Offseason Check-In: Rice Owls
Last season in review: The well finally dried up for Rice.
Rice Owls
2023-2024: 11-21, 5-13, T-14 American, 229th in KenPom
Head coach Scott Pera’s seven-year tenure in Houston came to an end last season after the bottom dropped out of his usually-steady program. An offense that suffered significant shooting regression, a shallow rotation, a lineup that stood as the least athletic in the American, and a typically anemic defense combined to produce a conference record of 5-13, the Owls’ worst mark since 2018.
The Owls cleaned up against the dregs of D1, recording resounding victories over UIW, Northwestern State, and Houston Christian, but were often non-competitive against their mid-major peers. November saw them suffer a five-game losing streak that was punctuated by an absolute beatdown (75-39) at the hands of crosstown rival Houston. Rice briefly reached .500 with a December 20 win over Prairie View A&M, but another five-game losing streak brought the Owls back down to earth as they entered conference play.
The talented core of Travis Evee, Max Fiedler, and Mekhi Mason produced a handful of high points — an overtime loss to Charlotte, a road win against Memphis, a 23-point road thrashing of UAB — but by late January, the Owls had been relegated to an afterthought. Rice finished in a tie for last place in their inaugural American season.
Rice University is an extraordinarily difficult place to win basketball games, and Pera did a respectable job of it — since 1965, he’s one of just three Rice head coaches to lead the program to multiple winning seasons. His high-octane, shooting-oriented style made the Owls a constant upset threat in Conference USA and bought the program some goodwill with fans; before his arrival, Rice spent most of the 2000s playing a brand of basketball that was both tedious and unsuccessful.
But to retain Pera would’ve been equivalent to spinning tires in the mud. Program anchors Fiedler and Evee have graduated. Promising underclassman Mason has transferred. Rice, a program with the worst facilities and smallest alumni base in the American, simply had to show a sign of life this offseason in order to survive.
That brings us to…
Head coach Rob Lanier.
The hire of Lanier, a relatively high-profile name who began his head coaching career in 2001, marks a departure from Rice’s 2010s philosophy of targeting younger, up-and coming assistants with no previous head coaching experience.
Lanier, of course, was fired by SMU earlier this year after the Mustangs dropped their regular season finale at UAB, a loss which cost them a bye in the American tournament. SMU went on to hire Andy Enfield from USC, who went on to hire Eric Musselman from Arkansas, who went on to hire John Calipari from Kentucky, who went on to hire Mark Pope from BYU…
All this to remind readers that the UAB Blazers set off the wildest coaching search in recent college basketball history. Thank you, Eric Gaines.
On the matter at hand, Lanier, who three months ago was leading an intra-conference rival to a 20-win season while on a $2 million dollar annual salary, is certainly one of the splashier hires in Rice history. He has plenty of pedigree, having served on the staffs of Rick Barnes and Billy Donovan, and is highly spoken of by both men. He was good, not spectacular, at Georgia State, and accumulated plenty of talent at SMU but wasn’t given enough time to capitalize on it. He’s known as an ace recruiter; during the 2010s, he secured the commitments of several Tennessee program icons. My personal assessment of Lanier as a coach is decent-to-good.
Lanier’s hire indicates that Rice is making an effort to at least stay afloat in the American, and I believe he’s a step in the right direction. It would be silly to pretend that he’s going to assemble the same level of talent at academically rigorous Rice as he did at uber-wealthy SMU, but Lanier has experience building capable rosters at similarly-budgeted Georgia State. To be fair, GSU doesn’t have to overcome the obstacle of an 8% admissions rate.
Lanier’s staff is the same as it was at SMU — Chris Kreider as the associate head coach and Josten Crow and Andre Owens as assistant coaches.
That brings us to…
The roster.
There is hardly a remaining trace of the 2023-2024 Rice Owls. Of players that saw more than 10% of the team’s minutes, only fifth-year sharpshooter Alem Huseinovic and junior big man Andrew Akuchie return. Lanier and company have been tasked with rebuilding an entire roster — they’ve brought in ten players so far.
Jalen Smith, G
Smith is an established American player, spending three seasons at SMU before following Rob Lanier to Rice this offseason. He’s primarily a spot-up shooter who made 38% of his threes last season on middling volume. He’s a solid ballhandler, and metrics rate him as a minus defender. An OK overall acquisition.
Denver Anglin, G
Anglin is a former four-star recruit that originally committed to Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown. He suffered through an unsightly 2022 before transferring to Lanier’s SMU last year, where he redshirted due to injury. Entering his second season of eligibility, Anglin is an intriguing talent, but almost a complete unknown.
Emory Lanier, G
The son of Rob, Emory is at the tail end of a long college career that began at Davidson before taking him to SMU. He’s a respectable spot-up shooter and that’s about it. Will not see an abundance of playing time.
Trae Broadnax, G
Broadnax, making the jump from USC Upstate of the Big South, will probably be Rice’s primary ballhandler next season. Some up-transfers struggle with the physicality of their new league, but Broadnax is a well-built 6’4″, 200 pounds. He’s not a fantastic shooter, but draws fouls at a high rate and sports respectable passing numbers. Likely the most impactful addition we’ve covered so far.
PJ Carter, G
Carter, a transfer from in-state rival UTSA, was a substantial contributor in the AAC last season. He’s a great spot-up shooter (40.3% from three last year, 80th percentile in Synergy spot-up shooting), a fine ballhandler, and a solid defender. At 6’5″, 175 pounds, Carter is also well-built. A good pickup.
Aaron Powell, G
Powell, a scoring-oriented combo guard out of Los Angeles, is the only true freshman in this recruiting class. A borderline four-star recruit formerly committed to Cal Poly, Powell immediately becomes one of the highest-rated signees in Rice history. He’ll certainly have the opportunity to compete for playing time.
Jimmy Oladokun, F
Oladokun, at 6’9″, 220 pounds, is almost completely paint-bound offensively. Horrific free-throw shooter. Decent rebounder. An OK, not elite, defender for his size. Three years of eligibility, though, and certainly has the attributes to develop into a contributor.
Trey Patterson, F
Patterson spent the last four seasons at Villanova, where he was consistently injured and struggled to see consistent playing time behind NBA players like Jermaine Samuels. At 6’9″, he has the physical attributes to excel in the American. Patterson was a highly-touted recruit out of high school; although he never displayed it for the Wildcats, he was a good shooter for his size. Patterson has two years of eligibility remaining. Keep an eye on this get — an intriguing reclamation project.
Caden Powell, F
Powell is a transfer from Wyoming that’s an offensive minus — 48.6% from two, 68.2% from the free throw line last season — but at 6’11”, 220 pounds, he projects as one of Rice’s best frontcourt defenders of the last several years. Powell sported an above-average 4% block rate in 2023-2024. This acquisition helps shrink the size/athleticism deficit the Owls were constantly faced with last season.
Kellen Amos, F
Skeptical of this one. Amos, a transfer from Central Connecticut formerly of Binghamton, has only ever played in the NEC and America East. He has size (6’7″, 190 pounds) and sports a high block rate, but is an inefficient scorer and shot just 28.1% from beyond the arc last season. Amos was just OK at the low-major level – doubtful he’ll be able to make the jump to American play. He could use a year or two of acclimation, but he’s entering his final year of eligibility.
Rice’s incoming class is fine. There are some players I like (Broadnax, Carter, C. Powell), some reclamation projects I’m excited about (Patterson), some players I’m skeptical of (Amos, Anglin), some role players who are known quantities (Smith, Lanier), and some players I don’t know how to feel about (A. Powell, Oladokun).
The Owls have gotten bigger at all positions and have added some more shot blocking, and Rice could certainly be one of the conference’s better spot-up shooting teams next season. However, I’m skeptical of the backcourt — although I like them both, Trae Broadnax and PJ Carter are transfers from a Big South team and the worst team in the American, respectively — and the frontcourt looks like it could be painfully static on offense.
As summer workouts begin, Rice is in a familiar spot. If all goes well, the Owls could compete for a single bye at the conference tournament. If all goes poorly, the Owls could stand as the American’s worst team. Such is the life of a team with ten new players. However, it’s hard to paint this offseason as anything but positive for the program. Lanier probably won’t start winning in year one — he might not start winning ever — but his hiring shows Rice isn’t content to roll over.