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Rice Basketball Recruiting: G Kellen Amos commits to Owls

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The first Rice basketball recruiting addition of the new coaching staff is in. CCSU guard Kellen Amos has committed to the Owls.

Newly named Rice basketball head coach Rob Lanier has assembled his staff and hit the recruiting trail in earnest. The first commitment of his tenure comes in the form of Houston native Kellen Amos, who kicks off this new Rice basketball recruiting cycle with a bang, joining the Owls after spending the last two seasons at Central Connecticut State University.

Amos played his high school ball at Saint John College Prep in Houston before signing with Binghamton. He played two seasons there before transferring to CCSU where he stepped into a larger role with the Blue Devils. Amos started 63 games over the last two seasons, averaging 13.0 points per game and making 109 combined three-pointers.

With his help, CCSU secured the regular season title in the Northeast Conference. He was rewarded for his efforts with an all-NEC third-team selection this past season. In addition to Emory Lanier, head coach Rob Lanier’s son, Amos has also been joined by Villanova transfer Trey Patterson, slowly building up the Owls’ roster for the 2024-2025 season.

More: Rice Basketball Roster Tracker

Amos’ time at CCSU is filled with highlight-reel plays. He’s a capable scorer at multiple levels, adding a fearlessness at the rim to his ability to hit the deep shot, too. He’s also a threat on the defensive end of the court, protecting the rim with his 6-foot-7 frame and finding ways to turn defense into offense, like this.

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Rice Basketball 2024 Roster Tracker

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The Rice basketball roster is in the midst of complete retooling with the coaching staff changes. Stay tuned here for updates.

Roster churn has become a part of college sports as we know and Rice basketball is not immune to the ebb and flow of players coming in and out. With the 2023-2024 season in the books, this page will serve as a running tracker regarding the roster for the upcoming season as it currently stands. The last official roster is available here.

More: What is Rice basketball getting in coach Rob Lanier?

Feel free to bookmark it and refer back to it from time to time as players announce their intentions throughout the offseason.

Coaching Changes

Rob Lanier was formally introduced as the next head coach for Rice Basketball on March 26. A week later he has named three men to his coaching staff, all of whom are following Lanier from his staff at SMU: Chris Kreider, Josten Crow and Andre Owens.

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Rice Basketball News

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Nick Anderson explodes late to lift Rice Basketball past Arkansas State

Posted: December 13, 2025

Rice Basketball picked up another gut-check win on Saturday, rallying from a 16-point deficit in the second half to stun Arkansas State. Beginning with a 6-0 run to open the game, Arkansas State controlled their contest with Rice basketball from the tip, maintaining a modest but slim advantage through most of the first half. The […]

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Rice Women’s Basketball Surges Past UT-Arlington

Posted: December 12, 2025

A close game at halftime turned into a blowout midway through the third quarter as Rice women’s basketball posted another home win, this time over UT-Arlington. In front of stands of chattering youngsters at Tudor Fieldhouse on Friday morning, Rice women’s basketball notched yet another win. The Owls made things interesting in the early moments, […]

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Rice Women’s Basketball Pummels UNLV at Home

Posted: December 6, 2025

Dominique Ennis became the program’s leading three-point shooter as Rice women’s basketball rocketed past UNLV for a big home win. Hailey Adams knocked down a jumper to open the scoring and then it sure looked as if Rice women’s basketball would be off to the races. The Owls scored the contest’s first seven points and […]

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Rice Basketball Survives “Test of Our Mettle” vs Texas State

Posted: December 3, 2025

Rice Basketball earned a big lead and lost it, rallying late and holding on to secure a home win over Texas State. Physicality was on full display when Rice basketball hosted Texas State on Wednesday evening. A tight contest in the early goings was turned into a sturdy halftime lead in favor of the Owls’ […]

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Big Fourth Quarter Propels Rice Women’s Basketball ast SHSU

Posted: December 3, 2025

Rice women’s basketball battled through three close quarters before blowing the game open with a big fourth quarter run to take down Sam Houston at home. Sam Houston entered their Wednesday night game with Rice women’s basketball 5-1, but largely untested to this point. The Owls were quickly forced to reckon with the quality of […]

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What is Rice Basketball getting in Rob Lanier? March 2024 Q&A

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Rice Basketball has a new head coach. Rob Lanier “won the press conference”, but what will he bring to the Owls on the court?

Introductory press conferences are always exciting days. New coaches bring with them new energy and excitement. That was true for Rice basketball and its new headman Rob Lanier on Tuesday. But what does Lanier bring on the basketball court? That was the nature of our Patreon question we’re focusing on for this month’s Q&A.

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Q: Rob Lanier’s introductory press conference was exciting, but what exactly is he going to bring to the table as a coach? Are we sure he can win like he said he would?

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Rob Lanier checks every box for Rice Basketball

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Rice Basketball has its next head coach, officially naming Rob Lanier to the position on Tuesday after a whirlwind search that concluded rapidly.

Twelve days ago Athletic Director Tommy McClelland met with assembled media and announced Rice basketball was making a leadership change, embarking on a national search immediately. Interviews began as the shortlist was whittled down. Then a curveball came: Rob Lanier “became available”. Two days later he and McClelland were in contact. On Tuesday, he was introduced.

The last week has been a blur. Lanier admitted as much, but the end result might just be a tremendous advance for everyone involved. “I didn’t see this coming,” Lanier said of his dismissal at SMU. “But there’s a reason why I was attracted to this as soon as the name was mentioned. I didn’t imagine it would happen, but I couldn’t have been happier that it did.”

McClelland quickly came to the same conclusion, summing up the hiring on Tuesday like this: “One thing became very clear to be during these conversations, that Rob Lanier the right fit, the right person, the right coach and the right visionary leader we had been looking for from the very beginning.”

Lanier will bring with him top assistant Chris Kreider, who previously served as an assistant at Rice from 2017 to 2019 before joining Lanier’s staff at Georgia State and eventually moving with him to SMU. Lanier’s son, Emory, will also join the team for his final season of eligibility. Emory was one of eight players to play in every game for the Mustangs last season.

As for the decision to pull the trigger and hire Lanier, McClelland acted with intentionality. He made a list, he said, the day the search began. He disclosed the items on that list on Tuesday, describing what his ideal candidate would look like:

  • A person of high integrity
  • A driven leader with an intensity for developing winning culture
  • A coach with a clear identity regarding style of play
  • An emphasis on community involvement, campus, alumni and Houston
  • Proven head coach experience
  • A program builder
  • Texas ties
  • Private school experience

As he sums it up, “These qualities and attributes aligned with coach Lanier, his character, how he leads his program and what he has accomplished in his career has led me to this day,” the announcement of Lanier as the program’s next head coach.

A few additional segments of the press conference are featured below. The full version is available here:

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BREAKING: Rice Basketball hires Rob Lanier as next head coach

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Rice basketball has named Rob Lanier as its next head coach. Lanier brings more than 30 years of collegiate coaching experience to South Main.

Lanier was most recently the head coach of SMU this past season. He led SMU to a 20-13 record, including 11-7 in AAC play. One of those wins came at Tudor Fieldhouse where Laniers’ Mustangs blasted Rice basketball 95-69. Athletic Director Tommy McClelland evidently was impressed with what he saw, hiring Lanier a little more than a month later.

Prior to arriving at SMU, Lanier spent three seasons at Georgia State. He went 53-30 there, taking the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament in the 2022 season before being hired at SMU. Lanier also had a prior stint at Siena where he took the Saints to the NCAA Tournament in 2002.

In between his head coaching stops, Lanier served as an assistant at Virginia, Florida, Texas and Tennessee. He’s worked under prominent head coaches in the sport such as Rick Barnes and Billy Donovan, among others.

Lanier’s dismissal was a surprise to many in the industry. He wasn’t a free agent long. He takes over for Scott Pera who was relieved of his duties just 10 days before Lanier’s appointment. The university has a formal introductory press conference planned for Tuesday. More details to come.

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