The source for Rice sports news

  • Football
    • Recruiting
    • Offer Tracker
    • Roster
    • Schedule
    • NFL Owls
  • Premium
    • Patreon
    • Season Preview
    • Join / FAQ
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Store
    • News
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • About
    • Contact
  • Login

2025-2026 Rice Basketball Season Preview

October 30, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

Rob Lanier was tasked with laying the foundation for Rice Basketball a year ago when he arrived on South Main. What’s in store for the Owls in his second season?

Extended rebuilds are no longer a thing in the world of college athletics, but Rice basketball knew they’d be facing more than a one-year reboot when they made the decision to move on from Scott Pera a year ago and hire Rob Lanier. The roster was gutted and Lanier and his new staff scrambled in the portal to rebuild the roster in short order. The results were mixed.

This time around, the Owls did lose players to the portal, like is normative for just about every program these days except for perhaps the upper-tier blue bloods, but the continuity already established has those around South Main more optimistic about what the program might be able to accomplish in Year 2.

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.

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • The Roost’s 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives
  • 2025 Rice Football MVP, Offensive Player of the Year: Quinton Jackson
  • 2025 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Williams
  • 2025 Rice Football Rising Star: D’Andre Hardeman

Filed Under: Archive, Basketball, Premium Tagged With: Aaron Powell, Andrew Akuchie, Bodey Howell, Cam Carroll, Dallas Hobbs, Eternity Eguagie, Evan Cochran, George Perkins, Jalen Smith, Jimmy Oladokun Jr., Nick Anderson, Rice basketball, Season Preview, Stephen Giwa, Trae Broadnax, Trey Patterson

2024-2025 Rice Basketball Season Preview

October 23, 2024 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Basketball embarks on a new era under head coach Rob Lanier this season. What will the new-look Owls be able to offer in his debut season on South Main?

Emotions are always high when you hire a new coach. A new day dawns and all the prior struggles and frustrations are momentarily thrust back into the depths. But the games will eventually start again and the neverending cycle of hope and tragedy that plagues all sports will soon return. New Rice basketball head coach Rob Lanier is responsible for ensuring those woes are shortlived and the Owl faithful see a product on the court that makes them proud.

Lanier didn’t shy away from those obligations when he first addressed Rice fans the day he was hired. “We’re gonna win. It ain’t a hope. It ain’t a dream. It’s a reality. So you can get prepared for that,” he said at the podium that afternoon. In a short time, those words will be put to the test.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.

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.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?


Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

  • The Roost’s 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives
  • 2025 Rice Football MVP, Offensive Player of the Year: Quinton Jackson
  • 2025 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Williams
  • 2025 Rice Football Rising Star: D’Andre Hardeman

Filed Under: Archive, Basketball, Premium Tagged With: Aaron Powell, Alem Huseinovic, Andrew Akuchie, Caden Powell, Denver Anglin, Emory Lanier, George Perkins, Ifeanyi Ufochukwu, Jackson Peakes, Jacob Dar, Jalen Smith, Jimmy Oladokun Jr., Kellen Amos, Rice basketball, Season Preview, Trae Broadnax, Trey Patterson

Rice Basketball Recruiting: G Jalen Smith commits to Owls

May 1, 2024 By Matthew Bartlett

Another former SMU Mustang is making the journey south to Houston. Guard Jalen Smith is the newest member of the 2024 Rice Basketball recruiting class.

Head coach Rob Lanier continues to stockpile talent, pulling from the Transfer Portal to revamp his roster in a whirlwind of activity. The changes within collegiate athletics enabling more free flowing movement of players have aided in that cause, allowing him to bring several very familiar faces to South Main including his former player, Jalen Smith, an SMU transfer and the newest member of the 2024 Rice Basketball recruiting class.

Smith joins Emory Lanier and Denver Anglin, two of his former teammates at SMU who have since made the decision to follow their head coach from Dallas to Houston. If his usage at SMU is any indication, he’ll step right in as an important piece of the Owls roster very quickly.

Smith appeared in at least 29 games for SMU in each of the last three seasons, seeing a career-high 33 games of action last season, including four starts. He averaged 5.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.8 steals, mostly off the bench, adding an impactful 38 percent shooting on three-pointers. He’s a reliable role player that Lanier trusts. His addition to the roster makes that crystal clear.

In addition to those three former Mustangs, Rice has now added eight new transfers to the roster since Lanier took over. The roster is coming together, with the potential for another piece or two before all is said and done.

More: Rice Basketball Roster Tracker

Beyond the defensive focus, Lanier did made a point during his introductory remarks that his team would find shooters. Smith can definitely knock down some shots from deep, but his overall athleticism makes him more than just a sharpshooting threat. He can fly too, just take a look at this impact play against Tulsa.



Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

  • The Roost’s 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives
  • 2025 Rice Football MVP, Offensive Player of the Year: Quinton Jackson
  • 2025 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Williams
  • 2025 Rice Football Rising Star: D’Andre Hardeman

Filed Under: Basketball, Featured Tagged With: Jalen Smith, Rice basketball, Rice basketball recruiting

Rice Basketball 2024 Roster Tracker

March 31, 2024 By Matthew Bartlett

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.

Departing with Eligibility (9)

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?

Rice Basketball News

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Rice Basketball Rains Threes in Win over UTSA

Posted: January 14, 2026

Rice Basketball started fast and never slowed down, rolling to a convincing road win over UTSA, courtesy of a blistering performance from deep. Nick Anderson opened the scoring with a three. Jalen Smith added another. Then Broadnax. Then Smith. The first four field goals Rice basketball knocked down on Wednesday night in San Antonio all […]

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Rice Women’s Basketball Dispatches UAB at Home

Posted: January 14, 2026

Rice women’s basketball took care of business at home, riding a dominant fourth quarter to a win over UAB to maintain a perfect record at home. It took less than five minutes of action for Rice women’s basketball to make it abundantly clear they were on a different level of the playing field from UAB. […]

Rice Basketball, game recap

Rice Basketball Comes Up Short vs Charlotte

Posted: January 11, 2026

Rice Basketball came up one shot short, missing a potential game winner at the buzzer in a narrow home loss to Charlotte. A layup from Charlotte’s Ben Bradford put the visiting 49ers just ahead of Rice basketball in the opening minutes of their trip to Tudor Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon. That proved to be representative […]

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Rice Women’s Basketball Crushes Charlotte

Posted: January 7, 2026

Rice women’s basketball completed a sweep in the Sunshine State, taking down Florida Atlantic a few days after knocking off South Florida on the road. Rice women’s basketball has won a lot of games this year, but few of them were less eventful than the contest they played against Charlotte on Wednesday night. Even though […]

Rice Basketball, Rice Women's Basketball, Game Recap

Rice Basketball Hangs On to Beat Wichita State

Posted: January 7, 2026

Rice Basketball never trailed in the second half, fending off a late rally to defeat Wichita State in the Owls’ first true road win of the season. A flurry of threes put Wichita State in the driver’s seat early on in their game against Rice basketball on Wednesday. The Owls trailed for the first 15 […]



Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

  • The Roost’s 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives
  • 2025 Rice Football MVP, Offensive Player of the Year: Quinton Jackson
  • 2025 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Williams
  • 2025 Rice Football Rising Star: D’Andre Hardeman

Filed Under: Archive, Basketball, Premium Tagged With: Aaron Powell, Alem Huseinovic, Andrew Akuchie, Caden Powell, Damion McDowell, Denver Anglin, Emory Lanier, George Perkins, Ifeanyi Ufochukwu, Jackson Peakes, Jalen Smith, Jimmy Oladokun Jr., Kellen Amos, PJ Carter, Rice basketball, Sam Alajiki, Trae Broadnax, Trey Patterson

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3
  4. Item 4
  5. Item 5
  • Rice Football
  • Quinton Jackson, Rice Football
  • Jack Ben-Shoshan, Rice Baseball
  • Rice Baseball, David Pierce
  • Rice Football
Become a patron at Patreon!
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter