Texas basketball replaces depth instantly with ex-NMSU G Jabari Rice

Since the start of the offseason, head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball program lost the likes of sophomore defensive standout guard Devin Askew and the experienced senior guard Courtney Ramey to the NCAA Transfer Portal. Texas lost the guard duo of Ramey and Askew to the transfer portal in a short period of time as it’s started to become paramount for Beard to find a plan to replace the lost depth in the backcourt unit.

It didn’t take long, though, for Beard and the Longhorns staff to get to work to find at least one replacement for key departures such as Askew and Ramey. On the same day (April 19) that Beard and the Longhorns saw Askew enter the transfer portal, they hauled in a commitment from another guard.

Texas landed a commitment out of the portal from the former New Mexico State Aggies senior guard Jabari Rice on the night of April 19 via an announcement on his Twitter timeline. Rice is the first commitment for the Longhorns out of the portal this offseason too.

The 6-foot-4 and 180-pound Rice is returning home to the state of Texas after spending four seasons with the New Mexico State program. He is a product of Fort Bend Marshall High School in Houston, TX.

Texas basketball adds experience, consistency in former NMSU G Jabari Rice

Rice is also a three-time All-WAC selection and was a member of the 2022 WAC All-Tournament Team. He was an All-WAC selection in each of the last three seasons.

Moreover, Rice really was one of the steadiest two-way producers at any guard position in the last few seasons for any team in the WAC. Rice really broke out during the 2019-20 season when he averaged more than a dozen points per game and five rebounds for the first time in his career.

Since that point in time, Rice has averaged around a dozen points per game, five rebounds, two or three assists, and one steal in each campaign.

Consistency will be a major factor in terms of what Rice brings to the table for the Longhorns. He’s also an underrated one-on-one perimeter defender in terms of his grittiness along with a tough rebounder that is very effective for a 6-foot-4 guard.

Rice has yet to average more than one steal per game in any season of his career to date. But he’s quick laterally and is a smart defender off-ball. In a defensive scheme under Beard that will ask a lot in terms of off-ball awareness and communication, Rice looks to be an excellent fit.

He proved he can consistently fill that sort of a role during his four seasons at New Mexico State.

Furthermore, what Rice brings to the table for Texas on the offensive end is a quality shot creator and underrated secondary facilitator that has progressed in certain areas on a steady basis in the last few seasons.

Rice has continued to become a more dynamic facilitator and shot creator over the course of the last four seasons. He averaged a career-best 3.1 assists per game last season with an assist percentage that topped 18 for the first time in his career.

But with the increase in assists comes an increase in turnovers for Rice. He’s posted a similar assist percentage compared to turnover percentage within the margin of one percentage point in each of the last three seasons.

All in all, though, Rice should continue to be one of the more dynamic offensive playmakers for the Longhorns. That will be a nice change of pace compared to some of the more one-dimensional guards Texas had offensively last season such as Askew and sharpshooting guard Jase Febres.

It’s also worth noting that Rice was a pretty effective outside shooter over the last three seasons. While his three-point shooting slumped in a big way down the stretch last season (shot around 29 percent from three-point range in conference play), he’s around a 37 percent shooter from deep since his sophomore campaign.

Texas is definitely getting a nice addition to the backcourt unit this offseason with their first commitment out of the portal in Rice. He’s likely to occupy a second-unit role as a critical sixth or seventh man night in and night out. But we’ll still how some of the younger guys pan out early next season to see the exact role that Rice will occupy.

Rice is joining a backcourt unit that could also feature the likes of blue-chip incoming freshmen Arterio Morris and Rowan Brumbaugh, senior guard Marcus Carr (maybe), and redshirt senior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones (also maybe).

Texas finished up last season with a record of 22-12 (10-8 Big 12) following their Round of 32 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers last month. Beard and the Longhorns did get their first NCAA Tournament win since 2014 by defeating the 11-seed Virginia Tech Hokies in the Round of 64.