It's been a slow build for Rob Lanier, but the 2026-2027 Rice Basketball team is his best roster so far. What does that mean for his third season on South Main?
Even head coach Rob Lanier will admit there's no "sure-fire all-conference caliber guy" on his 2026-2027 Rice Basketball roster. If that's supposed to discourage him, it hasn't. The Owls' third-year head coach sees the elevated talent level his program assembled in the offseason and understands it takes more than flashy offseason additions to building a winning basketball team.
Winning basketball is the next step for Lanier and Co., who have pieced together competitive squads, but finished below .500 in each of his first two seasons on campus. Getting a more expansive collection of talent was step one, which started this summer with the addition of several high-caliber shooters to the roster. The next step is putting those pieces together.
“I think this time of year, the thought is always: what is the best version of this group? Right now, we don’t know that. We know the possibilities. We’re not putting any cap on what those possibilities can be, but we know that at our best, we believe that we could be really good, whatever that means," Lanier said.
Unlock with Patreon