Rice basketball received more good news in the days leading up to the 2020-2021 season. Guard Travis Evee has been granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA.
The offseason was a hard one for Rice basketball. Seniors said their goodbyes and a wave of familiar faces entered the Transfer Portal. Rice would rebuild once again, hoping to do so with a talented freshmen class and a smattering of hand-picked transfers.
That process was expedited in mid-October when Boise State transfer Riley Abercrombie was granted immediate eligibility following a waiver request submitted to the NCAA. Rice got more good news this week, learning another transfer, Travis Evee, formerly of VMI, has also been cleared to play this season. That’s two big additions to the Rice basketball roster for the upcoming season.
Evee was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year last season, leading VMI with 12.6 points per game. He made 36.2 percent of his three-point attempts at VMI and has impressed in his time on campus thus far. His immediate eligibility will be huge for the Rice offense, which needed another proven scorer as well as someone who can direct the offense. Evee could check both of those boxes.
Several new faces will join Evee and Abercrombie on the court this fall. Texas Tech transfer Malik Ondigo will be eligible this season after sitting out last year per transfer protocols. Grad transfers Cavit Ege Havsa and Tre Clark should both make an impact as well JUCO guard Jake Lieppert. That cast of new characters will join the likes of Payon Moore, Chris Mullins, Max Fiedler and Quincy Olivari.
There will be a lot of new faces on the court at Tudor Fieldhouse this season. Fortunately for the Owls, they won’t have to wait an additional season to see one of their most promising new additions in action at South Main.
