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Rice Basketball Recruiting: Gardner-Webb transfer Anthony Selden commits to Owls

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The run of Rice basketball recruiting wins in the transfer portal marches on. Gardner-Webb transfer Anthony Selden has committed to the Owls.

On his visit to campus last weekend, Gardner-Webb transfer Anthony Selden felt right at home. A few days later he formalized those feelings into a commitment, becoming part of the newest wave of Rice basketball recruiting successes in the Transfer Portal.

Rice was new to Selden, but there was at least one familiar face, Travis Evee, who played alongside Selden growing up and competed with him in their prep school days. Selden told The Roost that connection played a part in his final decision, but made it clear he’d fallen in love with the program during his recruitment. “The culture of the staff and the players was outstanding and made the decision easy for me,” he said.

Selden marks the third prominent addition to the newest Rice basketball recruiting class from the Transfer Portal in the last several days. Cal transfer forward Sam Alajiki was the first to make his pledge and was soon followed by an announcement from former Vanderbilt guard Noah Shelby. Selden rounds out a robust haul of veteran additions to an already strong core led by Max Fiedler and the aforementioned Evee.

On the court, Selden’s ability to attack from the wing will make Rice better. He can score from multiple levels and isn’t afraid to get vertical and make plays. Having another proven scorer in the fold is always a good thing and he’s already turned in his fair share of highlights, too.

The aspect of his game he’s the most proud of though? It’s the other side of the ball. Selden said he was most proud of his defense. “I feel like that sets me apart from most players because I want to guard the best player day in and day out,” Selden said. At the end of the day, that might end up being the most welcomed aspect of his addition to the Owls ranks.

 

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: Vanderbilt transfer Noah Shelby commits to Owls

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The transfer portal continues to be kind to Rice Basketball. Vanderbilt transfer Noah Shelby has committed to the Owls.

It’s been an extremely productive week for Rice basketball recruiting. Days removed from landing a commitment from Cal transfer forward Sam Alajiki, the Owls have beefed up their guard play with an SEC addition. Former Vanderbilt guard Noah Shelby has committed to the Owls.

A 2022 McDonald’s All-American Game Nominee, Shelby is a former 4-star recruit in the 2022 class and the No. 121 player in the country. He spent last season with Commodores coming off the bench but shot 31.1 percent from three and tied a career-best 12 points against Tennessee in January.

A Texas native, Shelby made the decision to enter the portal this offseason and Rice was the first program to come calling. Shelby would eventually end up choosing the Owls over several other Power 5 programs. “I made Rice a priority because they made me a priority,” Shelby told The Roost.

As for skills on the court, Shelby fills an immediate need for Rice basketball, who lost guard Quincy Olivari to the Transfer Portal this offseason. Shelby is a ball handler and a shooter, part of what naturally drew him and the Owls together. Pairing his willingness to shoot with the Owls’ Green Light U mantra makes a lot of sense.

Shelby will be part of the Owls’ inaugural AAC squad, something he says he looks forward to. As for what he brings to Rice, Shelby was emphatic and direct. “I’m committed to winning and I am going to produce on the court,” he said. If he can make shots in bunches like this, he’ll fit right in.

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: Cal transfer Sam Alajiki commits to Owls

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The first Rice Basketball recruiting boost of the offseason has appeared. Cal transfer Sam Alajiki has committed to the Owls.

The end of the season brought notices of departure on the Rice basketball recruiting front as the Owls staff worked to find the proper replacements. Rice had already made a splash with the commitments of Keanu Dawes and Gabe Warren but a seasoned addition from the Transfer Portal was certainly expected. News of the first such new arrival has been announced in the form of Cal transfer Sam Alajiki.

Alajiki is a former Pac-12 All-Freshman team selection who made his mark with the Golden Bears quickly upon arrival, tying Cal’s program record for three point percentage in a season (50 percent on 20-of-40 attempts) in his freshman campaign.

As a sophomore, Alajiki averaged 6.1 points per game leading the Bears in three-point shooting (35.9 percent). Things began to pick up for him down the stretch with Alajiki making starts in 10 of the final 11 games, including four double-digit performances in the final nine contests.

Standing 6-foot-7, Alajiki brings size along with his shooting to South Main, as well as additional experience on the international game. Alajiki is originally from Dundalk, Ireland and averaged 13 points and six rebounds for the Irish national team in the 2022 U-20 FIBA European Championships.

Alajiki should be a valuable asset for the Owls, who are expected to return four of five starters as they make the move to the AAC next season.

Rice basketball fans will hopefully being seeing a lot of this from Alajiki when he arrives at South Main

 

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Furious comeback falls short as Rice Basketball falls to SUU

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Rice basketball engineered a furious comeback, but couldn’t make the final defensive stop, falling to Southern Utah in the CBI Tournament.

Whether it was exhaustion, poor execution or just bad luck, Rice basketball started its quarterfinal round game against Southern Utah in a nine-point hole. SUU came out shooting extremely efficiently, knocking down 62 percent of their shots from the field in the first half as the Owls struggled immensely to get going.

“We just couldn’t make a shot,” head coachΒ  Scott Pera said in dismay. “We couldn’t make a shot, other than Travis [Evee].”

It was Evee who kept Rice afloat. He scored a team-high 18 points in the first half while his teammates scored 21 combined. Rice went into the break trailing 12, in desperate need of a rally that wouldn’t come for quite a long time.

“I was hoping the run would be at the 17-minute mark or the 14-minute mark or the 9-minute mark,” Pera said.

Instead, that run came in the final minutes of the game. Trailing by 14 points with 6:30 to play, Rice started to chip away. Quincy Olivari hit some free throws then Mekhi Mason made a three to make it a nine-point game. Olivari and Max Fiedler (twice) each converted and-one opportunities, offset by a few SUU free throws to make it a six-point game. Cam Sheffield cut the deficit to three.

Then, with 24 seconds on the clock and the season on the line, Evee delivered the game-tying three. Southern Utah would drain the clock down to its final seconds then connect on the go-ahead jumper. Olivari’s long heave at the buzzer did not go and despite erasing an unthinkable deficit, the Owls’ season still ended in bitter fashion.

Final Box | SUU 81 – Rice 79

Key takeaway | Doomed by defense

A year ago, Rice basketball played in this same CBI Tournament in this same arena on this same court. Pera hasn’t forgotten because the image of last season’s CBI defeat is seared into his brain in much the same way this loss will be. After overcoming a late deficit, that time against Ohio, Rice watched the Bobcats hit the game-winner at the buzzer and end the Owls’ season.

“That’s two years in a row on the same basket,” Pera lamented.

This time around, Rice basketball doesn’t get to the final shot without several crucial defensive stops in the second half. It wasn’t all offense that fueled this comeback. That the bottom line remains the same. In back-to-back seasons Rice basketball has needed one final stop to prolong their season and they haven’t been able to do it.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball defeats BYU to advance in WNIT

In some respects, Pera is right when he credited his opponents and the player in question, Tevian Jones who ended with 30 points including that game-winner. “They made one more play. That kid made a heck of a shot,” Pera said. But the Owls are still going home.

If Rice basketball wants to be a championship-caliber program, they have to get drastically better on defense. They’ve proven time and time again they can find good shooters. They’ve proven they have the mental capacity to climb out of unthinkable holes. But they haven’t consistently been able to get the most important stop when their season depends on it. And now they’re going home.

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Rice Basketball upsets Duquesne to advance in 2023 CBI Tournament

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Rice basketball survived a three-point barrage by Duquesne and defeated the Dukes, moving on to the second round of the CBI Tournament.

A 12-Seed in the 2023 CBI Tournament, Rice basketball certainly didn’t play like an underdog in Daytona Beach on Sunday afternoon. After trading minor leads in the early portions of the first half, Rice combined a furious scoring assault with a stingy defensive stretch to go on an 18-2 run and take a 13-point lead over the Duquesne Dukes.

Duquesne didn’t stay down long, thundering back via a three-point assault. As Rice found success inside (dominating Duqeuense in the paint 46-18), Duquense knocked down 14 threes but did not hit a three for a span of almost 10 minutes of play, hampering their attempts at a comeback.

As has often been the case for Rice basketball this season, Travis Evee and Quincy Olivari led the way. After failing to score any points in the first half, Olivari came alive in the second, scoring a game-high 19 second-half points and propelling Rice to a late lead.

When asked what sparked Olivari’s key second-half resurgence, head coach Scott Pera credited Olivari’s maturity and poise. “I’ve coached him for four years,” he said. “Sometimes you say something to him and get on him and sometimes you say nothing because he knows… and he knew. And he was ready to go in the second half.”

The battle raged on that way until the final minutes when Andrew Akuchie hit a layup and Mekhi Mason followed that score immediately with a steal and two free throws. That put Rice up by 11 with 1:25 to play. Duquesne hit a few more threes from that point but was unable to dig out of the hole as Rice was able to survive and advance to the next round.

“It’s just another barrier we knocked down,” Pera said of the win. “[It’s] another step for the program and I’m just really proud of the guys.”

Final Box | Rice 84 – Duquesne 78

Key takeaway | Making the good times count

Consistency hasn’t been the hallmark of Rice basketball this season, but the Owls have certainly been explosive. In this game, Rice went on runs of 11-0, 7-0, 6-0 and 5-0 (twice), leading by as many as 13 points toward the end of the first half. With those highs, though, came the lows. Rice allowed runs of 10-0 and 8-0, both in the first half.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball defeats BYU to advance in WNIT

Eliminating the lapses on defense isn’t going to happen at this point in the season. In the interim, that means the solution is making those offensive explosions count. When Rice is hot, making that extra shot to turn a 5-0 run into a 7-0 run will help buy them some cushion in the event they need it later in the game and history shows, that time will probably come.

Up Next: CBI Tournament vs 4-Seed Southern Utah (1:00 p.m. CT)

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