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Rice Basketball: Travis Evee, Riley Abercrombie immediately eligible

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Rice basketball received more good news in the days leading up to the 2020-2021 season. Guard Travis Evee has been granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA.

The offseason was a hard one for Rice basketball. Seniors said their goodbyes and a wave of familiar faces entered the Transfer Portal. Rice would rebuild once again, hoping to do so with a talented freshmen class and a smattering of hand-picked transfers.

That process was expedited in mid-October when Boise State transfer Riley Abercrombie was granted immediate eligibility following a waiver request submitted to the NCAA. Rice got more good news this week, learning another transfer, Travis Evee, formerly of VMI, has also been cleared to play this season. That’s two big additions to the Rice basketball roster for the upcoming season.

Evee was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year last season, leading VMI with 12.6 points per game. He made 36.2 percent of his three-point attempts at VMI and has impressed in his time on campus thus far. His immediate eligibility will be huge for the Rice offense, which needed another proven scorer as well as someone who can direct the offense. Evee could check both of those boxes.

Several new faces will join Evee and Abercrombie on the court this fall. Texas Tech transfer Malik Ondigo will be eligible this season after sitting out last year per transfer protocols. Grad transfers Cavit Ege Havsa and Tre Clark should both make an impact as well JUCO guard Jake Lieppert. That cast of new characters will join the likes of Payon Moore, Chris Mullins, Max Fiedler and Quincy Olivari.

There will be a lot of new faces on the court at Tudor Fieldhouse this season. Fortunately for the Owls, they won’t have to wait an additional season to see one of their most promising new additions in action at South Main.

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: Guard Andrew King commits to Owls

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2022 shooting guard Andrew King has committed to Rice basketball. He’s the first Owls’ commitment of the 2022 class.

With the dust settled somewhat from a busy spring and summer, Rice basketball has secured their first commitment from the 2022 class. Guard Andrew King has committed to the Owls. He picked Rice over offers from Grand Canyon, UC Davis and Northern Colorado.

The 6-foot-3, 160-pound guard from Phhoenix Prep should provide a boost to the Rice offense, which is going to look a lot younger in the coming years. King announced his decision this week via Twitter. He thanked those who helped him get to this point and declared his commitment to Rice.

https://twitter.com/__AndrewKing__/status/1319739172710617088

The addition of King turns the page to the next chapter for Rice basketball’s roster. The Owls might not be on the court yet, but they’ve been working hard behind the scenes. The roster was turned upside down during the offseason. Several newcomers were brought in to backfill for the departures of a few seniors and a handful of other transfers on the way out.

Josh Parrish, Drew Peterson, Trey Murphy, Ako Adams and Robert Martin are gone. In their place, Rice brought in Riley Abercrombie, Noah Hutchins, Travis Evee, Cavit Ege Havsa, Jake Lieppert and Tre Clark.

A junior, King has some time before he starts putting up shots at Tudor Fieldhouse. Still, it’s nice to see Rice continuing to build for the future. The recent influx makes it likely the 2022 class won’t be very large, but it’s off to a great start.

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Rice Basketball: 2021 Guard Elijah Lawrence commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Basketball recruiting class picked up its third member, adding local guard Elijah Lawrence from Bellaire High School.

Rice basketball has its third commitment of the 2021 class. 6-foot-1 guard Elijah Lawrence from Bellaire High School, just down the road from the Tudor Fieldhouse. Rice beat out fellow C-USA peer Old Dominion, who offered him earlier in the summer.

Lawrence’s commitment cements a three-player class. Also in the fold are forward Damion McDowell who was the first to commit in May and shooting guard Jaden Geron, who committed in July. Both of the prior commits are California natives. Lawrence represents the lone Texan in the class.

Rice had the distinct advantage of an existing relationship with Lawrence prior to restrictions on in-person visits that went into place earlier this year. He’d already had face time with head coach Scott Pera thanks in part to his close proximity. Fostering that relationship with face to face conversations made the decision easier for Lawrence this summer.

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Lawrence describes himself as a “true team captain on the floor” who can “defend at a high level and play offense at a high level.” His flexibility and versatility will be key as he assimilates into the Owls’ attack.

On the court, Rice is getting a fairly well-rounded player. He has a nice release and can get to the basket in a hurry. He’s not the biggest at 6-foot-1, 160 pounds, but he handles himself well and is able to cut through traffic. Overall a nice pickup for the Owls.

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Rice Athletics: Extended offseason showcase series

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Showcasing a variety of Rice Athletics programs who don’t always get the spotlight was a focal point of the 2020 Extended Offseason. Check out key storylines across many Owls’ sports.

When sports were canceled in March the offseason calendar was more than doubled almost overnight. The silver lining in the midst of the heavy situation was additional time to shed some light on a few Rice Athletics programs that hadn’t been given as much of a spotlight on the site before. Over the span of the last few months, we’ve run weekly series on other programs beyond the revenue sports that typically get the most attention (although we wrote about those too). Here’s a summary of those series, all in one place:

Volleyball

Soccer

Swimming

Tennis

Baseball

Men’s Basketball

Women’s Basketball

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Rice Basketball: 2021 Guard Jaden Geron commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Basketball recruiting class has doubled in size. Guard Jarden Geron became the second player to commit to the Owls in this cycle.

Rice basketball has its second commitment of the 2021 class. 6-foot-7 shooting guard Jaden Geron from San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California has committed to Rice. He led San Joaquin to a 24-7 regular season record this past season.

Geron is the second commitment in the 2021 Rice Basketball Recruiting class. His addition comes roughly a month after fellow Californian forward Damion McDowell became the first commitment of the class.

The Owls were the first to get in on Geron, offering him in mid-April amid the now-normal virtual recruiting environment. UC San Diego followed a month later, but Rice had already made enough headway at that point to put themselves out in front.

After bringing in such a large 2020 class amidst the transfer churn, it’s likely the Owls have a smaller group for 2021. McDowell and Hargon will be the cornerstones of this group which probably has space left for just one more addition.

On the court, Geron is a finisher with an adept shooting stroke who can score from all three levels. His ability to push the pace and make plays at the rim should give Rice a versatile offensive threat with the ball in his hands.

As good as he is in close, he also has the range to pull up and knock down a three. At 175-pounds, he tends toward the lankier side, but should have a decent floor as a shooter as he develops at the next level.

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