Rayvonte Rice – The Basics

Year:  Junior. Rice will not play for Illinois until next season. After he sits out for a year, he will have 2 more years of eligibility
Previous School: Drake
Ht/Wt: 6-4/240
Jersey #: 24

Next on our list of new guys on the basketball team is Rayvonte Rice, who is transferring to Illinois after spending two years at Drake. You won’t actually see him on the court this season, as he has to sit out due to transfer rules. Sam McLaurin, on the other hand, does not have to wait because he graduated from Coastal Carolina, and is heading to Illinois as a grad student.

Rice will be able to play for the Illini starting next season, and then the 6-foot-4, 240-pound guard will then have two years of eligibility with Illinois.

A native of Champaign, Rice was the first official recruit that John Groce brought into the program. He averaged 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds last season for Drake, and overall in his career there totaled 983 points, 339 rebounds, 103 assists and 105 steals. He played in 64 career games at Drake, and started 62 times. Rice also set the Drake freshman scoring record with 428 points (13.8 ppg)

Rice will be wearing jersey number 24 when he plays next season, and since that’s my favorite number I’m going to keep an eye on this guy. Also, we’re from the same hometown. He’ll be 21 July 14th  next year, so that means he’ll be of drinking age once he can officially play for the team.

What you may not know about Rice is that he is cousins with Illini football star Mikel Leshoure, who holds the Illini Football single-game (330 yards) and single-season (1,697 yards) rushing records and single-season rushing touchdowns (17) record. Leshoure is now a running back with the Detroit Lions.

Check out some Rayvonte Rice high school highlights below, because I couldn’t seem to find much from when he was at Drake. Still exciting nonetheless.

Tonight marks the first time the Illini basketball team is really allowed to practice with new head coach John Groce, save for a few small meetings here and there throughout the summer and fall. Usually this is marked by a raucous Midnight Madness event that once featured the world’s largest outdoor hoops practice in 2008, but I haven’t heard much buzz about anything going on tonight.

Regardless of whether or not there will be fanfare, the Illini will start practice tonight, which means basketball season is almost upon us! This also means it’s time for Coach Groce to get out there and speak to the press. In a couple weeks he’ll head to Chicago for the Big Ten Basketball Media Day, and on Wednesday he warmed up with the local crowd, first.

Since practices really haven’t begun, Coach Groce didn’t have too much to say. He reported that some guys have been working hard (didn’t specify) and that the seniors are hungry and ready to play. He also lumped Tracy Abrams in with the seniors as a leader, even though he is just going into his soph year. But as the point guard and probably main ballhandler on the team, I’m fine with him taking a leadership role.

The Illini have had some leadership troubles in the last, oh, 5 or 6 years, so there are a lot of questions about who will be captain. Groce said that he prefers the players and coaches vote together on the captain, in order to pick the right person for the job. Not only is it someone who can lead, but someone that the team will want to follow. “You can say you’re a leader, but if no one is following you you’re not a leader,” said Groce.

One of the first questions from the crowd was of course about filling the void left behind by Meyers Leonard heading to the NBA last year after his sophomore year, and Groce didn’t deny that those are big shoes to fill. His response was that a number of guys will be taking his place. Groce appears to have a soft spot for Nnanna Egwu, who is the “type of guy that will give you 13 pushups when you ask for 10.”

It looks like Ibby Djimde, Egwu and maybe even Mike Shaw will fill in, as well as senior transfer Sam McLaurin, who will be bringing versatility and the ability to play the 4 and the 5. Oh, and I guess Egwu has a super secret shot he’s been hiding, because recently he was able to make 73 out of 100 3′s.

Groce sang the praises of Nnanna Egwu; Photo by Cary Frye

Coach Groce plans to continue the Matto Awards, and he said it looks like a number of guys on the team will be vying for the top score. When asked about guys like Devin Langford (who ended up redshirting last year), Shaw and Myke Henry (players who didn’t get a lot of playing time last season), Groce made a somewhat sweeping statement that they’re all playing hard and doing better. Although, he has yet to watch everyone practice just together. Groce stated he’d like to play 9 guys a game, but he is honest with the guys about playing time. I remember another guy mentioning 9 or 10 guys in a game recently, and that didn’t quite pan out.

Stay tuned for a quick Getting to Know the New Guys segment, as there are just 2 transfers (Sam McLauirn and Rayvonte Rice) and a “preferred” walk-on (Mike LaTulip) joining the team for the season. There is still one open schollie, but it seems doubtful that it will be filled this year. Groce did comment that having the veterans on the team is going to be a good thing, because they have a lot of experience playing on the big stage, unlike some of the younger guys that didn’t get a lot of minutes last year. With 6 newbies and a nervous coach last year, it was hard to get a lot of playing time.

Like Groce, I don’t really know what to expect from this year, though I do hope it’s better than what’s going on over in Memorial Stadium. Groce commented that he and Coach Beckman are friends, but if neither team does well maybe they won’t stay friends for long.

Ballhandling is a key focus for Groce, which is extremely important for this team (I’m looking at you BP). With Abrams as the only PG, others are going to need to step up. Though Groce likes a fast-paced game, he did say that might not quite work for the current roster, especially with four seniors.

I will be in attendance when Groce comes to Chicago, and it will be nice to hear his thoughts after a couple of weeks of practice.The Orange and Blue Scrimmage will be on Oct. 22, and the first exhibition will take place against Lewis on Oct. 27.

Brandon Paul with an in-tact jaw; photo by Cary Frye

Not a whole lot is really happening in the world of Illini basketball, seeing as how it’s the summer. After the whirlwind we experience during the coaching frenzy, I’m not complaining. However, a few tidbits have flown onto my radar that I’m happy to share.

BP3

First of all, Brandon Paul suffered a broken jaw last week in practice. He collided with Devin Langford as they went for a loose ball during practice. Nice to see them getting their full-force hustle on during the off-season, but a broken jaw is never good. He was supposed to go in for surgery Friday, and will be out of practice for at least two weeks. When he does return, he will have to avoid contact for a while longer.

Broken bones of any kind suck (my foot was broken four months ago and I’m still not at 100%), but thankfully this happened in June and not November. And, breaking a jaw must suck, but at least he should have no problem making a full recovery. For Derron Williams, the broken jaw led to serious weight loss and a complete turnaround in his junior season. However, Paul doesn’t need to lose any weight and it’s probably not going to help him turn the ball over any less.

Best of luck on a speedy recovery!

Jersey Numbers Set

The new Illini members have picked their jersey numbers, and they look a little something like this:

Sam McLaurin – 0
Rayvonte Rice – 24
Mike LaTulip – 10
(Kevin Berardini will change his # to 31)

It always takes a real man to wear 0 on his jersey, so McLaurin has to be hardcore. Twenty-four has inexplicably always been my favorite number, which I told Mike Davis once when I had the honor of meeting him. He was a freshman and I asked him to please do that number justice. I’m pretty pleased with his four-year response. This also means that I am expecting a lot from Rice, and it makes him instantly my favorite of the new players. LaTulip is 10, and I’m having a hard time finding someone else who had that number. Feel free to inform me in the comments.

Record Hired as Strength Coach

Lon Record has been hired as strength and conditioning coach and will be in charge of the Fighting Illini men’s and women’s basketball teams. Record has 13 years of experience in the profession and comes to Champaign after serving the last five seasons as strength and conditioning coach at Villanova, where he worked with both the men’s and women’s basketball squads.

Since we have a history of skinny guys that can’t put on weight (Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis) or bigger guys that can’t shave off the weight (Demetri McCamey), hiring a new strength coach seems like a fine idea to me.

Parham to Fill Coaching Hole

This one is hot off the presses. Paris Parham (name is almost as good as Maverick Morgan) from ISU will be joining the basketball staff as an assistant coach. Parham will replace the hole left by Isaac Chew’s abrupt exit one month on the job. Before ISU Parham was a Chicago Public League coach, which could be a huge boost for the Illini.

Welcome to the family, Parham!

Yesterday, I reported that new Illinois assistant coach Isaac Chew is heading to Marquette, and then today I get to inform my fair readers that 2014 PG commit Jalen James has decomitted and will reopen his search. The HS junior point guard from La Lumiere School in LaPorte, Ind., is the second recruit to leave the Illini, as HS senior point guard Michael Orris jumped ship pretty quickly after Bruce Weber left the building.

If you’re not keeping score, that’s two point guards that have decided not to come to Illinois. John Groce is supposedly a guy that loves to play a lot of guards, and now he’s really only got Tracy Abrams to help him out. Abrams was the only shining light last year (aside from that Brandon Paul 43-point game that I still dream about), but he’s going to need some help.

The news also stings a bit since Chew just ditched us yesterday. However, today’s article from Paul Klee kind of makes it seem like the break up was a mutual decision. It implies that perhaps James wasn’t the best fit for the “system.” That’s fine, but we’ve got plenty of open schollies since Orris is out and Meyers Leonard is heading to the draft. James was a good recruit so now seems like a strange time to be picky. Does this really have nothing to do with Chew or anything else? Hmmmmmmmmm.

Marquette is in the mix to nab James, in addition to SMU (Jerrance Howard’s new stomping grounds) and Colorado. Also I just saw a tweet that DePaul is in the mix, but that doesn’t seem likely. The addition of Rayvonte Rice from Drake is nice, but the kid isn’t a point guard.

As of now, 6’5″ shooting guard Malcolm Hill is apparently still planning to head to Champaign. But as we know that can always change.

John Groce has nabbed his first Illini recruit! Drake shooting guard, and Champaign native, Rayvonte Rice announced today that he will transfer to Illinois. He had the option to transfer to Xavier as well, but he attended Champaign Centennial High School and decided to return to his roots.

There are actually three open scholarships for next season: Michael Orris bowed out of his scholly before setting foot on campus, Meyers Leonard is heading to the NBA, and Crandall Head transferred abruptly in the middle of the season. Groce filled one spot, and now has two to play with.

Rice, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound guard, will sit out next season, and then will have two years of eligibility with Illinois. He averaged 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds last season for Drake.

Since Rice has some collegiate experience, he could be able to jump in immediately and take over the guard duties for Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson after they graduate at the end of next year. While he doesn’t necessarily have B1G experience, he will have a year of practice to get with the program. Seems like a good nab, and I live it when the local kids get to come home and play for the fans (ala another Centennial transfer – from Dayton – Trent Meacham).

Groce now has two more spots to fill before the season begins, and will most likely focus on another point guard position and center to fill the more immediate holes left by Leonard and Maniscalco.