N.C. State announces MJ Rice will sit remainder of 2023-2024 season, must submit waiver for redshirt

N.C. State announced some big news on Wednesday evening regarding a player that was highly touted coming out of high school. According to Brendan Marks of The Athletic, the Wolfpack announced that sophomore M.J. Rice will sit the remainder of the 2023-2024 season. He’ll submit a waiver to see if the NCAA will count this season as a redshirt year. Rice has played in nine games this year for the Wolfpack.

N.C. State lost a hard-fought battle on Wednesday evening to the Virginia Cavaliers, in overtime. The Wolfpack lost 59-53 in a defensive battle. Casey Morsell led N.C. State with 13 points. Ryan Dunn led Virginia with 13 points. He also had a double-double for the Cavaliers, grabbing 12 rebounds. Dunn also chipped in six blocks on defense.

Virginia managed to limit NC State to just 15 points in the first half. The Cavaliers also dominated the glass, 54-32, in what was easily their best rebounding performance of the season. The Wolfpack got some big time three-pointers from DJ Horne late. Virginia won their 20th straight game at home, and they currently own the nation’s longest winning streak. The Cavaliers moved to 14-5 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, while NC State dropped to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the ACC.

On September 20th, 2023, Rice announced he was stepping away from the program due to personal reasons. Before joining N.C. State this fall, Rice was previously with the Kansas Jayhawks.

His freshman season with the Jayhawks, he appeared in 23 games, averaging 2.2 points and 1.0 rebound per game. In his collegiate debut against North Dakota State on Nov. 10, he scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. Rice also poured in a career-high against Texas Southern–finishing with 19 points on Nov. 28th. His freshman season with the Jayhawks was limited with injuries: back problems, kidney stones, and COVID-19. Despite his problems in the past, there’s still plenty of potential and talent there.

He was one of the most decorated prospects in the country coming out of high school. Rice bounced around to a number of different schools, first Durham Academy, then Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) and finally, Prolific Prep (Napa, California). He played in the 2022 McDonald’s All-American Game. Rice averaged 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game his senior season at Prolific Prep.

He was rated as the No. 29 overall prospect in the country and a four-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2022 cycle.