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2024-2025 Rice Women’s Basketball Season Preview

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Expectations are high for the 2024-2025 Rice women’s basketball season following an NCAA Tournament appearance under now fourth-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds.

Rice women’s basketball has hit its stride under Lindsay Edmonds, raising the bar in each successive season with her at the helm of the program, culminating in an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. That taste has everyone on the roster — which returns the vast majority of its key players, sans one — eager for an encore this coming season.

“This is the most veteran, the most mature team that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Edmonds said. With that experience comes a different level of urgency and an even greater sense of purpose. “We’re going faster and the expectations are just higher,” Edmonds declared.

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Rice Basketball Preseason Conference Polls Released

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Preseason polls for both the Rice Basketball men’s and women’s teams were released on Friday with very different projections for the Owls’ two squads.

Rice Men’s Basketball was picked to finish 13th in the AAC in their first year under head coach Rob Lanier. Rice women’s basketball were tabbed to finish second in a tie with North Texas following a Conference Championship Title and NCAA appearance by head coach Lindsay Edmonds. Senior forward Malia Fisher was named a first-team all conference selection.

Both polls and all-conference selections are as follows:

2024-25 American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll and Honors

1. South Florida (8) 135
2. North Texas (3) 124
Rice (2) 124
4. Tulsa 98
5. UTSA 96
6. East Carolina 91
7. Memphis 84
8. Temple 78
9. UAB 55
10. Tulane 40
11. Charlotte 38
12. Wichita State 32
13. Florida Atlantic 19

Preseason Players of the Year

Tommisha Lampkin, Gr., F, North Texas

Romi Levy, R-Sr., F, South Florida

Preseason All-Conference First Team

Tommisha Lampkin, Gr., F, North Texas

Malia Fisher, Sr., F, Rice

Romi Levy, R-Sr., F, South Florida

Jordyn Jenkins, R-Sr., F, UTSA

Delanie Crawford, Sr., G, Tulsa

Preseason All-Conference Second Team

Amiya Joyner, Jr., F, East Carolina

Vittoria Blasigh, So., G, South Florida

Mama Dembele, Gr., G, South Florida

Tiarra East, Sr., G, Temple

Kyren Whittington, R-Sr., G, Tulane

2024-25 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll and Honors

1. UAB (9) 141
2. Memphis (4) 136
3. South Florida 108
4. Wichita State 102
5. Florida Atlantic 97
6. Temple 86
7. North Texas 83
8. Charlotte 65
9. East Carolina 63
10. Tulsa 44
11. UTSA 35
Tulane 35
13. Rice 18

Preseason Player of the Year

Yaxel Lendeborg, Sr., F, UAB

Preseason Freshman of the Year

Jared Harris, G, Memphis

Preseason All-Conference First Team

Yaxel Lendeborg, Sr., F, UAB*

RJ Felton, Sr., G, East Carolina

PJ Haggerty, R-So., G, Memphis

Tyrese Hunter, Sr., G, Memphis

Jamal Mashburn Jr., Gr., G, Temple

Preseason All-Conference Second Team

Efrem ‘Butta’ Johnson, Jr., G, UAB

Alejandro Vasquez, Sr., G, UAB

KyKy Tandy, Gr., G, Florida Atlantic

Colby Rogers, R-Sr., G, Memphis

Jayden Reid, So., G, South Florida

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Rice Soccer, Basketball and more bring good news: September 2024 Q&A

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The 2024 Rice Football season has taken a turn for the worse, but Rice Soccer, basketball and more offer hope for the future. We look at both in this month’s subscriber Q&A.

Understandably, good news was the order of the day after things went south with Rice Football. Fortunately, it’s been a very active fall sports season with highlights from Rice Soccer’s tremendous start to accolades for Genny Volpe and expectations for sports yet to start like Swimming and Basketball. This update focuses on the good news from those sports. We’ll dig into the football woes elsewhere.

Questions were edited briefly for clarity. Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

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Q: I’ve given up on football. Give me some good news on the Rice Athletics front. What else is there to look forward to this year?

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Grab Bag: What’s going on around Rice Athletics? May 2024 Q&A

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Rather than drill down on one topic, subscribers had a variety of questions this month touching all areas of Rice Athletics. We hit on them all.

A lot is going on around Rice Athletics right as the academic year winds down. This mailbag touches on a host of topics ranging from the state of college sports, possible Rice Athletics sports additions, existing sports and more.

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Q: What’s happening with upgrading Rice Stadium?

A: Finding a solution for the current stadium situation was one of the first things athletic director Tommy McClelland mentioned when he was hired and while proposed solutions haven’t been communicated yet… hang tight. The wheels are turning and progress is being made on that front. When the time comes to share those next steps, I think most Rice fans will be excited about the direction the administration wants to head with the stadium.

Q: Any chance for men’s soccer?

A: In short, probably not. Rice had now added two women’s programs, diving and golf, but both of those were logistical slam dunks. Now that the Owls are adding the sport, every D1 program in the state has women’s golf and bolstering the swimming program with diving was an obvious next step. When it comes to a brand new program with a larger scholarship base, I’d look towards the possibility of another women’s program, but a decision like that probably isn’t imminent.

Q: What’s going on with women’s soccer? The last two years have been disappointing. Is Brian Lee the right guy for the job?

A: Lee made noise when he arrived on campus and took Rice soccer to the Sweet 16, a first in program history. They were undefeated in conference play in 2022 before the aforementioned rough 2023 campaign in which they went 3-13-2. McClelland has demonstrated he’s not averse to making a change if needed, but I’d find it hard to believe there was imminent pressure on Lee or the program given what they’ve accomplished so far.

As far as recent news, Rice has the No. 32 recruiting class in the country coming to campus. Those reinforcements should be a huge boost to the program.

Q: Where does Rice fit in the future of college sports?

A: Rice obviously doesn’t have the resources of some of the biggest national brands that are making headlines. And while that’s true, it’s equally apparent Rice is committing itself to being competitive in collegiate sports for the long haul. What that will look like in two years, five years, ten years? Nobody can be certain.

The most recent NCAA House case settlement has cast further uncertainty around what that future world will include, but it won’t spell the end of college sports, far from it. Things are going to look different. Athletes are going to get compensated in ways that were unfathomable even a few years ago. But college sports aren’t going anywhere and Rice will continue to participate.

Consider this an educated guess. Rice Athletics will strive to maintain its spot in the highest level of competition available to them and will spend commensurate amounts alongside its peers to compete for championships. I don’t envision a scenario where the Owls voluntarily “give up” on that aspiration because conditions become too challenging or vary too far from the traditional model of collegiate athletics that existed in the pre-NIL world.

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NEWS: Rice Athletics to add Women’s Golf in 2026

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Rice Athletics is growing again. The university announced today the addition of Women’s Golf to their sponsored sports in 2026.

When Rice Athletics Director Tommy McClelland arrived at South Main he spoke of ambitious growth and a commitment to making the Owls excellent in everything they endeavor to do. Alongside those plans was a commitment to ensure Rice had the opportunities to succeed in both men’s and women’s athletics. In January, McClelland announced the addition of a diving program. Just a few months later, the Owls are on the move again, this time committing to add Women’s Golf.

Much in the same way there were built-in efficiencies when Rice went to incorporate diving into its preexisting swimming program, adding a women’s team to complement the men’s program is another natural stepping stone as the department continues to grow.

Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, a former Rice women’s basketball player, and her husband, John, have endowed Rice Athletics to jumpstart the program.

President Reginald DesRoches offered these comments:

“We are thrilled to launch women’s golf at Rice. This is a part of our overall commitment to excellence in every area, including Rice Athletics, and especially women’s sports. We thank Lynn for this gift to launch the program and encourage other dedicated alumni to join us in supporting women’s golf.”

You can read the full release here.

Beyond the excitement that comes with growth, the addition of a second sport in the span of a few months sends a clear statement regarding the direction and ambition of Rice Athletics. In a collegiate landscape that is rife with challenges and new obstacles, the Owls are growing — not shrinking — as they head into an uncertain future. That’s the sort of program most every athlete would tell you they’d like to join.

When combined with the move to the American Athletic Conference, the Owls certainly are putting their commitment to athletics on full display.

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