested in Missouri. And my coach said they are highly interested in me so I’m planning on taking a visit there.

“I’m going to sit down with my mom to pick the schools I’m going to take my official visits to.”

 

[UWOle]

Here's a little more on Rice from the Bulls-Eye website:

"Rayvonte Rice 6'3 2010 WF Champaign (Centennial) Rising Stars Gold
We have always regarded Rice as a bona fide mid-major prospect, but with his spectacular play in Orlando he has now proven that he is on the high end of the mid-major scale. Rice is one of those players who gets better every time you watch him, as each time out he seems to do something that you haven't seen before. At the 17-Under Nationals Rice showed that he can consistently nail jumpers from behind the 3-point stripe and has also shown considerable improvement when it comes to his ball handling in the open court. This of course is in addition to his outstanding athleticism and the fact that he goes to war around the basket. Simply put, Rice gives it his all every second that he is on the court. It is therefore no wonder that he has drawn scholarship offers from a slew of mid-major programs, including the majority of schools in the Missouri Valley and several from the Mid-American conference."

http://ilprepbullseye.com/page36.html

 

[combes1]

Rice...

I have seen Rice play many times, and I think you guys are recruiting at a higher level than he is right now. Obviously, he is a hometown guy from Champaign, and Illinois never gave him a sniff. I like Rice as a player, but he is kind of a tweener. He is more of a power forward playing in a small forward body.

Rice is a heck of a football player. He dropped the sport last year to concentrate on basketball, but he is a high major football player and a upper midmajor basketball player. imo

 

[Rouser]

Looking at who has offered vs who is interested I think its evident that a lot of high majors schools are looking to him as Plan B