Eli Rice enters the transfer portal

Inside Nebraska has confirmed with a source that Husker guard Eli Rice has entered the transfer portal.

Rice, a 6-foot-8, 213-pounder, played in 17 games as a true freshman before a high-ankle sprain at practice following the Maryland game on Jan. 27 sidelined him for the rest of the season.

Rice averaged 4.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game while shooting 37% from 3-point range (10-of-27). Rice often provided a scoring spark off the bench for the Huskers and made a 3-pointer in Big Ten games against Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan State.

“Eli, he’s got some things you just can’t teach," Fred Hoiberg said in the preseason. "He’s long, he’s athletic, he has a beautiful shooting stroke."

Against Iowa in January, Rice scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out one assist. His season-high of 16 points came in non-conference play against Florida A&M.

"He's a guy who can take the lid off the rim when we're struggling on that end," Hoiberg said of Rice after the Florida A&M game. "Defensively, he still has a long ways to go. He got lost a couple times out there. But I'm proud of Eli. ...And again, when you have a guy that can go out there and knock down two or three in a row, that's huge for your offense.

"So he's still adjusting, as all freshmen do. It's still going to be a big learning curve for Eli."

A former 3-star recruit in the 2023 class out of Gallatin, Tenn., who spent a season at IMG Academy in Florida, Rice signed with Nebraska over other programs like Georgetown and VCU.

Rice becomes the second Husker to enter his name in the transfer portal, joining guard Ramel Lloyd Jr. Nebraska now has three open scholarship spots for the 2024-25 season: