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Brian Lee remains confident move to Rice soccer will bear fruit

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Rice soccer has a new head coach with big plans. How Brian Lee’s own expectations hope to drive the Owls’ program to new heights.

One year ago Brian Lee made a career-altering decision. After leading LSU to six NCAA Tournaments and four division titles he decided to accept the Rice soccer head coaching job. Trading the SEC for Conference USA wasn’t solely a leap of faith. Lee describes it as a calculated decision.

“A theory I’ve always had about college women’s soccer is the very best jobs are at the prestigious academic institutions,” he reasoned. “Because of the demographics of our recruiting base and the lack of a professional league of note makes the elite academic schools the ones the kids want to go play at.”

Lee pointed to programs like Georgetown and Stanford. Both are academic powerhouses that have become mainstays at the highest levels of the sport. From admissions requirements to scheduling capabilities, there’s no reason Rice can’t mirror how those programs have been built. At least, that’s the theory.

Lee believed in that premise so much he moved on from a decade-long stint in Baton Rouge to build a new legacy at South Main.  The Owls went 10-6-3 in Lee’s first season, losing in the conference tournament to North Texas on their own field after tying the Mean Green in Houston the week prior.

The solid start was achieved, primarily, with players he inherited. The team won’t fully have his imprint for another two seasons. Women’s college soccer typically takes commitments two to three years out from their arrival on campus.

Rice made one new addition to the roster in Lee’s first season, signing Boston College transfer Mijke Roelfsema. She was instrumental to the Owls’ success this season, buying into the program Lee was striving to create.

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

More and more of Lee’s handpicked recruits will be added in the seasons to come. Already equipped with what he believes is a talented roster, his own expectations continue to rise. “The program, really over the course of history, has been at the very least, solid,” he said. Lee then went on to issue his own expectation.

“The top end of what we can develop the program into over the next three, four, five years is very high. I think we’re headed to having a Top 20 program.” He knows that’s a tall order, but he also knows how to get there.

In one season, Lee turned a seven-win team into a 10-win team. He’s continuing to recruit and develop talent. As he expected when he took the job, things are headed in the right direction.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 32 – Gabe Baker and the Bachelor’s Listen to Your Heart

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Former Rice football defensive back Gabe Baker joins the show as it diverts from sports to talk The Bachelor’s Listen to Your Heart and music.

It’s been an exciting few weeks for The Roost Podcast. The Extended Offseason interview series continues on with special guest Gabe Baker. We covered a lot of ground with the former Rice football safety, covering more culture than sports for an excellent change of pace.

If you want X’s and O’s and (somewhat) succinct college football analysis, give a listen to last week’s show. Dave Campbell Texas Football’s insider Shehan Jeyarajah joined the podcast to discuss the state of the sport and potential alternatives to a normal football season. Almost every FBS team in Texas got a mention, including several smaller schools.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to our chat with Gabe Baker on Episode 32.


Episode 32 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Thanks to all of you who have followed the show on Twitter and left a review on iTunes. It’s quick, but it makes a difference. We also want to be better about plugging our guests. Follow Gabe Baker on Twitter and make sure to check out his new single, Butterflies.
  • Gabe Baker joins the show — Baker has been a busy man since his football days ended. Our talk with him centered on what he’s done since, including:
    • His journey from Rice to reality television
    • What it was like living at the mansion and being a part of The Bachelor’s Listen to Your Heart
    • How a delayed flight home from the Hawaii Bowl played a role in his musical career
    • The debut of his first single
    • His go-to karaoke songs (shout out to Sinatra and Disney)

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.

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Rice Football Recruiting: WR Christian McStravick commits to Owls

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The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class has added another playmaker. Boston College transfer wide receiver Christian McStravick has committed to the Owls.

The majority of the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class was wrapped during the early signing period last December. The Owls added a few key pieces in February, rounding out an impressive group of incoming freshmen. But it was always the intent to add at least one more cherry on top in the form of an instant-impact transfer.

To that end, Rice has diligently combed through the Transfer Portal, seeking players who could come in and contribute immediately. Bolstering the depth on the offensive side of the ball was a priority in that search. Rice has found someone who fits the bill who will bring that necessary combination of experience and talent.

Former Boston College wide receiver Christian McStravick has committed to the Owls. His addition bolsters the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class. He’s the fourth transfer in the class, joining quarterback Mike Collins (TCU), kicker Collin Riccitelli (Stanford) and offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford (Colgate).

Originally from Houston, McStravick attended Strake Jesuit high school before committing to Boston College. McStravick was a finalist for the Houston Touchdown Club’s Offensive Player of the Year and a Top 100 recruit in the Greater Houston Area.

More: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting Tracker

He did not see significant action with the Eagles, appearing in seven games without recording any receptions. He missed last season recovering from an ACL injury. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining when he arrives at South Main.

McStravick (6-foot-4, 200-pounds) brings size to the Rice offense which needed depth in that area after the departure of Aaron Cephus. Prior to McStravick’s addition, Bradley Rozner was the only receiver listed at six-foot or taller on the Owls’ roster. Now the Owls’ have two big-bodied targets, both of which have multiple seasons of college football under their belts.

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Rice Swimming: The last Owls standing this spring

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Rice swimming was the last of the Owls’ teams to compete this spring, ending their season with a top five finish at a truncated CSCAA National College Invitational.

On a Tuesday evening in March Rice swimming flew from Houston to Cleveland to compete in the CSCAA National College Invitational. Coronavirus concerns had put some on edge, but the team hadn’t fully come to terms with the breadth and the pace of the problem at that time.

Still, the meet began as scheduled on Thursday, March 12. Although swimmers were in and out of the water as usual, the air in the Busbey Natatorium was flat. Rice swimming head coach Set Huston characterized the atmosphere as “distracted”, something he doesn’t ever really associated with his team.

To the contrary, Huston called the continued maturity of his team the defining achievement of the Owls’ season. He cited the teams’ resiliency through adversity and their ability to compete “anytime, anywhere, any place”. That growing resolve was put on display during the invitational.

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

The swimmers were in the middle of their preliminary events when conferences around the country began canceling their basketball championships. The NBA had been shut down the night prior. Still, they swam on. Some teams pulled out between prelims and finals. As long as city of Cleveland and the hosting school Cleveland State deemed it permissible to compete, the Owls would press on.

As the final swims were beginning that night, teams were notified this would be the last day of the invitational. It too, like all other major sporting events around the world, had been tabled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Even with the world coming to a halt around them, Rice swimming competed to the very end. The Owls’ finished fifth place out of 33 teams, taking home silver medals in the 50-yard freestyle swam by Kate Nezelek and the team sprint relay. Rice has now placed in the top five in every appearance at the invitation, starting with the inaugural 2014 meet which the Owls won.

There were several impressive results along the way. Huston is particularly proud of his team’s sweep at the Dual-A-Palooza. A two-day event in which Rice topped Denver, Tulane and eventual C-USA Champion FIU. By and large, it was a successful season, and one that lasted longer than most every other collegiate season around the country.

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Rice Basketball: Owls adapting to the world of the Transfer Portal

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Rice basketball has been gutted by the Transfer Portal this offseason. For better or worse, the Owls are adapting to a new normal in college basketball.

No sooner had the final installment of an offseason series on Rice basketball been published than did everything change for head coach Scott Pera and the Owls. Josh Parrish entered the Transfer Portal. Then Trey Murphy III followed. Then Drew Peterson tacked his name onto the list. In the span of a week a promising upcoming season was plunged into uncertainty.

“I’m not sure all of this stuff is good for the game,” Pera said a few weeks later after he’d found the replacement for those transfers and the outgoing senior class. He acknowledged that he wishes the best for those leaving Houston, but wishes there were another way. In his eyes, the grass isn’t always greener.

And it’s not going to get easier. The NCAA is discussing doing away with the rule that mandates a one-year penalty for all transferring players. Under the proposed guidelines, all athletes would be granted immediate eligibility across all sports. Could this tip the balance of power even further away from smaller schools like Rice? Pera thinks so.

If the rule passes, Pera thinks schools like Rice “become like the minor leagues”, grooming talent for the elite programs.

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

After dealing with as much adversity as he has, it’s easy to see how Pera came to hold that position. Many believe his words of caution, fearing things could get even worse on the transfer front. But as of this writing, it’s already a bleak picture for Rice and its fellow Conference USA peers.

As of May 1, at least 11 C-USA schools had lost at least one player this offseason. Eight had lost at least two. Rice was among at least three schools that have lost three or more. The exodus isn’t on its way. It’s here.

Reluctantly, Pera has made plans for the worse. “As much as I didn’t want those guys to leave, you can’t be on your heels in this process anymore in college basketball,” he said. “It is the world we live in.”

Rice responded by signing a seven-person class this spring. The new additions ranged from incoming high school players to experienced, junior college and grad transfer players. The Owls had a variety of holes to fill, so they cast a wide net. As much as they might not want it to be true, today’s transfer epidemic has, in many ways, become the new normal.

“We’ve kind of gotten used to this,” Pera said. It’s grim, but it’s reality. Rather than dwell on the negative, Pera and Rice basketball vow to keep moving forward with a new roster but the same purpose.

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