USC Newcomers Scouting Reports

USC Reports: Rodney Rice, Chad Baker-Mazara, Alijah Arenas, Amarion Dickerson, Jacob Cofie, Jaden Brownell, Gabe Dynes, Ezra Ausar, Jordan Marsh, Ryan Cornish, Jerry Easter, EJ Neal, Patrick O'Brien

Year of 2 of Musselman at USC is kicking off with 13 newcomers, almost an entirely new roster once again. Below are scouting reports on all 13 including stats, film breakdown, and analysis.

Rodney Rice

Background Info

• Height - 6’4

• Weight - 200

• Position - Combo Guard

• Year - RS Jr

• Previous Team - Maryland

• High School - DeMatha Catholic (MD)

Stats

RS Sophomore Season (Maryland)

• 31.1 minutes, 13.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 turnovers, 0.7 steals

• 2.4/4.8 2s (50.9%), 2.2/5.9 3s (37.4%), 2.3/2.8 FTs (81.4%)

• 53.8 eFG%, 57.3 TS%, 11.6 AST%, 10.1 TO%, 1.3 STL%

• 3.6 OBPM, 1.6 DBPM, 5.2 BPM

Freshman Season (Virginia Tech - 8 games)

• 20.1 minutes, 7.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.8 turnovers, 0.8 steals

• 0.6/2.1 2s (29.4%), 1.6/4.9 3s (33.3%), 1.3/1.5 FTs (83.3%)

• 43.8 eFG%, 47.8 TS%, 7.7 AST%, 10.9 TO%, 2.3 STL%

• 0.5 OBPM, -0.3 DBPM, 0.3 BPM

Notes

Rodney Rice emerged last year as a legitimate Big Ten player on Maryland. This year he may be asked to be more of “the guy” for USC, and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes.

Rice is a tough shot maker. He shot 43/80 on non-paint 2s last season, one of the higher rates in the entire country, especially when taking into account volume. He has a bit of an unorthodox shooting motion, but he gets his feet set consistently with the ability to adapt his arm angle to be what it needs to. It isn’t just the mid range game though, Rice was comfortable shooting anywhere off the bounce. He shot 44.2% on pull up 3s last season, which again is one of the better rates in the country. Rice doesn’t need a ton of room to operate and get his shot off. He’s very skilled at “throwing” the ball ahead of himself as a dribble to be able to rhythm step into his jumper.

At Maryland, Rice was more of an off-ball guard that could also handle the ball when needed. That might be reversed this season at USC. He was still good with the ball in his hands last season, having a 47.0 eFG% when running pick and rolls. He could get downhill to the rim a bit, but he much preferred to walk into a jumper. Something to monitor will be the facilitating. It wasn’t something he was tasked with much of last season. When given the opportunity, Rice showed the ability to make the open pass, however there’ll be questions about his true ability to create for others.

Rice has solid upside defensively. He has longer arms and moves pretty well laterally to help stay in front of guards. He struggles with bigger guards and wings that can bully their way to the rim. He also struggles some to really open up his hips and be explosive if players do start to get by on their drive. He may not always be the go-to lock down defender, but he can hold his own against some of the top players in the Big Ten.

Film Breakdown

To get access to the full, in-depth scouting report of all 13 of USC’s newcomers just like the one above, and all of my other content, consider subscribing below! Stats, film, and analysis of every newcomer in the Big Ten