It’s very early in the season and Springfield Vs Springboro brought one of the best atmospheres and endings of the young season. Rice was showing off his athleticism by playing above the rim with a putback slam dunk and a breakaway slam dunk on a defender’s head. A strong forward who protects the rim, Rice had three blocks to go along with his 14 points. Maybe Rice’s most impressive skill finish of the game was a lefty layup off a spin move past a defender. Springfield has a nice mix of senior talent to go along with a trio of freshman who all saw playing time at the varsity level on Friday night. Fun team to monitor in the GWOC this season.

I caught Rice at the University of Dayton team camp and he impressed with his motor and interior scoring ability. Springfield has a chance to be one of the top teams in the GWOC this season with an excellent mix of senior leadership and young talent. You could tell Rice was confident with how aggressive he was attacking downhill and surprising the defense with his quick moves to the basket.

Springfield has a ton of athletes that just flat out get after you on both ends of the court and I’m not sure any player does that as well as Rice does. A forward who relentlessly attacks the rim with the ball in his hands, Rice is going hard downhill whenever he sees an opening. That motor and effort is also shown when Rice fights for rebounds or works defensively. I was impressed by a few players on Springfield and despite not having a full roster, they looked like one of the better teams in the Dayton area on Saturday.