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A little over a year after committing to the Texas Longhorns, Sir'Jabari Rice has gone from a lesser-known collegiate player during his time at New Mexico State to being on the brink of making it to the NBA.

Rice has officially been invited to the 2023 NBA Combine, per reports from ESPN and an announcement from the G League on Sunday. He was one of eight new players called up to the combine after showing out at the G League Elite Camp in Chicago over the weekend. The combine begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.

In two exhibition games, Rice averaged 14.5 points, three rebounds and two assists  while leading his team in scoring in both contests. His team-high 16 points in Game 1 on Saturday nearly helped Team 2 pull out the win before falling 84-81 in overtime.

Here's a look at Rice's highlights:

Rice, who won the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year in his only season at Texas, now finds himself with a real shot at making it to the league after his call-up to the combine. Scouts at the Elite Camp had little choice but to pay attention to him and clearly liked what they saw. He'll now join Texas forward Dillon Mitchell as the only two Longhorns to participate at the combine this year. 

Rice was Texas' second-leading scorer this past season (13 points) despite starting just three games. He was arguably the team's best player during certain stretches of the season and was a major reason the Longhorns won the Big 12 Tournament title while making it to their first Elite Eight since 2008.

This article first appeared on FanNation Longhorns Country and was syndicated with permission.

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