The MJ Rice Blog: Recruitment, Talks with Roy Jones Jr., Pooh Shiesty and More

Rice said he is planning to workout with boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. in the offseason.

M.J. Rice is an elite shooting guard in the 2022 class who combines elite athleticism, brute strength and scoring ability on all three levels. Last season, Rice was pumping in 25 points, nine rebounds and two assists a game for Durham (N.C.) Academy before tearing his ACL in December. That production has everyone from Duke to Kentucky to Louisville to Texas Tech to Pittsburgh, among many others, all in hot pursuit. Now at Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), Rice has agreed to give SI All-American exclusive access into his world by chronicling everything from his road back to recovery to intimate details about his recruitment to his everyday life in a blog.

What’s up world, it’s MJ Rice back at it with another blog for you guys!

Right now, we’re locked into our season.

We hadn’t been playing like we’re capable of playing, but we learned a lot over the last couple weeks. It’s always about the lesson for me. You never actually lose if you learn.

Individually, I feel like I can play a lot better.

I’m never gonna say I’m satisfied with how I play because I’m my own worst critic; I want to bring more energy and do a better job of leading. That’s what I’m concentrating on.

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I know that a lot of people are sleeping on us now, but I feel like we have the talent to win the GEICO. We still have a lot of work to do to get there, but we’re all locked in and we know our goal!

We want to shock the world.

The doubts are kinda fueling us.

OK, so with my recruitment I want to clear up some rumors about me having a favorite school or leaning toward anyone. 

That's just not true; I don't know how this stuff starts, but I wanted to clear that up in my blog. 

I am 100 percent open to everyone. 

I'm big on relationships, and with me being so far from knowing what I want to do, now is when I want to build the relationships to know what's best for me.

Right now, I'm hearing from Pitt, Duke, Louisville, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Indiana, and a few others pretty regularly. I’m just building the relationships with the coaches right now. 

Again, I’m in no rush with anything.

I had the chance to talk with the legend Roy Jones Jr. recently and that was great!

MJ Rice has been dominant for Oak Hill this season. (Photo: NIBC)

He gave me great advice and talked to me about what I can do to go further. Just being able to learn from a legend like him was something that I’ll never forget.

I’m trying to set up a couple training sessions with him this summer. That boxing workout is intense, and it can really translate on the court.

I know just being able to soak up knowledge being around him will make me better!

OK, so school is still cool for me.

It’s different because we have to do a lot of work on the road. It’s like college. You really have to be disciplined and stay on top of things, so it’s helping us all mature more.

I’m mostly listening to Pooh Shiesty, NBA YoungBoy, I’ve been listening to a lot of J. Cole lately too.

I’m listening to Rod Wave and Future too.

Check all those out!

Ok guys, that’s it for now because I’ve gotta get back to the books, but thanks for checking me out. I’ll be back soon with another update!

Stay safe out there.

Don’t forget to follow M.J. Rice:

Twitter: @MJrice_1

Instagram: mjrice2