5-Star SF Prospect MJ Rice Transferring to Oak Hill Academy, Joins Dior Johnson

MJ Rice announced on Tuesday he will be transferring to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia:

The 5-star forward is ranked by 247Sports as the second-best North Carolina prospect, sixth-best small forward and 22nd-best nationally among all class of 2022 players.

Rice suffered a torn ACL in December while playing for Durham Academy. Prior to that, per Sports Illustrated, the 6'5", 210-pounder was averaging 25 points, nine rebounds and two assists per game.

He will be joined at Oak Hill by Dior Johnson, a 5-star point guard in the class of '22 who confirmed his transfer to the prestigious school last month.

"I wanted to settle at a good spot around good people for the most important last seasons of high school," Johnson told Sports Illustrated's Jason Jordan. "I thought Oak Hill was a great spot to do it and to get me better as a student, a player and as a person."

Johnson, who previously played for Mayfair in Lakewood, California, expressed excitement over Rice's decision:

Johnson is committed to Syracuse, while Rice has five offers from Boston College, NC State, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh and Providence. However, Rice took an unofficial visit to Duke after his injury.

Rice, like Johnson, explained to Jordan why he believes Oak Hill is the best place to prepare for collegiate basketball: 

"I'm just the type of player that's always looking push myself and raise my level on the court, mentally and physically," he said. "Oak Hill will help me in every way from the travel to the practices to school because it's a college-like routine. That's the biggest reason I decided to transfer; I want to take it up to another level."

Rice underwent surgery for his torn ACL on Jan. 27 and expects to be able to return to the court at some point in 2020. Oak Hill boys head basketball coach Steve Smith expects big things from his newest player once he's fully cleared.

"I love MJ's versatility, his feel for how to play, his athleticism, his ability to play and guard multiple positions," Smith told Jordan. "MJ can score the ball, but is so unselfish, he just wants to win; really defends and rebounds his position. MJ's work ethic puts him above other players that are supposed to be his equal."

Rice visited Oak Hill last Wednesday, per basketball insider Adam Zagoria.

Oak Hill also recently gained class of 2022 5-star guard Zion Cruz, who announced his transfer from Hudson Catholic (New Jersey) on April 24.