Former Drake SG Rayvonte Rice Will Transfer To Illinois

Drake shooting guard Rayvonte Rice announced that he'll transfer to Illinois on Wednesday, as Dave Telep of ESPN reports. He'll have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out next season due to NCAA rules.

A 6-4, 250-pound guard that grew up in Champaign, Ill., near the university that he's transferring to, Rice was the 2009-2010 Gatorade Illinois Boys Basketball Player of the Year while playing for Champaign Centennial High School.

In choosing Illinois over Xavier, the other major school he was considering, Rice becomes the first significant addition to the program by new head coach John Groce.

This past season, Rice put up 16.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1.9 SPG in his sophomore season with Drake. He was the team's leading scorer, but he also shot just 44 percent from the field and an even worse 24 percent from three-point range. Moving from a mid-major conference to the Big Ten will certainly post some problems for Rice as well.

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