Menu
Tyrese Rice profile
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
Weight: 183 lbs (83 kg)
Position: PG/SG
High School: Lloyd C. Bird High School (Virginia)
Hometown: Chesterfield, VA
College: Boston College
Current Team: Sideline Cancer
Win - Loss: 2 - 1

Articles

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament: All-Third Team

Matt Williams
Matt Williams
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Apr 17, 2009, 12:46 am
One of the higher rated prospects attending the PIT, Tyrese Rice had a quiet albeit productive week, but was playing noticeably out of character. Known for his scoring prowess in the ACC, Rice looked to function more as a facilitator, only showing the shoot-first mentality we’re used to seeing from him when his team fell behind significantly –which is did in each of the first two games. Though he didn’t take over like some may had expected him to coming in, he had three very solid games and built upon the strong body of work he had coming in.

The time Rice spent in Portsmouth put an interesting perspective on the tools we’ve elaborated on in past reports. Though he ranks amongst the top assist-men in our database, he also found himself amongst the most turnover prone thanks in large part to just how heavily Head Coach Al Skinner relied on him to dominate the game. Rice didn’t have to do much scoring in Portsmouth and picked his spots well, which is represented in how efficiently he distributed the ball. While he did force a couple of drive and dish attempts, Rice looked extremely good running the point in a more conservative fashion than we’ve seen from him, and masked the fact that he doesn’t have great court vision. Moving forward, Rice will need to cut down significantly on his turnovers to achieve his potential as a point guard.

In addition to his solid passing ability, Rice showed the same scoring ability he did during his college career. A capable catch and shoot threat, he shot the ball well from the perimeter all week, knocking down numerous catch and shoot jumpers and pull ups –many of which were contested. He developed the ability to knock down tough shots from the perimeter during his time at BC, and that skill should serve him well wherever he lands next season. His shot selection was better than we’re used to seeing and he did a nice job balancing his responsibilities as a scorer and passer here. Unfortunately, the news on the offensive end isn’t all good, and Rice showed some concerning weaknesses in the three games of his we got to see.

Much of Rice’s offensive production in the NCAA was predicated on his ability to get to the rim, and in turn, the free throw line. While he does show an excellent first step, his finishing ability is going to diminish significantly on the next level. A bit on the short side, Rice doesn’t compensate for his height with great strength, length or leaping ability, which means his ability to score in the lane doesn’t project well to the NBA game. Whether Rice can develop the short range game to overcome the problems he’ll face as a finisher will determine his long-term efficiency as a scorer.

On the defensive end, Rice didn’t show the greatest intensity, which isn’t a great sign considering he could really have benefitted from a good showing on that end. Considering his history, Rice is being viewed as number one option with underdeveloped skills as a role-player. That designation doesn’t bode well for his NBA future, but still puts him in excellent position to excel in Europe or the D-League. Should Rice overcome some of his weaknesses or improve his shooting consistency, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Rice in the NBA at some point down the road.

Top NBA Draft Prospects in the ACC (Part Two: #6-10)

Rodger Bohn
Rodger Bohn
Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Kyle Nelson
Kyle Nelson
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Joey Whelan
Joey Whelan
Oct 12, 2008, 02:46 am
In the four years since he left his hometown of Chesterfield, Virginia, Tyrese Rice has grown from an unheralded prospect, to one of the most feared scorers in the ACC. As his offensive game has developed and become more advanced, his scoring numbers have increased drastically in each of the last two seasons. What made last season so impressive for Rice was the fact that he averaged over 20 points per game on a team where he was really the only viable scoring option. Teams would key in on the combo-guard, and he would still come away with impressive displays on an almost nightly basis.

Rice’s frame is certainly a knock against him; at 6’0” and 190 pounds, he is built solidly, but is short even for the point guard position at the next level. What he lacks in size and length though, he certainly possesses in speed and explosiveness. Rice has a tremendous first step and a great deal of creativity when he gets into the lane. He shows good leaping ability, but it is usually overlooked because he is so much shorter than the defenders he faces. He can elevate with most players, but is already giving up so much as it is, he often has to take difficult shots.

The majority of Rice’s game is built around his shooting prowess from the outside. He has an excellent stroke and is deadly from the outside when he is able to get his feet set. While his 35.8% shooting from beyond the arc may not jump off the page, this number doesn’t really reflect how good of a shooter Rice is. According to Synergy Sports Technology, when he spots up and shoots without putting the ball on the floor, Rice shoots over 50% from the field; when he is forced to shoot coming off of screens or off the dribble, his percentages drop considerably. He has continued to develop his ability to shoot on the move, though, incorporating a very good looking left handed floater that he can get off in the lane from almost any angle when he is on.

Over the years Rice has continued to become more and more of a dribble-drive threat. His handles are excellent and while he does prefer to go to his natural left side, he is equally adept at breaking down defenders with either hand. As previously mentioned he has a great first step, but he makes it even more difficult to defend because of his ability to change speeds very well. At this point in his career, Rice has little trouble getting into the lane when he wants to and it appears that he would be able to do this successfully in the NBA as well. What he needs to improve on now is his decision making in the lane. Rice takes a lot of tough shots, and while he is able to connect on a fair number of these in college, he would be hard pressed to hit as many as he does now against NBA-caliber defenders.

Defensively, Rice needs to become a more complete player. He has great lateral quickness and equally quick hands which allowed him to average 1.6 steals per game as a junior. Mentally, he doesn’t always appear to be there though. Often times he will over commit as a help defender and lose track of his man; he also has a tendency to bite on fakes. Perhaps most concerning at this point is the somewhat lackadaisical approach he takes on occasion to closing out on perimeter shooters. He certainly has the physical ability to be a stronger defender than he is, he just needs to improve his focus.

At this point, the thing hurting Rice the most is that fact that he needs to be the number one and two scoring options for Boston College. Yes, big scoring performances like the 46 points he posted on North Carolina last year will get him attention, but he certainly isn’t going to be a top option should he reach the NBA. What Rice needs to be able to do is further develop and showcase his point guard skill set. He did dole out 5 assists per game last year, but he struggled with turnovers and shot selection at points.

Does Rice have the talent and potential to become a viable option as a back-up point guard? Yes, but there are always going to be questions regarding his size and whether or not he can be a floor general, not a scoring machine. With the team that Boston College is returning this season, Rice may yet again have to shoot a lot in order to keep the Eagles in games (he attempted 15.4 field goals last season), so it is likely we won’t really get to see him as a point guard until events like Portsmouth or Orlando. For the time being though, another big year shooting the basketball can only help Rice’s stock.

NCAA Weekly Performers, 2/28/08-- Part Two

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Joey Whelan
Joey Whelan
Feb 29, 2008, 03:59 am
Tyrese Rice has had a strong showing thus far in his junior year, picking up right where he left off last season, slightly increasing his scoring production, with very little falloff in overall efficiency. What makes this year so impressive, though, is that Boston College lost Jared Dudley, Sean Marshall, and Sean Williams to graduation and the NBA, with those three players accounting for 45.9 points per game last season. This year, the four leading scorers after Rice consist of three freshmen and one sophomore, which means even more defensive attention, and not the best supporting cast to help him. On top of that, Rice has performed even stronger since conference play began, upping his scoring to 21.9 points per game on 46% from the field, and 35% from three.

Looking at how Rice gets the job done on the floor, he’s very much the same player as we saw last year, only now he’s doing everything as BC’s clear cut #1 option. Rice uses his extremely quick first step and excellent ball-handling skills to get all over the floor, scoring from inside and out, dominating possessions for the Eagles. To give you an idea of how central he is to BC’s offense, of all players in our database, Rice ranks third in minutes per game and 13th in percentage of team possessions used, with ten of the players ahead of him being from mid-major and low-major schools, and the other two being Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo.

From the outside, Rice has slightly improved his three-point shooting percentage, but he’s still a much better pure shooter than the percentages would indicate. As has been the case with him for all his college career, he’s excellent when he has time to get his feet set, but struggles when he doesn’t, either when he’s moving coming off a screen, or pulling up off the dribble. He seems to be doing a better job getting his feet beneath him in those situations, but still takes some ill-advised shots over the course of a game, sometimes due to questionable decision-making, and sometimes due to his team needing a bail-out shot late in the shot clock. Rice has done a better job pulling up from mid-range this year, though, making it a more consistent staple of his offense, and showing the ability get separation there when he wants to.

In terms of driving the ball to the basket, Rice has a plethora of ways to get there, preferring his natural left hand to his right, but being more than competent going in both directions. He most prefers using some combination of his outstanding crossover and his ability to change speeds, usually having little trouble penetrating into the painted area. Once there, Rice throws up his signature left-handed floater from anywhere at any angle, frequently making remarkable shots using his strong accuracy and body control. As for taking it all the way to the basket, Rice can occasionally use his quickness and basket awareness to get through the defense, but struggles to finish over opponents at times due to his size.

Rice is clearly a scoring point guard, but has some creating abilities as well, dishing out over five assists per game by finding open shooters and driving-and-dishing, though he excels most in pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop situations. Rice gets into some trouble at times with questionable passes, though a good portion of his 3.4 turnovers per game come from him always having the ball in his hands in the team’s offense. Rice doesn’t get many of his assists in transition, but if he picks off a pass on the perimeter on the defensive end, he’s usually a good bet to get to the basket to lay it in himself, as his end-to-end speed is excellent.

On the defensive end, Rice still has many of the same habits, at times overplaying on help defense to leave his own man open, and at times just sagging or losing his man due to attentiveness. In man-to-man defense, Rice usually shows a good stance, and uses his hands very well to pick off balls, but overplays and bites for plays frequently, leading to blow-bys by his opponent.

Rice has nothing to lose by testing the draft waters this year, so it’s something he’ll likely do, and he seems like an ideal candidate for the Orlando pre-draft camp, where he could attempt to show his team-managing abilities in a fashion where he doesn’t need to dominate the ball like he does at BC, something that will be critical for his chances of making it in the NBA. If he can make that adjustment and cut down on some of the questionable shots, he has a decent chance of becoming a backup point guard in the pros, where his ability to play the pick-and-roll, his outside shooting, and his ability to penetrate and score with floaters stand a good chance of translating to the next level. Improving his defense should also be a priority, and Rice also has the option of returning for his senior year, where he could attempt to further develop his game.

Top NBA Draft Prospects in the ACC (Part One: #6-#10)

Rodger Bohn
Rodger Bohn
Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Joey Whelan
Joey Whelan
Sep 28, 2007, 10:59 am
Quietly emerging as one of the most improved players in the nation last year was Boston College point guard Tyrese Rice. Just a 2-star recruit out of high school according to scout.com Rice went from solid to spectacular between his freshman to sophomore years, upping his averages to 17.6 points (6th in ACC) and 5.4 assists (3rd) per game. Al Skinner seems to have done it again (see: Smith, Craig and Dudley, Jared)— developing yet another supposed mid-major recruit into a future NBA player.

That seems to be the direction Rice is heading right now, despite the fact that he still has work to do on rounding out his game. Listed (generously?) at 6-1, Rice is a terrific athlete blessed with supreme quickness. He’s an outstanding slasher first and foremost, showing great ball-handling skills and absolutely no hesitation taking any opening he gets to make his way to the rim. He has a wide array of fancy dribble moves at his disposal to get his man off-balance, particularly a lethal crossover which he mixes in nicely with strong hesitation moves and quick spins into the lane. He can go either left or right and finish with either hand as well, even if he’s a natural lefty and still noticeably prefers that hand. Once he gets past his defender he likes to go to an unconventional, but highly effective floater (even from tough angles high off the glass) that he knocks down with regularity all the way out to the free throw line—ala Nick Van Exel. Not one to settle once he’s inside the arc, his aggressiveness stepping into the lane was well represented in the six free throws per game he attempted last season.

More than just a waterbug slasher, though, Rice can shoot the 3-ball quite a bit better than his 32% averages last year would indicate. Featuring a quick release and NBA range on his shot, Rice is absolutely deadly once he gets a second to set his feet. The problem is that BC’s offense is largely designed around milking the entire 35 seconds of the shot clock, which means that someone is forced to make something out of nothing a dozen times or more every single game. Being the only player on the roster who can create his own shot consistently from the perimeter, that burden fell onto Rice’s shoulders on a regular basis, which killed his shooting percentages (even though he still shot a solid 46% from the field). That doesn’t mean that he can’t still improve his consistency or shot-selection (he has a very quick trigger), but watching his film, it’s hard to get too concerned about his perimeter shooting ability. He would be well served improving his ability to pull up off the dribble from mid-range, though.

Rice did a good job running his team’s offense last year as well, despite being considered more of a shooting guard coming into college. He is not a selfish player as his 5.4 assists per game would indicate, being able to execute half-court sets effectively, and looking particularly good on the drive and dish. He has a tendency to try and force difficult passes that just aren’t there at times, though, which contributed to averaging 3.3 turnovers per game—certainly on the high end. We should keep in mind that despite being a sophomore, he played just under 37 minutes per game, which ranks him 1st amongst all players currently on our draft board All in all, Rice seems to have a pretty nice feel for the game, although we shouldn’t mistake him for being anything less than a scoring point guard, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing these days.

On the downside, Rice’s defensive potential is something that is certainly going to be questioned by NBA decision makers—who are already biased against smaller point guards. He doesn’t do himself a lot of favors in this area even when ignoring his height, getting beat on a regular basis off the dribble, gambling wildly (thinking he’ll be able to poke the ball away from his defender from behind), and generally giving his man way too much space. Part of this probably has to do with the amount of minutes he plays coupled with the fact that BC cannot afford to have him in foul trouble under any circumstances, but this is clearly an area that he’ll have to show quite a bit more potential in if he’s to maximize his draft stock, as well as his decision making skills.

All in all, Rice has all the makings of a solid NBA point guard prospect—probably as a backup due to his lack of size. Players who can come off the bench to change the flow of the game and add some scoring punch are definitely en vogue these days—look no further than Aaron Brooks being drafted 26th overall by the Houston Rockets this past year for example for a comparable case.

NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 64, Thursday games)--Stock Up

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Joseph Treutlein
Joseph Treutlein
Mar 16, 2007, 02:21 am
Tyrese Rice started the game strong for Boston College, and did so by playing at his tempo. He pushed the ball up the floor at every chance he had, and helped his team build confidence through easy baskets. Rice not only displayed his finishing ability at the hoop on the fast break, but also made some fantastic passes to the wings running alongside him. In the half court offense, he displayed good scoring ability as well. Rice’s mid-range game was really impressive against Texas Tech. He used a cross-over dribble to create space, and knocked down a floater at least 5 times over bigger players from around 10 feet out.

In the second half, Rice’s scoring cooled down a little bit, but he made the effort to try and get his teammates’ involved. In the clutch, he was able to come up big from the free throw line, making all of his attempts from the charity stripe today. He doesn’t exactly blow you away with true point guard skills, but his ability to draw the defense and pass the ball is very valuable at this point, especially for a team like BC, whose offense can get really stagnant. Shot selection will need to be an area of improvement for Rice in the future, as well as his three point stroke, but Rice has solidified himself as one of the most productive points guards in college basketball right now. His scoring helped Boston College jump out to the early lead over Texas Tech while Jared Dudley struggled, and he did a good enough job in the second half of controlling the game to get his team past the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Weekly Performers, 2/16/07-- Part Two

Jonathan Givony
Jonathan Givony
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Jonathan Watters
Jonathan Watters
Feb 16, 2007, 03:25 am
As instinctive as they come, Rice brings dynamic scoring ability to the floor for Boston College. As a slasher, he can penetrate the defense at will, and adjusts very well near the basket to give himself a chance to finish. When using his burst of speed to get inside, Rice displays a fantastic first step. He draws contact nearly every time he gets to the hoop, and shoots over 75% from the free throw line. His slashing ability is a go-to weapon that he can use at any time he likes, and the way he changes gears and keeps defenders off balance with his herky-jerky movements make him nearly impossible to stay in front of at this level.

In addition, Rice also has a very polished mid-range game for a college point guard. He can shoot floaters and jumpers off the dribble, and has no problem getting his shot off over larger players in this area. He creates separation in the mid-range largely due to a lightning quick cross-over dribble, and shoots it very well moving back to his left side.

As a distributor, Rice can be seen at his best when he penetrates into the lane off the dribble. He keeps his head up on dribble-drives, and usually finds the open man if he draws a double team. Rice will never be a pass-first point guard, and isn’t the ideal playmaker to run a deliberate offense in the half court. He will generally make something good happen if given the chance to create, however, and does a great job of getting the ball ahead to the open man in transition. Rice has shown very precise passing ability at times, but he sometimes tries to force it too much in tight areas. Regardless, he is leading the ACC in assists at 5.8 per game, and has posted a respectable 1.67/1 assist to turnover ratio.

A few areas of focus will be important to Rice in order for him to help his draft stock. He lacks any sort of lift on his three point shot, and has very awkward shooting mechanics as well. This season, he still has been able to shoot around 31% from the three point line, but his three point shooting is hot and cold at this point. Rice can shoot much more consistently when he gets an open look and has time to set up his shot, but he often struggles with defenders close to him.

Rice will also need to improve his right hand. As a lefty, he can drive and finish much better when moving left. He sometimes loses control of the ball when driving right to the hoop, and usually crosses back over to his left hand for the mid-range jumper instead of taking it all the way in.

In terms of size, Rice lacks the height you ideally want in your point guard, and is generously listed at 6’1.” He has a good build, though, and handles contact inside well enough to compensate for lack of height. The lack of size does cause some trouble for him on the defensive end, where it’s particularly hard for him to fight through screens and disrupt the shots of larger players.

In his sophomore season, Tyrese Rice has done a great deal to boost his draft stock. He has assisted Jared Dudley in leading Boston College to a surprising 8-3 record in a very tough ACC Conference. Though he lacks the size for an ideal NBA point guard, and isn’t quite a true playmaker, Rice has given scouts a lot of things to like when looking at his game. If he can carry his strong play through to next season, he could very well be in a good position to test his stock for the 2008 NBA draft.

Latest results

07/29/2023 64 - 73 vs Herd That Herd That
07/27/2023 60 - 51 vs Challenge ALS Challenge ALS
07/25/2023 83 - 72 vs Ram Nation Ram Nation
07/18/2022 78 - 77 vs Defeat Diabetes Defeat Diabetes

Tweets

DraftExpress Shop