Jan. 29, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky women’s basketball signee Alyssa Rice of Reynoldsburg, Ohio has been selected to play in the prestigious 2014 McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Game on Wednesday, April 2 in the United Center in Chicago. The game will feature the top 24 high school players around the country representing teams from the East and West and will be aired on ESPNU at 7 p.m. EST. Rice will suit up for the West squad.
Rice, a 6-foot-3 forward, is a standout player at Reynoldsburg High School. She is ranked the No. 3 post player in the country and 20th overall player according to ESPN.com. As a junior, Rice led the Raiders to a 24-4 overall record and averaged 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game, while shooting 65 percent from the floor. She was named to the MaxPreps 2013 Girls Basketball All-America Team and is the highest ranked recruit in UK’s 2014 signing class.
She chose Kentucky over Virginia, Maryland, Ohio State and West Virginia.
“Alyssa possesses all of the qualities we desire in a post player,” UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “Her incredible combination of size and speed make her a perfect fit for Kentucky. She is clearly one of the top post players in the 2014 class. Her versatility makes her very difficult to defend. Alyssa is a great ball handler, a great shooter and a tough finisher around the basket. Her ability to run the floor will be very valuable to our program. Alyssa has a tremendous work ethic and I am confident that her Kentucky career will be filled with success.”
This marks the fifth consecutive year Kentucky will have a signee play in the McDonald’s All-American game and Rice is the school-record eighth high school All-American in the Mitchell era.
Next season, Rice will join five other fellow McDonald’s All-Americans on UK’s squad in Makayla Epps (Lebanon, Ky.), Bria Goss (Indianapolis), Linnae Harper (Chicago), Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.) and Janee Thompson (Chicago).
