OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Ball State University head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee announced announced Wednesday that he has added Johnson County Community College sophomore guard Krystal Rice to his 2020 recruiting class.
Rice, a 5-foot-8 guard who had a stellar sophomore season in 2019-20, earned NJCAA Division II All-America Second Team honors and Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division II First Team and All-Region Vi D-II recognition. She played in 30 games with 29 starts, leading Johnson County in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Rice finished the year second in the conference in 3-point field goals made (84) and free throw percentage (78.8) while also ranking fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (37.5). Her 84 treys tie for 10th on JCCC's season chart.
"Krystal made a tremendous impact on our program in one year," said Conrad. "Obviously she's very talented and has one of the best shooting strokes I've seen, but what really stood out was what a great teammate she was and how coachable she was."
Rice scored double figures in points in a team-high 23 games, including a career-high 29 points in a win at Hesston late in the regular season. She hit eight 3-point baskets against the Larks which tied the third-best game in team history. Twice during season, Rice was selected at the KJCCC-D-II Player of the Week, earning the honors in weeks 13 and 15.
Rice helped lead the Lady Cavaliers to a 28-5 record and a runner-up finish in the Region VI Tournament. Prior to JCCC, Rice spent her freshman year at Indiana State where she saw action in 20 games for the Sycamores. She was a standout at Flint Hamady High School where she was a four-year letterwinner, helping her squad to four district titles, three regional championships and the 2014 Michigan state finals. She closed out her high school career averaging 12.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Rice comes from distinguished basketball family as the niece of former NBA and NCAA champion Glen Rice.
"We have been following Krystal's progress for a long time and are excited to bring her into the Ball State family," Sallee said in a release by Ball State. "Krystal can flat out shoot it. Her ability to score is special, and it was impressive to watch her combine her toughness and skill level and parlay it into an All-American season at Johnson County."
The Cardinals ended the 2019-20 season with a 21-10 overall record. Ball State's 13-game turnaround this season led all NCAA Division I women's basketball programs and ranked among the top 30 turnarounds in NCAA history. Ball State earned the No. 2 seed in the 2020 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 13-5 league record, marking the sixth time in Sallee's tenure the Cardinals earned a bye and punched their ticket straight to Cleveland. Ball State returns four of its five starters from last season including First Team All-MAC recipient Brown and All-Freshman MAC Team honoree guard Sydney Freeman.