Kansas men's basketball guard MJ Rice has entered the transfer portal

Jordan Guskey, Topeka Capital-Journal
·2 min read
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Freshman guard MJ Rice (11) lays in for two for Kansas against Texas during a game during the 2022-23 season inside Allen Fieldhouse.
Freshman guard MJ Rice (11) lays in for two for Kansas against Texas during a game during the 2022-23 season inside Allen Fieldhouse.

LAWRENCE — MJ Rice’s run with the Kansas men’s basketball program won't last more than a year.

A KU official confirmed Wednesday that Rice, a freshman guard, has entered the transfer portal. This comes a week and a half after the Jayhawks’ 2022-23 season ended with a NCAA tournament defeat against Arkansas in the round of 32. And it means the former McDonald’s All-American and 247Sports Composite four-star prospect, ranked 32nd overall in the class of 2022, will look to continue his college career elsewhere.

Rice is the fifth Kansas player to choose this path, following super-senior forward Cam Martin, sophomore guard Bobby Pettiford Jr., sophomore forward Zach Clemence and junior guard Joseph Yesufu. Like most of them, Rice wasn’t able to break into the rotation consistently this past season. But Rice did come in with high expectations, considering his recruiting profile, for a team looking to defend its national championship from the 2021-22 campaign.

Instead, Rice finished with an average of 2.2 points and 1.0 rebound per game in 23 appearances off the bench. He flashed at times during non-conference play, scoring 19 points in a win against Texas Southern in November, but mostly played sparingly as the Jayhawks went on to win the Big 12 Conference’s regular season title. And much like some of the players who are transferring away from Kansas, he was hindered at times in the last year due to injury.

Kansas does have veterans set to depart to the professional ranks, as well as players who’d compete to be a part of the rotation next season leaving as well. So, there was a path to more playing time for Rice. But considering what the Jayhawks are bringing in with their incoming freshmen and what they could add through the transfer portal, Rice could face an uphill battle and have more of a chance to carve out a role more quickly elsewhere.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU men's basketball guard MJ Rice has entered the transfer portal