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Rice Women’s Basketball coach Lindsay Edmonds ready to bring tempo, focus to South Main

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Rice women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds was formally introduced this week and by all accounts, seems like a tremendous fit with the Owls.

After nearly a decade as an assistant at NC State, newly appointed Rice women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds is ready for her next adventure. Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard formally introduced Edmonds in a virtual press conference on Monday, crediting his most recent hire as a candidate that “embodies every characteristic that we were looking for.”

Karlgaard spoke up Edmonds as a person who cared deeply about her players both on and off the court. Edmonds reaffirmed those truisms. stating multiple times in the brief sessions that she was seeking to find and develop the “total-package player,” one who values basketball, academics and personal growth.

But before she could get there, she had to make the decision to step out of her current role and embrace the Owls. “Leaving a great place is hard,” she said of her roots at NC State, “but coming to a great place is a pretty easy decision.”

Recalling her first visit to campus, Edmonds elaborated, “It became very clear, pretty quickly that Rice truly is a special place,” being sure to include a reassuring, definitive opening to her remarks, “I am very honored to be the next coach here at Rice University.”

When it came to specifics, Edmonds’ intentions were crystal clear. Off the court, she plans to prioritize building relationships with her current roster and hiring the right staff, something she emphasized as being a critical factor as a first-time head coach.

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On the court, she talked about tempo and pace, getting the ball out in transition to score. Whereas former head coach Tina Langley built her brand on ball control and tenacious defense, Edmonds seems to lean towards a more aggressive style, although she did mention a focus on rebounding and defense as well.

We’ll see Edmonds and her team on the court soon enough. For now, the important work of finding the right person for the job has been done. Edmonds aced the interview. Now she’s tasked with taking up the baton and continuing onward.

“I’m really excited about where the program is at, “she said. “I’m excited to continue on that and would love to take it a step forward.”

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BREAKING: Rice Women’s Basketball hires Lindsay Edmonds as head coach

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Rice Women’s Basketball has named former NC State assistant Lindsay Edmonds as its new head coach, the school announced on Friday.

On April 6, athletic director Joe Karlgaard met with the media to discuss the recently vacated Rice women’s basketball head coaching position. At the time, Karlgaard prognosticated a national search would begin imminently and wind down somewhere between “between 10 and 20 days.” He also alluded to a wider candidate pool given the timing of the search, including prospective coaches coming off NCAA Tournament runs.

Sure enough, with a few days remaining in that prescribed window, Rice has their new coach. On Friday the Owls announced the hiring of now-former NC State assistant head coach Lindsay Edmonds.

Edmonds joins Rice after seven seasons with the NC State, six as an assistant before being elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2019-2020 season. She helped lead the Wolfpack to Sweet 16 appearances in 2018, 2019 and 2021, three consecutive seasons in which the NCAA Tournament was held. Along the way, Edmonds aided multiple WNBA draft selections, including 2014 first-round selection Markeisha Gatling.

Rice could have gone in several different directions with this hire. They opted to follow a course charted previously by Karlgaard prior to the 2015 season when he hired now-former head coach Tina Langley, scooping her away from an extremely successful Maryland program while she was an assistant.

There’s no surefire way to guarantee following a similar method will work in successive hires, but there are no doubting Edmonds credentials as she arrives.

Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard had this to say about Edmonds’ arrival: “Lindsay Edmonds stood out among a very talented pool in our coaching search,” Karlgaard said. “She has the experience and track record we are looking for to continue the recent success of our program and build upon it. Everywhere Lindsay has coached, she has won. Her student-athletes have excelled in the classroom and in the community. I’m excited for her to lead the next chapter of Rice women’s basketball.”

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NCAA Football passes significant recruiting, transfer measures

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NCAA football passed two significant milestones this week. On-campus recruiting will resume June 1 and transfer policies have been relaxed.

This was a significant week for NCAA football. Two incredibly important announcements went forth from the D1 Council this week. Current and future recruiting cycles have been modified and player freedoms have been expanded.

Transfer Legislation

In a move long rumored to be in the works, the council passed a one-time transfer rule for all D1 student-athletes. Already in place for a myriad of Olympic sports, the most notable change was the expansion of this policy to football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s hockey. The policy will go into place immediately, meaning athletes who transfer for the first time this summer and receive immediate eligibility for all sports.

MAC Commissioner and chair of the NCAA’s working group on transfers, Dr. Jon Steinbrecher offered his support in a statement. “Allowing student-athletes a one-time opportunity to transfer and compete immediately provides a uniform, equitable and understandable approach that benefits all student-athletes,” he said. “This decision is consistent with Division I’s goal of modernizing its rules to prioritize student-athlete opportunity and choice.”

Recruiting ramps back up

For the first time in more than a year, on-campus recruiting visits will be reopened. Programs across the country will be able to resume their normal recruiting calendars effective June 1. That means in-person evaluations and conversations for the class of 2022.

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Search begins after Tina Langley’s departure

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Rice women’s basketball is on the hunt for a new head coach. With Tina Langley moving on, where will the Owls turn next?

In a way, it came out of the blue. One Sunday afternoon, Rice women’s basketball was cutting down the nets at the WNIT. A little more than a week later Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard gathered with media on a zoom call to announce what he termed an “aggressive” search.

The search was made necessary the day prior when Washington announced the hiring of now-former Rice coach Tina Langley. After turning Rice into three-time Conference USA Champions with postseason championships in the CBI and WNIT, Langley had caught the eye of the Huskies. Now she’s headed to the Pac-12 and Rice has to start over, albeit not from scratch.

In a statement released shortly following Langley’s announcement, Karlgaard spoke to the structure Langley was leaving at South Main. “We have an incredible foundation in place for women’s basketball, including a winning program, top-notch student-athletes, strong university and alumni support, and a world-class institution,” Karlgaard said. “As we look for the next leader of our program, we are in a prime position to attract the very best coaches in college basketball to Rice University.”

Those close to the program always knew Langley was destined for bigger things. She was reportedly on the shortlist to be the successor at Duke last summer before the Blue Devils looked elsewhere. Langley and the Owls made the extra year count, ending a grueling 2021 season with a trophy. In many ways, she went out on top.

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Langley leaves Rice women’s basketball with the highest winning percentage in program history (.673). She went 126-61 in six seasons, winning 20 or more games in her final five campaigns. She coached WNBA draft selection Erica Ogwumike and reigning three-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Year, Nancy Mulkey.

With Langley headed West, Rice has work to do. Karglaard met with the team on Monday, shortly after Langley informed them of her departure. Now Karlgaard intends to gather further feedback from current players first then formally begin reaching out to candidates.

Karlgaard noted interest in the job “was pretty high right now” and the candidate pool would focus on coaches with “a depth of experience”, including former assistants (like Langley) and others that already had head coaching experience. Presumably, there would be more sitting head coaches interested this time around than when Langley was hired six years ago. Altogether he expects the search to last somewhere “between 10 and 20 days”, with the freedom to extend the search should it be necessary.

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Rice Basketball: Owls land commitment from UMass transfer Carl Pierre

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Rice basketball has added another impactful scoring threat, picking up a commitment from UMass grad transfer Carl Pierre.

The Transfer Portal was not kind to Rice basketball last spring. No sooner had the regular season ended than was head coach Scott Pera abruptly met with an exodus of outgoing players. Pera and Co. reloaded, taking the Owls further into the Conference USA Tournament than ever before under his watch.

Set on making a return trip and going further into March, Rice hopes to add the “finishing touch” to a strong corps. To this point, only graduate Payton Moore has elected to not return to South Main next season. He’ll look to play his final year of eligibility elsewhere. His absence opens up a roster spot that Rice will move to fill quickly with former UMass guard Carl Pierre.

Pierre is a former high school teammate of current Rice Owl, Travis Evee. Although the two went their separate ways for college, they both retained the propensity for scoring. Evee finished second (to teammate Quincy Olivari) in three-point field goal percentage among all C-USA shooters. Pierre shot 33.3 percent from three last season, a mark that would have put him fifth among all C-USA players last year. He’s 38.4 percent shooter from three in his career.

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Pierre leaves UMass second all-time in career three-point field goals made. He started 99 straight games for the Minutemen and should slide right into a starting spot at Rice. Given his track record and the opportunities presented by the Rice offense, the Owls very well boast three of the best distance shooters in the entire league next season.

As things currently stand, Pierre would join a starting rotation that includes Olivari, Evee, Max Fielder and Quincy Olivari. If you like scoring, you’re in luck. There won’t be a more potent offense in Conference USA. The season can’t get here soon enough.

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