Rice, a talented recruit from Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois, was wildly overlooked heading into the college ranks. He eventually committed to play for the Drake Bulldogs where he started for two years and averaged 15.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
After his two-year stint with the Bulldogs, Rice transferred into the John Groce led Fighting Illini program. Under Groce’s tutelage, Rice was one of the best players on the Illini. He averaged 16.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.6 assists per game with Illinois.
Rice went undrafted in 2015 and tried to stick on with the Chicago Bulls G-League team.