2023 wing Eli Rice signs with Nebraska Cornhuskers Men’s Basketball

The Nebraska Cornhuskers lone commit has officially signed as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. Eli Rice, a three-star wing recruit per Rivals, has signed with Nebraska. He reclassified from 2022 to take a gap year to play for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and made an official visit to Nebraska in July. Rice gave a verbal just a few weeks later.

The 6-foot-6 and 190 pound wing is originally from Hendersonville, Tennessee, but as mentioned above, Rice is taking a prep year to play for IMG Academy this basketball season. In addition to his three-star rating by Rivals, 247Sports also lists him as a three-start prospect, as does the 247 composite. The composite ranks him as the No. 195 prospect nationally, No. 41 in his position, and No. 22 in Florida.

“Eli is a guard with good positional size and length and the versatility to play several positions in our system,” Hoiberg said. “He is a good scorer who can make plays for others and rebounds well for his position. Eli has a lot of potential for development, as he played just two years of high school basketball and is young for graduating class. I think his best basketball days are ahead of him.”

When he committed back in August, Rice had a number of positive things to say about joining the Huskers.

“I just love the way coach [Fred] Hoiberg’s offensive schemes and stuff opens the court, always having driving lanes and everybody touches the ball,” Rice said of why he chose the Cornhuskers. “I love his NBA style of offense he runs. That’s one of the main things.”

Rice picked the Huskers over confirmed offers from Iona, Rhode Island, Georgetown, and VCU amongst others. He is considered an up and coming prospect who brings length, versatility, and an ability to score or create opportunities for teammates.

“He told me that I would be on the ball a lot but he also wants to help me be a better off-the-ball scorer by cutting and stuff,” Rice said of Hoiberg’s vision of him in their offense. “That’s one thing he was going to focus on with me is to become a better off-the-ball scorer.”

Rice is the only member of the 2023 class at this time. He will look to be the fourth Husker basketball letterwinner from Tennessee and the first since Amos Gregory in 1992-93. Three-star guard Chase Clemmons initially committed to Nebraska in June but decommitted in September.