On Monday, March 25, guard Eli Rice confirmed he was entering the transfer portal. Within a few days, Penn State head men’s basketball coach Mike Rhoades gave him a call.

Rice, who spent the 2023-24 season at Nebraska as a true freshman, was immediately receptive. He didn’t want to leave the Big Ten at his new school and said he liked how Penn State’s coaches treated players. On Thursday, April 18, Rice announced he would become a Nittany Lion.

Since arriving at Penn State, Rice has added a veteran presence to a group that welcomed four freshmen and three other transfers. While he missed the last 13 games of Nebraska’s season last year, he still came into Penn State with 17 appearances for a Big Ten program, an experience those around the program said has been valuable.

“We’ve got guys obviously from other power conferences, but every league is different. Every league is refereed differently. Travel is different. Styles of play are different,” assistant coach Jimmy Martelli said. “So having a guy that gets to come in from the league that has knowledge of different teams and how they play, it helps because he can talk to our guys.”

Across his 17 appearances, Rice recorded 170 minutes on the court with 23 defensive rebounds, four blocks, and three steals. With decent numbers under his belt for a player just starting to gain his footing, Rice said improving defensively was one of the reasons he chose Penn State.

Rice has the benefit of playing alongside Ace Baldwin Jr., the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. As he’s tried to improve his game, Rice said he’s follow Baldwin to try and learn from the fifth-year senior.

“I try to watch him, all the practices and stuff and just pick up things from him,” Rice said. “I think we all got that mentality where everybody can be the Defensive Player of the Year.”

Rice’s Nebraska played Penn State once last year, though Rice didn’t appear after picking up his injury. While Rice’s injury kept him out of much of the Cornhuskers’ conference play, he still said he’s excited to return to Big Ten arenas.

“I enjoy this environment, every game. I mean, it was a crowd of people saying stuff to you every game. So yeah, I wanted to stay in the Big Ten, for sure,” Rice said. “As far as like, on the court, it’s just physical, physical and detailed.”

Rice spoke on Thursday alongside other wings for the Nittany Lions. Standing to his right was freshman Hudson Ward, the only other new player standing in the lineup.

Both Rice and Ward have gotten high praise from coaches and players. For forward Puff Johnson, returning for his second year with Penn State, Rice and Hudson have brought character to a team trying to build in the still-young Rhoades era of the program.

“They’re doing great. Great work ethic, and it speaks to the type of recruitment that coach Rhoades has and the way that he really saw the five guys returning and saw what kind of pieces to put around them and what kind of pieces to help build this team,” Johnson said.

“Guys like Hudson and Eli are a perfect example of what we’re trying to build around here. Just hard-working guys are willing to do whatever they can to win.”

Martelli said the team has big expectations for Rice this season. Rice, who gave props to Penn State’s coaches for their style, seems to feel the same way.

“I would just say one of the like, big thing I’ve noticed since I’ve been here is [with the coaches], it’s not bad to make a mistake. They want you to make mistakes so you can grow from it. So that was one of the big things,” Rice said. “And I want to become a great defender and I think [Penn State] can help me become that.”