2025 commitment AJ Rice confident in Bulldog future
2025 Mississippi State commitment AJ Rice hasn’t exactly experienced much of an offseason. During a solid junior season at Madison (Ala.) Academy, the On3 three-star linebacker prospect got injured and waited until the season ended to have surgery.
These days, Rice is close to finishing off his rehab and is eyeing a return for the summer months. Rice is rated as the nation’s No. 80 linebacker and the state’s No. 34 prospect per On3 composite rankings.
“I had shoulder surgery several weeks ago on my labrum,” Rice explained. “I hurt it during football season so I am recovering from that right now. I should be back by this summer so no spring football this year.”
Once that return happens, Rice wants to attack his preparations for his final season at the prep level. He has a few things he wants to focus on this summer in order to improve his game on the defensive side of the ball.
“When I am back I want to work the most on my change of direction,” added the 6-foot-1 and 230-pound Rice. “I will still be at mike linebacker so I want to also work on my explosiveness, my speed and getting better going downhill. But change of direction is the biggest thing I want to work on.”
Rice was Mississippi State’s second commitment in the Class of 2025 and he gave his commitment to the previous staff at State last fall. Since then, Rice has added more SEC offers to his list but remains solid with his Bulldog decision.
“Ole Miss and Arkansas were my latest offers, ” recalled Rice. “One of their coaches came by our school back in January and offered me out of nowhere. I ended up going on a visit to Ole Miss and it went well. I don’t really have a lot of other schools showing interest because I am committed. They know that Mississippi State is my dream school and that I am locked in.”
With State’s new staff, it hasn’t taken Rice long to build a good bond with defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler. Rice has also made multiple trips to Starkville this spring and that includes a visit to State’s spring game last month.
“It’s been amazing with Coach Hutzler,” noted Rice. “He is a family guy so we talk about fmily a lot. We are getting to know each other well and it’s been good. My visit to the spring game was good, too. What stood out to me the most was the energy that the team played with and how my relationship with their coaches is still great.”
Looking ahead, Rice is also working towards arriving at Mississippi State sooner than later. He hopes to graduate high school in December in order to get an early start on his college career.
“I am trying to graduate early and it would be a big advantage,” Rice mentioned. “I could get there early and see how classes work and work out with the team. So I think that could be a big advantage for me.”
