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Rice Basketball Recruiting: G Nick Anderson commits to Owls

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Another Transfer Portal addition to the Rice basketball recruiting class has been announced. Prairie View A&M guard Nick Anderson committed to the Owls.

Days after the Transfer Portal has opened the 2025 Rice Basketball recruiting class has grown by two. Following the commitment of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi center Stephen Giwa on Thursday, the Owls have picked up another pledge. Prairie View A&M guard Nick Anderson has committed to the Owls.

“They made me feel the most wanted, and made sure I knew they would have my back whether things are good or bad,” Anderson told The Roost in regards to his early impressions of Rice and the Owls’ staff. “It just felt like family as soon as I walked through the doors.”

To get to South Main, Anderson has worked his way up from the DIII level, beginning his collegiate basketball career at St. Thomas in 2022, scoring 8 points with four rebounds against Rice in 2023 on his way to averaging 16.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game during that sophomore season. From there, Anderson made the leap to D1 and did not miss a beat.

In his lone season at Prairie View, Anderson averaged 18.9 points per game before suffering an injury that ended his season. At the time his season ended in late December, following an 18-point, 10-rebound performance against Rice, Anderson was the leading scorer in the WAC who already had big games against DePaul, Mississippi State and UCLA on his resume.

Anderson is the type of explosive scorer the Owls needed desperately last season and in terms of how transfers are graded, he’s one of the more proven commodities that have headed to South Main in recent years.

More: Rice Basketball 2025 Roster Tracker

“I feel like I score the ball at a high level without having to force it and ruin the flow of the offense,” Anderson said.

The highlights are enticing and seem to back up Anderson’s assertions. He isn’t afraid to put the ball down and go, moving with an aggressive intensity in the paint. He’s also a capable three-point threat, making him a versatile scorer from all three levels and a big get for Rice basketball from the portal.

“I like to have fun on the court, so I may have some goofy reactions,” he joked. “lol “But winning is the most important thing so I’m here to help Rice win some games.”

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Rice Baseball takes two of three at Memphis

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Rice Baseball took two of three against Memphis, wining a second-straight AAC series and improving their overall record to 11-4 in games at Memphis all-time

THURSDAY | Rice 10, Memphis 5

Rice baseball struck first with a two-run first, setting up Tucker Alch with breathing room in the series opener. He’d allow Memphis to level the score in the first inning and make his way through several uneventful innings after that as the Rice bats continued to produce. Leading 6-2 in the fifth, Alch ran into trouble and was replaced by Davion Hickson, making a second consecutive relief appearance.

More: 59 Minutes — David Pierce Challenges Rice baseball to grow

Hickson got out of the jam with just one run allowed and made quick work of Memphis until the Tigers loaded the bases in the eighth with no outs. Austin Eppley would come on in relief, notching a strikeout and double-play to get extinguish the threat. The Owls added three insurance runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

FRIDAY | Rice 9, Memphis 5

Memphis made JD McCracken battle through 5.2 grueling innings on the road. The Owls’ starter surrendered eight hits and five runs, but got through 26 batters with only two extra base hits against him and giving his own hitters a chance to keep pace. The Rice batters did one better, matching Memphis score for score and eventually taking the lead outright in the fifth.

The first two runs for Memphis came via a single and an error in the second. An error allowed Rice to even the score in the next half inning. Memphis scored one in the third. Rice got it back on a sac fly from Blaine Brown in the next frame. Memphis got another in the fourth. Then Rice broke through with two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth, spotting McCracken a 6-5 lead when he left the mound.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball posts emphatic series win over USF

Jack Ben-Shoshan came on in relief and retired the next seven batters he faced, allowing the first hit against him in the ninth, but Rice had scored three more insurance runs at that point, giving plenty of cushion as Ben-Shoshan worked through traffic to post another scoreless frame, earning the save.

SATURDAY | Memphis 13, Rice 2

For the second consecutive series, Rice baseball turned to Jackson Blank in the final game. This time around, Blank ran into some trouble early in his outing. Leading 1-0 by way of a Landon West sac fly, Blank allowed two hits, a walk and a run in the second before being forced from the game with a home run and two more singles in the third.

Garett Stratton held the line for a while, but ran into trouble in the fifth, forcing David Pierce to reach deeper into his bullpen. Then the dam broke. Rice pitchers allowed nine runs in the next three innings as the offense watched quietly. The game was ended by run rule in the seventh with Memphis leading 13-2.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: C Stephen Giwa commits to Owls

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The first Transfer Portal addition of the incoming Rice basketball recruiting class is on board. Texas A&M Corpus Christi center Stephen Giwa has committed to the Owls.

Transfer Portal season is upon us, which means new faces for the incoming Rice basketball recruiting class. A few players have already announced their intentions to leave South Main, opening up spots for the program to bolster the roster for the upcoming year. The Owls kicked off this cycle with the addition of a nearby talent, landing a commitment from Corpus Christi center Stephen Giwa.

Giwa was born in Nigeria and moved to Houston at the age of 12, going to high school in the area before heading out of the city for school. Giwa told The Roost he considers himself a Houston native and is looking forward to returning home with his wife as they prepare to welcome their first child this summer.

Given the level of responsibilities Giwa already has on his plate, finding the right home for his final season of college ball was paramount. That’s where Rice entered the picture, making an impressive case to land his services.

“From the moment I met Coach Lanier and the staff, I could tell they genuinely cared, not just about me as a player but as a person,” Giwa said. “Meeting them made me want to be part of the family they’re building here. Our core values aligned in a way that felt natural.”

Giwa arrives after Rice following three productive seasons with Texas A&M Corpus Christi, growing into a full time starter over the last two seasons, most recently averaging 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game a season ago while leading the Islanders with a .636 shooting percentage. For reference, that’s almost 50 points better than any Rice player over the same time period.

It’s not just the scoring ability that made this pairing a fit. Giwa prides himself on his defense and says he wants to grow, something he credits the Owls’ coaching staff for demonstrating along the way.

“What I liked most about the system is how much it values playing with physicality, purpose, and unselfishness,” Giwa said. “I look forward to being part of a program that plays with discipline and toughness, which is exactly how I like to play.”

More: Rice Basketball 2025 Roster Tracker

Giwa should step in and fill a role in the post, taking over for the departing Caden Powell and giving Rice basketball a presence in the interior. The 6-foot-9 big man will be leaned on heavily for his rebounding ability and should be a tremendous fit in the Owls’ system.

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Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – Apr 16

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The 2025 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are making the most of their time in The Show. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers has been out of the lineup for the last few days after a rather impressive start to his 2025 campaign. He went 2-for-5 on April 9, his last start this week, hitting fifth in the lineup and playing center field, his usual position.

Through Apr. 16, Myers is hitting .333 with two extra-base hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. His OPS is .755 and he’s collected two RBI.

Injured List

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon is slated to miss a significant amount of time following him surgery this spring. The bad news is another bump in an injury-plagued stint with the Angels; Rendon missed a chunk of last season with an oblique strain.

Matt Canterino – Twins AAA

Canterino was thought to have a real chance to crack the big league roster at some point this season, converting himself to a reliver this offseason in hopes of limiting the stress on his arm and preserving his health. Unfortunately, he’s set to miss a third consecutive season, undergoing shoulder surgery in early March.

Knocking on the Door

The following Owls began the season in AAA:

  • JT Chargois – Round Rock Express (Rangers)
  • Tristan Gray – Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
  • Evan Kravetz – Louisville Bats (Reds)
  • Glenn Otto – Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros)
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Rice Baseball drops Silver Glove finale to Houston

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Rice Baseball dropped the final game of the Silver Glove series against Houston without much protest in their penultimate midweek game of the season.

Any aspirations of stealing the final game of the Silver Glove series from Houston were quickly cast aside on Tuesday night when Rice baseball head coach David Pierce was forced to pull starting pitcher Marco Fuentes before he recorded an out in the first inning. Neither Austin Eppley, who followed him, nor Mark Perkins, who came next, were able to keep the Cougars in check, and not entirely by fault of their own.

The Cougars recorded just five hits in the first three innings against that trio, but three errors and three hit batters proved too much to overcome. Houston scored eight in the first three frames, thrusting Rice into catch-up mode early in the game.

Last Weekend: Rice baseball posts emphatic series win over USF

Rice did scrape together a few runs, getting one run back on a single from Hiram Bocachica in the second. Bocachica scored on a wild pitch in the fourth and Treyton Rank lifted a home run to left field in the fifth. Each accounted for a single run, not nearly enough to spur a serious comeback.

The Cougars scored four in the seventh, three on a home run off Matt Zatopek, putting the game out of reach. They went on to win 15-3. Houston swept the Silver Glove series with the win, but Rice still leads the all-time series 62-40

What it means | Playing the long game

Rice baseball pulled out all the stops to secure a conference win against South Florida this weekend, masterfully piecing together a somewhat unconventional combination of pitchers to secure the necessary outs. Rather than taxing those same arms against a non-conference opponent, the coaching staff opted to trot out some lesser-used hurlers. The results went about as well as one might expect.

Podcast: Unpacking the Pierce hire and midseason start

After Fuentes failed to record an out, Eppley and Perkins were the next to be summoned to the mound, neither of whom ranks highly on the Owls’ leverage inning circle of trust. By the time Von Baker arrived with one out in the third, the damage had been done and Rice found itself in an 8-1 hole. Rice would go on to use a season-high 10 pitchers in the contest, most of which won’t be featured on weekends.

For better or worse, each arm can only wear so many innings and throw so many pitches. Tuesday’s utilization was reflective of that and made it quite clear the staff is putting all of its eggs in the conference wins basket rather than selling out to win a midweek game in a season series that had already been decided.

Up Next: at Memphis x3 (Thr-Sat)

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