Recruiting Update – Aidan Rice (2024 Beaverton)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1278329' first='Aidan' last='Rice'] knew a lot would be put on his shoulders in 2023-24. So the senior did what he's done all his basketball life - go to work. The now 6-foot-2 guard came back from the off-season with added strength and skill and it's paid off this season. The Beaverton senior and bona fide college basketball prospect has helped keep the winning going with the Beavers program and the individual success has come alongside as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Definitely, obviously more than in past years, I've had more opportunities and more looks at the hoop," Rice said. "But I just put in a lot of work over the off-season to work on my game, work on my scoring ability. Definitely my athleticism - I haven't been able to showcase it that much in transition but it definitely helps me on defense for sure and getting downhill, creating looks for others."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Playing at the college level has definitely been on Rice's mind and he notes that his recruitment has largely been at the D-III level. He notes he's heard from pretty much all the Northwest Conference schools in Oregon but has also talked with out-of-state schools such as Puget Soundin Washington and Cal Lutheran and Redlands down in California. He's keeping all options open.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I definitely don't know what I'm doing yet and I'm still looking at other things, like maybe a higher-level walk-on opportunity if it presents itself," Rice said. "I'm looking at play style, (a program) that plays fast and shoots a lot of threes - somewhere that I feel like I can fight for some minutes, have the ability to play, and then culture, a winning culture in the program. I want to get along with the coaching staff and everything."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is still plenty of time for Rice to make any decisions so the focus right now is on the post-season. Beaverton has been a state tournament staple the past couple of years and the senior is not only hoping to get back to the Chiles Center but take it even further.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I think we can definitely go all the way," Rice said. "We get Chance (Winter) back and it really helped us build depth. Losing Chance, guys stepped up playing a role, playing better than the start of the year. I feel like maybe the start of the year, people would have said we don't have that much depth on our team but I feel like we've established that we do."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rice currently ranks as the #17 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2024 rankings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->