GETTING INSIDE

   There’s a sense at Rice that good things are happening. The 10 wins last season under first-year coach Ben Braun were a substantial improvement over the previous campaign. The Owls return four starters and have an incoming freshman class which has been rated among the best for schools outside the six BCS conferences.  

   Rice graduated its leading scorer, Rodney Foster, but the Owls return five players who each averaged more than eight points per game and started at some point during the season. The Owls’ two top returning scorers will both be sophomores this season. As freshmen, Lucas Kuipers and Connor Frizzelle averaged 8.8 and 8.7 points, respectively. Returning junior Trey Stanton averaged 8.3 points and a team-leading 5.0 rebounds in his first season at Rice.

   Rice returns nine lettermen and welcomes one of the program’s top recruiting classes. ESPN.com ranked the Owls’ class No. 3 among NCAA Division I mid-major programs, while Rivals.com ranked the program’s early signing class among its top 10 for mid-majors.

   The challenging non-conference schedule features games against Texas, Arizona, LSU and TCU.

   “Once again we will play one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the league,” Braun said. “Our goal is to always improve and playing against good competition will help us achieve that goal.”

   There’s also some momentum at the turnstiles. The Owls moved into the renovated Tudor Fieldhouse last year and saw significant improvement in attendance. Rice’s attendance gains, up 45 percent, ranked among the top 20 among for NCAA Division I schools.  

NOTES, QUOTES

 

  —Last season, Rice established new game and season records for 3-point field goals made. Rice made 16 treys en route to a win over Southern Miss and 218 during the year, with a 38.2 percentage that’s third in school history.

   —Senior G Lawrence Ghoram has started the Owls’ last 32 C-USA regular-season games. As a junior, he averaged 8.0 points and 3.3 rebounds.

   —Junior C Trey Stanton saw his first action for the Owls last season after transferring from the Naval Academy following his freshman season. He started 27 games as a sophomore, averaging 8.3 points and a team-leading 5.0 rebounds.   

Last Year:   10-22 overall, 4-12 in C-USA   

Head Coach:   Ben Braun (career 562-411); Second season at Rice (10-22).  

Quote To Note:   “I feel our first recruiting class has excellent balance and diversity, which should help us considerably next year. In addition to being solid basketball players, this is also a class of outstanding young men. They will fit in very well at Rice.”—Coach Ben Braun on the highly rated recruiting class.  

 

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

  

Scouting The Newcomers:   Basketball Times rated the Rice University recruiting class as No. 30 in the nation, while also earning recognition from ESPN.com and Rivals.com. Coach Ben Braun and the Owls welcome six newcomers this season—five freshmen and transfer Stuart Pirri. A pair of power forwards—Arsalan Kazemi (6-8, 190) and Egheosa Edomwonyi (6-7, 225)—are among the top prospects nationally at their position. SG Tamir Jackson (6-2, 180) was named New Jersey’s Player of the Year by NJ.com/Newark Star-Ledger.   

Key Early-season Games:   Four opponents advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009. The Owls play host to Texas on Nov. 29 in the first meeting between the schools on the Rice campus since 1996. The nonconference road schedule includes games at perennial Pac-10 power Arizona (Nov. 19) and at defending SEC champion LSU (Dec. 16).   

Program Direction:   While it seems like a modest improvement, Rice more than tripled its win total from the previous season by posting a 10-22 record in Ben Braun’s first year. The Owls also snapped a lengthy road losing streak with a 69-66 C-USA victory at UCF. Rice defeated a higher-seeded team at the C-USA Tournament for the second time in three years as the Owls advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over Marshall.  

Probable Starting Lineup:   G Connor Frizzelle, G Cory Pflieger, G Lawrence Ghoram, F Lucas Kuipers, C Trey Stanton.   

Roster Report:    

  —Senior Cory Pflieger will begin his fifth season with the Owls. He suffered a season-ending injury just five games into his junior year (2007-08) and received a medical redshirt and was granted an extra year of eligibility before the 2008-09 season. As a fourth-year junior, Pflieger averaged 8.2 points and 3.5 rebounds. Pflieger, who has now played in 81 career games, will be one of only two seniors on this year’s team.  

• Freshman F Arsalan Kazemi served as captain for Iran’s FIBA Under 19 World Championship team. Kazemi averaged 16.6 points and 12.2 rebounds during five games at the championships in Auckland, New Zealand.  

• Freshman F Chris Eversley is the first male student at Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago to sign a national letter-of-intent with a Division I basketball program. The school was founded in 2000. 

   —Junior C Trey Stanton saw his first action for the Owls during the 2008-09 season after transferring from the Naval Academy following his freshman season. He started 27 games as a sophomore, averaging 8.3 points and a team-leading 5.0 rebounds.   

• Rice is one of only two C-USA teams to have a player named to the league’s all-academic team each of the past three seasons. Rice also had six members of the men’s team named to the 2008-09 C-USA commissioner’s honor roll, more than any other basketball program in the league.