credits him with leading his high school to a state title in basketball as a senior, but the Georgia High School Association records show that his high school did not win a state championship in any sport during his senior season. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirms that his basketball team was eliminated in the second round of the class AAAAA tournament. College career Rice began his freshman season on the bench, but he became a starter and played in all but one game for the 2009–10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team. He scored in double figures six times, including the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament second-round game against Ohio State. He had season highs for points (17), rebounds (8) and assists (4) in the March 2, 2010 game against Clemson. He started the final 11 games of his freshman season. Rice earned ACC All-Academic team recognition. Although he was one of four people to receive at least one first place vote for ACC Rookie of the year, he was not on the five-player ACC All-Rookie team. As a sophomore, Rice posted six 20-point games, but three times (all Georgia Tech victories) he played at least 10 minutes while scoring no points. He started 23 of 31 games that year. Rice ranked second on the team in terms of minutes, points, rebounds, assists and steals. He ranked 17th in the ACC in scoring and 6th in steals. Three times Rice had more than 10 rebounds, giving him three double-doubles. Early in his sophomore season, the 2010–11 Yellow Jackets team was in the same Legends Classic Tournament as the 2010–11 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team, but since the Wolverines did not qualify for the championship game, he did not get to play against his father's alma mater. In mid-January, Rice had his first back-to-back twenty-point scoring nights on January 16 and 19 against North Carolina and Wake Forest. Later in the season, he posted season highs in rebounds and point in back-to-back games: Rice had 12 rebounds on January 30 against the Maryland Terrapins and 28 points on February 3 against the Miami Hurricanes. Coach Paul Hewitt suspended him for the final three games of the season. Following the 2011 NBA draft selection of Iman Shumpert, Rice was the leading returning scorer for the 2011–12 Yellow Jackets. He was suspended for the first three games of the 2011–12 season