Indiana Basketball Player Report Card: Myles Rice

Mike Woodson brought in Washington State transfer Myles Rice to improve Indiana’s guard play, and it produced mixed results.

Indiana's Myles Rice (1) drives against Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –  As the Indiana basketball offseason rolls along, Hoosiers On SI will give out grades for individual players based on their performances in 2024-25. 

So far, we’ve graded Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal and Malik Reneau, and next up is Myles Rice.

Preseason expectations

The addition of Myles Rice was a main reason many believed Indiana would be significantly improved from last season, ranked No. 17 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll. Indiana did not have enough quality or depth in the back court in 2023-24 after Xavier Johnson went down with injury, and it could have used another guard even before he was sidelined. So going into his fourth season, Woodson learned that lesson and added Rice and Kanaan Carlyle to a back court with returning Hoosiers Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton. With Rice, Woodson thought Indiana could implement a faster style of play.

“We had to really amp up our backcourt and get better,” Woodson said in May. “And I thought we’ve done that.”

Rice was ranked No. 8 among all point guard transfers, per On3, after making the first team All-Pac 12 as a freshman at Washington State. Averaging 14.8 points and 3.8 assists per game, Rice led the Cougars to a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The big question as he came to Indiana revolved around his 27.5% 3-point shooting.

How the season went

Rice made a strong first impression during Indiana’s 66-62 win at Tennessee in an exhibition game. Guarded by reigning SEC defensive player of the year Zakai Zeigler, Rice scored 20 points and dished out four assists with no turnovers. He followed that up with a season-high 23 points against South Carolina and a 20-point performance against UNC Greensboro leading up to Indiana’s trip to the Bahamas. 

But across three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis, Rice struggled mightily. He scored 11 total points on 4-for-25 shooting, with eight assists and six turnovers as the Hoosiers went 1-2 with blowout losses against Louisville and Gonzaga. Woodson said Rice “might be a little gun shy right now,” but was confident he’d return to early-season form.

“I’m not concerned. Myles is a tough kid,” Woodson said in the Bahamas. “We’ll get him back. We’ll go home and regroup, and we’ll get him back going because he’s a major, major piece to the puzzle.”

Rice got back on track when the Hoosiers returned to Bloomington. He scored 19 and 17 points in Indiana’s next two games, respectively, and had 17-plus points in six of Indiana’s first nine games after the Battle 4 Atlantis. At his best, Rice put pressure on opponents with his blazing speed in the open court. As Big Ten play began, Indiana’s guard play certainly looked improved from last season, in part thanks to Rice. But during that stretch, he also scored just two points against Minnesota and four against Chattanooga. That inconsistency was a sign of things to come, and his high points were not as high in February and March. 

Rice was part of Indiana’s late-game confusion during an out-of-bounds play in a close loss to Maryland, when it blew a five-point lead in the final minute. In a close loss at Purdue, Rice finished scoreless and took an ill-advised shot in the final seconds. He also went 2 for 8 and missed a shot in a clutch situation during Indiana’s loss to UCLA. Rice shouldn’t shoulder all the blame for those close losses, but Indiana likely would have reached the NCAA Tournament if it won one of those games.

After starting Indiana’s first 24 games, Woodson tweaked the starting lineup and brought Rice off the bench in seven of the last eight games, though he still played 20-plus minutes in each and 36 in the win at Michigan State. Rice wasn’t a great defender for most of the season, but he and Anthony Leal played key roles in shutting down Braden Smith during Indiana’s win over Purdue. 

Rice showed promise early in the season, but in his last 16 games he averaged just 7.7 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game while shooting 35.2% from the field. He improved his 3-point shooting from 27.5% to 32.5%, but only attempted 83 compared to 131 at Washington State. His season ended with a scoreless outing in Indiana’s loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Tournament.

Player grade

Rice had several good moments as a Hoosier, but his inconsistency contributed to Indiana’s disappointing season. Though he had eight games with 17-plus points, he also had 12 games with five points or fewer, including two scoreless games in losses to Maryland and Oregon. And by the end of the season, he lost his starting job. Whether it was Woodson’s offensive system not being conducive to Rice’s success or Rice’s own shortcomings, he ultimately did not live up to expectations as Indiana missed the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season with an identical 19 wins. Rice’s future is uncertain as new head coach Darian DeVries takes over. He has not entered the transfer portal, and DeVries said he’ll meet individually with each player in the coming days.

Grade: C

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