Penn State lands commitment from Nebraska basketball transfer Eli Rice

Penn State has landed an intra-conference transfer as former Nebraska wing Eli Rice announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions on Instagram Thursday morning.

Rice’s post featured a picture of him in a Penn State uniform and was captioned: “Right My Wrongs! COMMITTED! Let’s Work! #WeAre #BetOnMe“

He played in 17 games for the Cornhuskers last season, averaging 4.2 points per game. He also shot 37% from the 3-point line.

Prior to Nebraska, Eli Rice played high school hoops at IMG Academy and is a Detroit, Michigan native. Per the On3 Industry Rankings, he was a three-star recruit in the 2023 class. He was rated the No. 270 overall prospect, as well as the No. 58 small forward and No. 23 player out of Florida.

Penn State lands NIU transfer

By Justin Rudolph

The Nittany Lions have made other early additions from the portal so far this

Penn State recently landed a significant commitment from an individual known to cause havoc on the defensive side of the ball. Former Northern Illinois big man Yanic Konan Niederhauser has committed to playing for the Nittany Lions and head coach Mike Rhoades for the 2024-25 campaign.

The six-foot-11 big man just completed his sophomore season at Northern Illinois. As a freshman, he played in 20 games and had two starts well, averaging just 7.6 minutes per contest. However, in his sophomore season, Niederhauser saw significantly more playing time, playing in 27 games and earning 26 starts. His average minutes per contest also rose dramatically, elevating to 19.6 minutes a contest. During last season, Niederhauser was able to put up 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and an impressive 2.1 blocks while averaging just under 20 minutes per contest.

Niederhauser joined college basketball ranks with prior professional experience. Before heading to Northern Illinois in 2022, he played with the German pro league club team Ehingen Urspring the season before. He also spent time with their youth team combos able to play in six games at the pro level. Niederhauser also played with the Swiss under-18 national team at the 2021 U18 European challengers, averaging just shy of a double-double for the event with 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per match.