Kansas freshman MJ Rice eyeing next step after holiday break

By Matt Tait     Dec 26, 2022

Nick Krug
Kansas guard MJ Rice (11) and Kansas forward K.J. Adams Jr. (24) slap hands as the Jayhawks regroup following a timeout during the second half on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The first time Kansas freshman MJ Rice competed at Allen Fieldhouse last summer, he scored 18 points in a camp scrimmage 11 hours after arriving in Lawrence at 4 in the morning.

One of the biggest reasons he had success that day was because Rice just went out and played.

Fast-forward a few months to the current time, where Rice is still trying to get his game and his season going, and it’s not hard to see that Rice needs to find a way to play more and think less while he’s on the court for the fourth-ranked Jayhawks.

His most recent opportunity to do that came last Thursday night, when he checked into the game as one of the first subs off the bench and finished with four points and a block in an active and aggressive 10 minutes of playing time.

After the Harvard win, Kansas coach Bill Self said Rice had been “better” in recent weeks. Self added: “I’ve said all along for us to be our best, Zuby (Ejiofor) or Ernest (Udeh) or another big needs to come through, and MJ needs to come through to give us more athletic ability. MJ played well tonight. He played within himself.”

Nick Krug
Kansas guard MJ Rice (11) lays out for a ball as Seton Hall guard Kadary Richmond (0) lands on his back during the first half on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The idea of Rice needing to emerge alongside one of KU’s young big men has been a familiar refrain from Self so far this season. In fact, he uttered it even more emphatically on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show just two nights before the Harvard game.

“The key to having our team have a great season in my opinion is MJ coming through and one of those bigs coming through,” Self said.

Now, with a solid showing fresh in his mind as the Jayhawks prepare to begin Big 12 play, the five-star freshman from Henderson, North Carolina, wants to do more. Much more.

“I’m doing OK,” Rice said in a postgame interview with David Lawrence on the Jayhawk Radio Network. “But when we come back (from winter break) I want to be a whole different animal. I want to grab as many rebounds as I can, make as many shots as I can. More importantly. I want to do everything I can to make my teammates better. So, starting in practice I want to be the best player in practice every single day. I want to be first one to the weight room for the lifts. I want to do everything perfect.”

Rice, who flushed an alley-oop lob from childhood friend Bobby Pettiford and also drained two free throws after a hard take to the basket, said being able to contribute to a KU victory made him feel great.

And for a player who has dealt with three significant setbacks — a back injury, COVID and kidney stones — in his first two months as a Jayhawk, coming away from a game with that kind of positive vibe was a welcomed experience.

“It’s honestly a grind,” Rice told Lawrence of the adjustment to big time college basketball. “You are going to have days where you say, ‘Man, I don’t want to do it,’ or ‘Man, my body is tired and I’m mentally drained.’ But when you go in there and work out and are going through the whole process and at the end of it when there is success, that’s probably one of the best feelings. You know you’ve got to put the work in. No matter what, (I’ll) put the work in and everything else will come.”

That sentiment also was best summed up two days earlier by Self, who said simply that Rice “gets it.”

After a four-day holiday break, the Jayhawks (11-1) are slated to return to campus on for their first post-holiday practice on Tuesday.

KU will open Big 12 play at 1 p.m. Saturday against Oklahoma State at Allen Fieldhouse.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.