Maryland transfer Rodney Rice lists Gonzaga in final six choices

Rice held a Zoom call with Gonzaga on Thursday

Maryland Terrapins transfer guard Rodney Rice (1) listed the Gonzaga Bulldogs among the six schools he's considering for 2025-26. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The Gonzaga Bulldogs could be one step closer to landing their first player out of the college basketball transfer portal.

Rodney Rice, a 6-foot-4 guard who helped guide the Maryland Terrapins to the Sweet 16, listed the Zags among the six teams he's considering for his third season of college. According to 247Sports' Dushawn London, Rice will also consider the Villanova Wildcats, Tennessee Volunteers, Auburn Tigers and USC Trojans, as well as a return to Maryland.

Rice held a Zoom call with Gonzaga on Thursday, per Jon Rothstein, and has visits lined up with Villanova (Thursday and Friday) and Tennessee (Saturday). Rice has also completed a Zoom call with USC. Gonzaga was one of the numerous schools that reached out to Rice after he entered the transfer portal on March 31.

Rice averaged 13.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists while playing in all 36 games last season, helping Maryland (27-9) reach their third Sweet 16 since cutting down the nets as national champions in 2002. Rice shot 37.4% from 3-point range on 5.9 attempts per game and knocked down 81.4% of his attempts from the charity stripe. He also ranked No. 13 in the Big Ten in win shares (4.8), which is an estimate of wins contributed by a player due to their offense and defense, perSports-Reference.com.

Maryland transfer Rodney Rice announced his final six schools.

Finalists:
- Maryland
- Villanova
- Tennessee
- Auburn
- USC
- Gonzagahttps://t.co/23pO1sp3ZV pic.twitter.com/wYCzKYt5yl

— Dushawn London (@DushawnLondon1) April 10, 2025

A native of Clinton, Maryland, Rice was a star at nearby DeMatha Catholic High School, a college preparatory school located in Hyattsville, Maryland, and the alma-mater of NBA talents Jerami Grant, Markelle Fultz and Jordan Hawkins. Rice was a four-star recruit and ranked among the top 100 high school seniors in the 2022 class before committing to the Virginia Tech Hokies. After one season in Blacksburg, Virginia, he took a step back from the program in October 2023 and transferred to Maryland in March 2024.

Rice is currently one of eight players from Maryland who've entered the portal in the wake of Kevin Willard's decision to leave College Park, Maryland, for Villanova in late March. Maryland hired former Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams to fill its coaching vacancy on April 1.

For the Bulldogs, Mark Few and the coaching staff look to add depth to their backcourt this offseason with Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman and Khalif Battle all set to graduate this spring. More specifically, a versatile guard who can pair alongside Braeden Smith, the 6-foot-tall Colgate Raiders transfer who's expected to take the reins at point guard after spending last season as a redshirt player. Smith, a Seattle native, was the Patriot League Player of the Year in 2023-24.

On Wednesday, reports surfaced that Gonzaga has also shown interest in Kansas State Wildcats' transfer Brendan Hausen (10.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.8 apg) and Cincinnati Bearcats' transfer Dan Skillings (9.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.5 apg).