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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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Potential Rice Basketball head coaching candidates

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Rice Basketball is in the market for a new head coach after moving on from Scott Pera. Who might the Owls target for the job?

Following an 11-21 season, Scott Pera is out as the head coach of Rice Basketball. This decision doesn’t come as a surprise to many and likely has been in the cards for some time now, giving athletic director Tommy McClelland ample time to begin mentally preparing a shortlist of potential targets. Who might the Owls tap to be the next head man on the court?

McClelland was adamant Rice basketball had a bright future ahead of it. “Talent is not an issue. We can get them here and we can win here,” he said, pointing toward recent successes like Quincy Olivari as well as NBA players who came from Rice like Trey Murphy and Drew Peterson. “I want to win,” he declared, making his intentions crystal clear.

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BREAKING: Rice Basketball parts ways with head coach Scott Pera

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Effective immediately, Scott Pera has been relieved of duties as the head coach of Rice Basketball following a 10-21 season, his seventh at South Main.

The Scott Pera era of Rice basketball has officially come to an end, the program announced on Thursday, the day following the end of the Owls’ season with a conference tournament loss to Wichita State. Pera leaves Rice with a 96-127 record across seven seasons, finishing 11-21 in his most recent campaign.

Athletic Director Tommy McClelland issued this statement:

“I appreciate the efforts of Scott and his staff and their dedication to their student-athletes, but over the course of this season, it became apparent to me that a change in the leadership of our men’s basketball team was needed for it to become a championship-caliber program. President DesRoaches and the Board of Trustees have shown a great desire for this program to take its place among the best in the AAC and agreed with my assessment that a coaching change was the appropriate step towards reaching that goal.”

The move isn’t surprising, considering how this season has transpired. Rice went 5-13 in American Athletic Conference play, winning just one conference game at Tudor Fieldhouse, a feat they didn’t achieve until February 24 against East Carolina. The team was 6-10 at home and had won more than two consecutive games just once all season, a December sweep of Incarnate Word, Northwestern State and Prairie View A&M.

Pera finished above .500 just twice in his seven years, going 15-13 in 2020-2021 and 19-16 in 2022-2023 as he guided the team to a CBI Tournament appearance and a postseason win, a first-round victory over Duquesne.

With veteran leaders Max Fiedler and Travis Evee out of eligibility and the program moving in the wrong direction, it was evident a change in leadership was necessary. Rice will immediately begin a national search for Pera’s replacement. Van Green will take over as the Owls’ interim head coach during the transition period.

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
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