Mike Young shares feelings on Virginia Tech without Rodney Rice

The Virginia Tech Hokies men’s basketball squad received an undesired surprise recently when guard Rodney Rice announced that he would be stepping away from the team. Hokies head coach Mike Young addressed Rice’s departure, revealing the state of his team since the news was announced.

“Fine. Fine. I went into it — I talked to you about the quality of depth that we have up and down the roster, and nothing has changed,” said Young.

Losing Rice will definitely impact Virginia Tech’s rotation this season. But in terms of production, Young does not see it complicating things too much, as he has several players ready to step up and fill the void.

“We can play as many as six potentially in the backcourt. Five is probably more realistic. I think we’ve got — behind Hunter and Sean, MJ Collins, two kids that can, again, help us win games. That’s all that matters.”

Losing an elite talent like Rice is never easy, especially someone who was highly sought after as the sophomore shooting guard was. According to On3’s Industry Ranking, the Clinton, MD native was a highly rated four-star recruit in the 2022 class. Rice cracked the top 100 recruits list, coming in at No. 61 in the nation. He also ranked seven at shooting guard and was the third-best recruit out of Maryland.

It’ll take a lot of work for Young to adjust to the departure of his highly talented guard with the season right around the corner. But given the statement from the Virginia Tech headman, he is in a position to deal with it accordingly, given the talent that still remains on the Hokies roster.

Young announces Virginia Tech guard Rodney Rice will leave the program

Rice was set to enter his second year with the Hokies after injuries limited him to only eight games in the 2022-23 season.

“Rodney Rice recently shared with me his desire to step away from our program,” Young said according to David Cunningham of Tech Sideline. “While his departure is unfortunate, we wish Rodney and his family all the best in the future.”

Rice averaged 7.4 points and 3.3 rebounds across 20.1 minutes per contest while playing a reserve role off the bench. He shot 33.3% from 3-point range while attempting a little less than five triples per contest.

Rice did not see his first game action last season until January after suffering an ankle injury in the preseason. He played 30 minutes in his debut against Syracuse on Jan. 11 and came away with a season-high three steals. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken finger just three days later that sidelined him for another month.