Penn State roster shifts continue as Eli Rice eyes portal

The opening of the spring transfer portal for men’s basketball won’t begin until Tuesday. But the shape of the Penn State men’s basketball roster continues to change ahead of it.

Reported by On3’s Joe Tipton on Monday, Nittany Lions junior wing Eli Rice intends to enter the transfer portal after two seasons in Happy Valley.

After beginning his career at Nebraska in 2023, Rice transferred to Penn State ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. An unspecified injury required a surgical procedure early in the season, though, leaving him sidelined after appearing in just one game for seven minutes.

Returning to action last spring and summer, Rice eventually became a consistent presence in the Nittany Lions’ lineup this past season. He played in 29 games, averaging 19.8 minutes and making 18 starts. For the season, he averaged 6.7 points per game while shooting 38.5 percent from the field, including 41 of 105 (39.0 percent) from beyond the arc.

With the opportunity, Rice showed flashes of potential that left Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades wanting more. As the season progressed, those flashes appeared more consistently at times than others.

“Him being out all last year, there was definitely an adjustment. I thought he started shooting the ball much better as we moved along. All aspects of his game improved and got better. He really tried to guard and guard better and even rebound better. I think he’s done that. And I thought every week of the season he got a little bit better. You know, that one percent approach,” said Rhoades on Feb. 26. “He cares. He’s a cerebral kid. So he wants to understand the why of it all and figure it out best for him and for us. He comes into work every day, that’s without a doubt.”

In his third year of college basketball, though, that work again struggled to translate on the glass. For the season, he totaled 48 rebounds (10 offensive, 38 defensive), averaging 1.7 per game.

“I always say ‘I need more from you’ all the time. But I say that to everybody. Like, ‘Come on, keep putting yourself out there.’ Sometimes you’ve got to go through some failure and some tough days, some tough games. But those are the days you can grow the most if you show up the next day ready to work,” said Rhoades. “That’s what we want Eli to be all the time, because he can — I think there’s a lot more in him, too. So better and better as the year went on, for sure.”

With his impending departure, Rice joins previously reported transfers Freddie Dilione and Mason Blackwood. Announced on Sunday, Penn State will retain Ivan Juric, and will add two international pick-ups, forwards Roko Prkačin and François Wibaut.