Maryland transfer guard Rodney Rice commits to USC

Maryland transfer guard Rodney Rice has committed to join USC, he announced via his Instagram. Rice spent one season with the Terrapins, helping them to their best record in almost a decade.

The guard spent three collegiate years at two programs, Virginia Tech and Maryland. In total, Rice has averaged 12.6 points (42% FG, 36.8% 3PT), 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game with the Hokies and ‘Terps, and now he’ll become a member of the Trojans for the 2025-26 season.

After transferring last offseason from Blacksburg, where he dealt with several injuries while there for two seasons, to College Park, Rice improved his stats to 13.8 points (43.4% FG, 37.4% 3PT), 2.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 36 games, including 31 starts, for Maryland. That was third on their team in scoring while he was second in assists to go with his good shooting season. With that, Rice was part of a ‘Terps teams that went 27-9 overall, which had them in second in the Big Ten, and made it to the Sweet 16.

However, Maryland saw multiple players leave the program following the decision of Kevin Willard to become the next head coach at Villanova. Now, he’s on to Los Angeles, where he’ll hope to make a name for himself.

Maryland represented a homecoming for Rice, as a native of Clinton, Maryland just 45 minutes south of there after being born in Takoma right off of campus. He was the No. 60 overall player as a four-star prospect out of DeMatha Catholic. He also rated as the No. 7 shooting guard in the class and the No. 3 recruit out of the state. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, in 2022.

Rice got to spend one season back at his hometown school in Maryland. The change in the program will now have him heading to a third program for his fourth season, as he’s joining USC moving forward.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.