The source for Rice sports news

Rice Basketball Recruiting: Owls add transfer Travis Evee from VMI

By

Rice basketball hit the Transfer Portal hard this spring, adding former VMI point guard Travis Evee to their roster. He’ll sit one season prior to being eligible for the Owls.

Attrition struck the Rice basketball roster hard this offseason, leaving several holes that need to be filled. Fortunately for the Owls, reinforcements are on the way. Although he won’t suit up for Rice until the 2021-2022 season, incoming transfer Travis Evee has high hopes for his time at South Main.

A transfer from VMI, Evee committed to the Owls in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown. He has yet to step foot on campus or meet the coaching staff in person, obstacles he wouldn’t let stand in the way of finding his way to what he called “the best place for me.”

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

The external environment for his decision was far from ideal, but he says he feels confident he made the right choice. Ultimately it came down to relationships. Head coach Scott Pera provided a level of comfort that made Evee confident he was ready to head to Texas.

“I felt Rice was a great place where I can be challenged academically and athletically,” Evee said.

Evee was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year this past season, leading VMI with 12.6 points per game. He shot 36.2 percent from three, building upon a strong track record of success from deep. Evee set a single-season record in high school with 104 made three-pointers. Shooting is his strong suit, making him a perfect fit for what Pera wants to build at Rice.

On the court, Evee prides himself as being a “team first” player who promises to bring a winning attitude to South Main. Rice basketball will need a facilitator in the future with the graduation of Ako Adams. As soon as he’s able, Evee is ready to step in and fill that role at Rice.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Erica Ogwumike still in awe of WNBA Draft and Minnesota Lynx future

By

Erica Ogwumike has put medical school on hold. The Rice women’s basketball alum will first give pro ball a shot with the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.

It’s been a wild few weeks for former Rice women’s basketball guard Erica Ogwumike. One month ago she was a guest on The Roost Podcast where we chatted about the abrupt end of her collegiate career. What would come next, even Ogwumike admits, was something that she hadn’t really started to process.

The WNBA wasn’t brought up in that discussion. Ogwumike says the possibility of being drafted hadn’t really been on her mind. “Honestly, a couple of days before the draft is kind of when it hit, that my name was consistently being out there.”

Then, in the third round of the 2020 WNBA Draft, the New York Liberty selected Ogwumike 26th overall. She was promptly traded to the Minnesota Lynx, but the moment itself is something she’ll never forget.

“I’m just grateful that my name was called,” Ogwumike said, in awe. “I was like, okay, this is really gonna happen. And yeah, even now, it still feels kind of strange.”

Ogwumike knows she’ll field just as many questions about herself as she will about her family name. Her sisters were mentioned numerous times during her introductory zoom call (a sign of the times, right?) with the Lynx.

Erica credited favorable genetics and the challenge of playing against Nneka and Chiney growing up for part of her ability to reach this point in her basketball career. She admitted rebounding might be attributable as much be to her bloodline as her efforts.

The Roost Podcast: Check out our Extended Offseason Interview Series

Another thank you was extended to Tina Langley, Ogwumike’s coach at Rice over her last three seasons. Ogwumike said Langley was in contact with her before and after the draft, reaching out to her former player to share her congratulations. “She’s really happy that I was able to accomplish this and I credit a lot of it to her as well,” Ogwumike said. “She’s been a great coach, a great mentor and I’m happy to have her in my life.”

Life will look a bit different in Minnesota than it did at South Main. Whenever Ogwumike is able to arrive she’ll trade labs for full-time hoops, eager to give pro basketball her all for the time being. As with everything else, she’s ready for the challenge.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Basketball Recruiting: Owls add transfer Riley Abercrombie from Boise St

By

Former Boise State forward Riley Abercrombie will transfer to Rice basketball. He’s expected to be eligible to play this coming season.

Rice basketball had to retool after graduation and transfers thinned out its roster. Head coach Scott Pera hit the transfer portal, looking for the right players to fortify the depleted roster. Five new Owls have been added in the past few weeks. One of those new additions is returning back to Houston after two brief years away from home.

Boise State transfer Riley Abercrombie will transfer to Rice. Although no official announcement has been made at this time, he’s expected to be eligible for the 2020-2021 season. Abercrombie is an Australian native who played his high school basketball at Clear Lake in Houston. The 6-foot-9 forward spent the last two years at Boise.

Abercrombie redshirted his first season before seeing his first collegiate action last season. He played in 18 games,  last season, seeing extended action twice. He scored six points in 12 minutes against Alabama State and four points in 17 minutes against Utah State. For his career, Abercrombie tallied 23 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

Even though several of his peers were not afforded the same opportunity, Abercrombie had the chance to visit campus and had previously met the coaches in person. That played a crucial role in his decision making process, one which he’s confident has led him to the right place.

Abercrombie cited a combination of driving forces in his decision to come to South Main including the Owls’ “great style of play” as well as “opportunity at [his] position.” The staff and the proximity to home were important as well. The academics rounded out the full picture. When it came time to make his decision, he called it “a no brainer in the end.”

He’ll add some size on the outside as well as another shooting presence from the wing. Abercrombie prides himself on his deep ball and expects to drop some threes when he gets on the court in Houston.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Contingency plans for the 2020 College Football Season

By

The 2020 college football season is unlikely to go on as planned. What alternatives are being discussed? How will they impact Rice football?

The sports world is on pause as the globe works through a pandemic that has left chaos in its wake. When can we play ball again isn’t the most important question that needs to be answered now, but a return to sports, to a unifying cause, would be a welcome distraction.

For that reason, contingency plans are being worked. Possibilities upon possibilities are being propagated. Rice football, like everyone else, waits for a resolution. Here’s what I’m hearing about potential options for the upcoming college football season.

When will the season start?

Playing the season as planned with kickoffs beginning in late August is the first, and most tenuous scenario. The next would be a delayed start. That could involve pushing games back several weeks and continuing the regular season through December. More drastic still, a third option is gaining traction: football in the spring.

Multiple sources have mentioned a growing sentiment in the industry toward a much later start date. College football is the monetary engine that drives so many athletic programs. The ramifications of a lost season could be potentially devastating. Even though the offset would inevitably cause challenges of its pow, playing later in the academic calendar would absolutely be on the table.

Potential schedule adjustments

Different states have been impacted by the coronavirus to varying degrees of severity. Individual governors have passed their own stay-at-home-orders and various public safety initiatives. Gathering together a conference that runs from Texas to Virginia will be an arduous task and Conference USA won’t be alone in that struggle. Every conference consists of members from a half dozen states, if not more.

Alternative schedules and games with and without fans are on the table. Quite frankly, everything is on the table. Here are three possibilities that I found most interesting.

1. Conference games only

If the season can be delayed and truncated, Rice would play some component of C-USA teams, possibly just those currently on their schedule. Nonconference games (vs Army, vs Houston, vs Lamar, vs LSU) would be canceled.

2. Semi-regionalized scheduling

The last two ideas seem like longshots, but nothing has been predictable over the course of the last month and a half.

A long-rumored intermingling between Conference USA and Sun Belt teams has been floated around. In that scenario, the C-USA West and the Sun Belt would “merge” for the 2020 season, allowing for reduced travel and a more localized footprint. The lack of any major TV considerations might make this plan more viable than Option 3.

3. Texas-only scheduling

What if Texas is able to return to football but nearby states can’t? That could prohibit Option 1 and Option 2 from taking place. The only alternative remaining that included the possibility of college football would be an all-Texas league.

The logistics to be navigated would be unimaginably complicated, but even in-state powers like Texas and Texas A&M have financial considerations that would make not playing football this season a major problem. Likewise, ESPN, Fox and others would prefer to televise some football games rather than no football games.

If all of those parties can thread the needle — and that’s what it would take — the results could be spectacular. For one year we could be looking at an All-Texas Conference split like this:

  • West | Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Texas State, UTSA, and UTEP
  • East | Texas A&M, Baylor, North Texas, SMU, Houston and Rice

All of this comes with a massive caveat. “There is no clarity right now for anyone,” a source familiar with these discussions told me. Right now, these ideas are just ideas, albeit ideas that have started to circulate within the college football community.

My two cents: if there’s any feasible way to bring together an all-Texas league for just one year. Please, someone make it happen. Have any theories or ideas? Leave them in the comments.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

The Roost Podcast | Ep. 29 – Christian Covington and Rice memories

By

Christian Convington joins The Roost Podcast this week in the next installment of our longest offseason interview series.

The Roost Podcast is doing chugging along. In our newfound world without sports on the field, we’ve found time to sit down and interview current and former Rice Athletes across several sports. If you haven’t caught recent episodes, you’ll want to check out visits with Erica Ogwumike, JP Heath, Taylor McHargue and more.

This week former Rice football defensive lineman Christian Covington joined the show. We talked about his recruitment from Canada, his rude awakening to the Texas heat and what’s been going on in his life during the recent shutdown. From favorite JJ Watt stories to his free agency updates, you won’t want to miss it.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, Give a listen to Episode 29.

Episode 29 Notes

  • Housekeeping — If you’re on Twitter, please give the show a follow. Get a sneak peak when episodes are inbound and the latest happening by turning on notifications. We promise not to spam you and you’ll be the first to know when new shows drop. It’s a win-win.
  • Christian Covington joins the show — After interviewing his Rice football teammate Taylor McHargue on a previous episode, Covington was kind enough to join us this week. We discussed:
    • What free agency looks like during a pandemic
    • His journey from Canada to Rice to the NFL
    • His impressions on the Rice football program today
    • Favorite memories on and off the field at Rice
    • JJ Watt’s generosity and laser tag prowess … and more.

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts