Scouting Report: A deep dive into what Indiana is getting in Myles Rice
Mike Woodson and Indiana have landed a commitment from Washington State transfer guard Myles Rice, the talented point guard announced via social media on Saturday.
Rice spent one season in Pullman with the Cougars and is the No. 27 overall player in the Rivals transfer portal rankings. He joins the Hoosiers with at least three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Without further ado, let's dive into what Indiana fans should expect out of the newest Hoosier.
***All of the stats used in this story are courtesy of Sports Reference and/or Synergy Sports***
With the commitment of Rice, Indiana is getting the true point guard that it didn't have for much of last season. Rice should provide the Hoosiers with a lead guard that the Hoosiers can trust night in and night out to be a leader on the floor.
Rice, a member of the 2021 high school recruiting class, was forced to sit out the first two years of his collegiate career as he received treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The 6-foot-3 guard was finally able to make his return to the court this past season for the Cougars as a redshirt freshman after making a full recovery.
The former three-star recruit started all 35 games for Washington State last season, averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds a night. Rice shot 43.9% from the field and 27.5% from three in his one and only campaign as a Cougar.
This past season, Washington State utilized Rice frequently as a pick-and-roll ball handler in half court settings. In nearly half of Rice's offensive possessions (40.3%) this past season, he worked as the ball handler in high screen-and-rolls.
While he only ranked in the 49th percentile in college basketball in points per possession in those sets, the pick-and-roll was still where a bulk of Rice's offensive production came from last year.
The first option for Rice in the pick-and-roll is to get all the way to the basket, where 35.6% of his shot attempts came from this past season.
Once at the rim, Rice was able to showcase his finishing ability. He shot 61.3% on field goal attempts at the rim with the Cougars this past year, showing off an array of different finishes over and around defenders.
If the defense sat in drop coverage and took away his ability to get to the basket last year, Rice didn't hesitate to pull-up from mid range for free throw line/elbow jumpers.
180 of the 246 jump shots (73.2%) Rice attempted a season ago came off the bounce. Going even further, 111 of those off-the-dribble jumpers came from inside the 3-point arc.
While the volume was there, the efficiency wasn't. The redshirt freshman shot just 36.9% on those off-the-bounce mid range jumpers this past season.
Rice also didn't hesitate to pull the trigger on pull-up jumpers from behind the arc a season ago. 69 of his 132 attempts from deep last season came off the bounce. He shot 27.5% on those 3-point attempts.
While Rice didn't shoot the ball efficiently from downtown a season ago at Washington State, there are plenty of indicators that his jump shot will come around.
He shot 27.9% from three on catch and shoot jumpers last season. However, on 'unguarded' catch and shoot 3-pointers, Rice shot 35.5% a season ago -- albeit on 0.89 'unguarded' attempts a game.
Outside of an 0-22 stretch from long range that spanned seven consecutive games last in the season, Rice shot 33% from three last year.
Additionally, the 81.1% rate that Rice converted at from the free throw line a year ago is another reason to believe that his 3-point percentage will eventually come around.
Perhaps the strongest part of the young point guard's game at this point in his career is his playmaking ability. Not only does Rice consistently find his open teammates, but he does so without turning the rock over.
Rice finished his redshirt freshman season at Washington State with an assist rate of 22.7%. That would've ranked second on Indiana last year, trailing only Trey Galloway.
Additionally, Rice's 15.4% turnover rate last year was better than every guard on the Hoosiers' roster other than CJ Gunn. With a usage rate north of 25%, Rice's ability to still keep his turnover numbers down as a redshirt freshman was impressive.
Defensively, Rice doesn't project to be an elite, lockdown defender at the college level. He's long, athletic and led Washington State in steals a game a year ago, but Rice isn't likely to strike fear into opposition guards with his ability to clamp down on the defensive end.
Rice doesn't figure to be elite defensively for the cream and crimson next year, but don't expect him to be a liability on that end of the floor either.
Check out some of Rice's highlights below.
–––––
Like this content? Join the conversation on TheHoosier.com's premium message boards and subscribe today!
– Follow TheHoosier on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
– Subscribe to TheHoosier on YouTube for more content
– Interact with fellow fans on TheHoosier's Premium Football Board and Premium Hoops Board