Indiana Basketball Newcomer Focus: Sophomore guard Myles Rice

The Indiana basketball program is going to look a whole lot different with many new faces coming in this season, with all 13 scholarships filled for the upcoming year.

In total, Indiana basketball will bring in 7 new faces, replacing 6 departures from a season ago. Mike Woodson and his staff did a phenomenal job in the transfer portal addressing the needs of guards, shooting, and front court depth.

We have already looked at all of the returning players from a season ago in our “Indiana Basketball Returner Focus” series now, it is time for our “Indiana Basketball Newcomer Focus” series to continue our trend of looking at each player of the 2024-25 roster and preview what they bring for the Hoosiers.

Today, we look Washington State transfer sophomore guard Myles Rice and look at where he comes from, and what his role will be for Indiana basketball this season.

Other players in the series: Oumar Ballo, Langdon Hatton, Dallas James, Luke Goode

Where He Comes From

Myles is an Columbia, South Carolina native that has had a quite the basketball journey that has led him to this point in his college career.

Before entering the college level, Rice came from from the Atlanta Celtics, the same AAU program that former Indiana basketball wing Kaleb Banks. Rice also played for Sandy Creek High School in Georgia, as well.

The 6-foot-3 guard was only rated as a three-star player coming out of high school. His only high major offer was Washington State choosing the Cougars over James Madison, Georgia State, Belmont, and others. Rice was ranked just the 227th best prospect in the country by the 247Composite Rankings in his class.

Once Rice committed to Washington State, he would actually redshirt his very first season with the Cougars. The reason for the redshirt was that he battled Hodgkin Lymphoma, which he would beat.

Once he returned to hardwood, Rice would become one of the top freshman in the entire country last season. He averaged 14.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game this past season, ultimately leading him to becoming the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-Pac 12.

He shot 43.9 percent from the floor, 27.5 percent from three and 81.1 percent from the foul line on 3.6 free throw attempts per game.

In his lone, active season for Washington State, he had six 20+ point games last year, including a 35-point performance against Stanford. He was in double-figures in 27-of-35 games this past year.

Just for one season, Myles Rice really exploded as one of the more dynamic guards in the entire country last season. With the Pac-12 coming to a close, Rice opted to enter his name into the transfer portal with his stock as high as ever with three years of eligibility remaining at the college level.

Rice was one of the top rated guards in the transfer portal this offseason after breaking nearly every freshman record at Washington State this past year which included the single-season scoring, assists, steals, field goals, and free throw records. His unbelievable play led Washington State to the NCAA Tournament as a 7-seed.

More: Indiana Basketball Player Scouting Report: Myles Rice

Role for 2024-25 Season

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Woodson and Indiana basketball had absolutely zero choice but to upgrade their back court this offseason if they wanted to improve from the dreadful 2023-24 season. With only Trey Galloway, Gabe Cupps, and Jakai Newtown returning for the Hoosiers, Indiana needed more playmaking and more dynamic guards in their backcourt.

With that mission in mind, going after and securing the services of Myles Rice was arguably the biggest win of the offseason for Mike Woodson and his Indiana basketball staff. With the addition of both Rice and Carlyle, Indiana’s backcourt became much more deep than what saw a season ago.

With Indiana basketball needing to upgrade at the lead guard spot, Rice was always going to be a name the Hoosiers would pursue. With his Atlanta ties, Mike Woodson and assistant coach Yasir Rosemond had a strong connection with Rice so that was an advantage for the Hoosiers.

Indiana basketball needed a playmaking lead guard and they got their guy with Rice.

There are a couple questions that still remain with the starting unit of Indiana basketball upcoming season but one that is pretty clear at this point is that Rice will be the starting lead guard for the Hoosiers. Rice will play the role as the No. 1 guard for this Indiana basketball team next year. Being the playmaker that Rice is, the ball will likely be in his hands most of the time dictating how Indiana will attack on the offensive end.

There has been quite a bit of backlash from the Indiana basketball fans when it comes to Mike Woodson opting to play the inside-out game. When Trayce Jackson-Davis was playing, he had Jalen Hood-Schifino and it worked. With Kel’el Ware last season, the guard play was way too inconsistent and depleted resulting in it not working.

Both combinations, Mike Woodson ran an inside-out system with the main difference being the guard play paired with a dominate big. If you want that type of style to work, you need dynamic guard play and Rice is just that, just as Hood-Schifino was when he was in Bloomington.

While Rice will be responsible for being the main facilitator, he will also provide more scoring as well in the backcourt. Rice is a terrific scorer off the dribble and create so well on the ball. He creates his own looks, especially utilizing ball screens, but can also create for others, as well, something that the Hoosiers missed heavily last season.

On the defensive side, you are getting a very active defender that can pressure the on-ball guard. One of Rice’s best areas in his game is his ability to do damage in transition. The way he gets out in transition is by using his active hands, pressuring the ball, and jumping the passing lanes. Rice averaged 1.6 steal per game last season. The leading player in steals for Indiana basketball last season was Trey Galloway with his 1.2 a game. Again, another area that Indiana improves in.

To sum up the role for redshirt sophomore next season, Rice may have the most important role out any player next season for Indiana basketball. He is now been given the keys and will quarterback this team in many ways. He will not be a player that will consistently put up big scoring numbers, but his impact as one of the playmaking guards will carry much more weight than what the stat book shows.

Notable Quotes

“Myles is a savvy, downhill guard that really succeeds in pick-and-roll situations,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said of Rice. “He is a three-level scorer that makes the right play consistently, whether that is getting to the rim or finding the open man. He is going to be a huge help for our ballclub.”

SEE ALSO: One question facing all 12 Indiana basketball players entering the summer

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