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Rice Athletics 2018: A Year in Review

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Rice athletics produced some memorable moments in 2018. Here’s an overview of how the Owls faired on the court, the field and in the gym over the past year.

Baseball

The Wayne Graham era at South Main came to an end this year. Graham’s 27-season tenure at Rice included 1,173 wins, 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, seven College World Series appearances and one National Championship in 2003. He owns the best winning percentage in school history (.689). Following the season, new head baseball coach Matt Bragga was introduced as the Owls’ next manager.

Basketball (men’s and women’s)

The men have a  roster filled with young players who have fought through growing pains in 2018. The Owls won seven games last season and enter CUSA play with five wins already under their belt.

After making it to the second round of the WNIT last March, the women’s team started strong again in the 2018-2019 season. The squad went 8-3 in non-conference play with one game remaining on Dec. 29 and has aspirations of a CUSA Title and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Football

2018 was an important year for Rice football. Mike Bloomgren earned his first win regular season win and first conference win as a head coach against Prairie View and Old Dominion, respectively. Owls’ star running back Trevor Cobb was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The team finished the year by signing 17 players during the early signing period including Jake Bailey, a Top 15 recruit in Conference USA.

Tennis (men’s and women’s)

The women’s team earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, dropping a heartbreaker to Texas A&M in the Austin Regional. The men failed to make the NCAA Tournament, but Eric Rutledge and Sumit Sarkar were awarded All-CUSA First Team honors in doubles. Rutledge was named to the first team for singles. Sarkar was named to the second.

Soccer (women’s)

The team hung in through a tough 2018 campaign. Needing a tie in their final regular season game to clinch a spot in the CUSA Tournament, Rice topped Charlotte in the finale. The Owls finished the regular season at 4-5-1 before a loss in the conference tournament. There were a couple close calls with a 3-0 shutout of Louisiana Tech marking the top performance of the year.

Swimming (women’s)

Rice ended their year with a bang. The Owls finished second out of 31 scoring teams at the CSCAA National Invitational in March. Kaitlyn Swinney broke the school record for the 400-IM at the meet.

Volleyball

It was a banner year for the Owls’ volleyball squad. They set a program-best winning streak, reeling off 15-straight victories on their way to a Conference USA regular season championship. They’d add a CUSA Conference Championship too, thereby securing their fourth NCAA Tournament berth in school history.

Nicole Lennon, Lee Ann Cunningham and Grace Morgan were named to the CUSA First Team while Anota Adekunle and Carly Graham were selected to the CUSA All-Freshman team.

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North Texas game preview

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Rice basketball went 5-8 in non-conference play, but hope to put all of that behind them with a big win in their first CUSA game against North Texas.

The final game of 2018 marks the start of a new stretch of the season for Rice basketball. The Owls have 14 games remaining on their regular season schedule, all coming against Conference USA opponents. The next contest comes at home against North Texas on Saturday, Dec. 29. TV broadcast will be on ESPN+ with radio available on the Stretch Internet Portal.

North Texas 12-1 (0-0), Last 5 (4-1)

  • W, 77-66 vs UAPB
  • W, 74-65 @ New Mexico
  • W, 63-61 @ UT Arlington
  • W, 80-69 @ Indiana State
  • L, 73-57 @ Oklahoma

Rice 5-8 (0-0), Last 5 – (2-3)

  • L, 83-66 vs Omaha
  • W, 75-67 @ Rio Grande Valley
  • L, 99-89 (OT) vs UC Santa Barbara
  • W, 78-73 vs St Edwards
  • L, 75-68 vs Lamar

North Texas players to watch

The Mean Green enter the game with the best record among all CUSA teams thanks to a well-balanced lineup. Six different North Texas players average at least 10 points per game. Junior guard Ryan Woolridge has been the catalyst for the offense this year, scoring single-digit points three times in 13 games. He registered a triple-double earlier this month against Indiana State.

On the defensive end, sophomore forward Zachary Simmons is one of eight players in the conference averaging at least one block per game. He’s been a rebounding machine, of late, grabbed eight or more boards in for of his last five games.

Rice keys to victory

For Rice, any upset attempt is going to start with shooting. The Owls shot 35.1 percent from the field against Omaha their last time out, the second-worst shooting performance of the season. They had a season-high 36 three-point attempts but connected on just nine (25.0 percent).

Chris Mullins, who has carried this team over the last few weeks, scored a team-high 17 points against Omaha but needed someone else to step up on a tough shooting night. It’s going to take a full team performance to beat North Texas.

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Owls take stock of season entering conference play

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Rice basketball is in the midst of a rebuilding effort led by a host of young players hoping to bring success back to South Main. It’s going to take some work.

The 2018-2019 season has been filled with plenty of learning opportunities for Rice basketball. The Owls won their first three games at Tudor Fieldhouse but struggled to find their rhythm throughout the next month, sliding to a 5-8 record entering the Christmas holidays.

Five wins put the Owls in the bottom half of the conference with their first Conference USA game looming on Dec. 29 against North Texas. The Mean Green sit at 12-1. They’ll be a tough test for Rice, but the road to get there hasn’t been much easier.

Penn, Houston and Wichita State all made the NCAA Tournament last season and BYU and UCSB have both put together winning seasons so far. Rice played all five of them. “If you go down the list, that schedule has been pretty challenging,” head coach Scott Pera said following their loss to Omaha, “There’s a lot of good teams on there that we’ve had to play. Hopefully that will help us in conference [play]. That’s part of the plan.”

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The plan, as Pera refers to it, is in its developmental stages. Outside of Jack Williams, Ako Adams and Robert Martin the Owls key pieces on the floor are almost entirely freshman. Rice is led by starting guard Chris Mullins in scoring (13.1 points per game).

Fellow freshman Drew Peterson and Quentin Millora-Brown have earned starting spots with freshmen Josh Parrish and Trey Murphy III playing meaningful minutes off the bench. The youth permeating the roster is a challenge for Pera and his staff, one he hopes will pay dividends down the road. “It’s a bit like a rollercoaster,” Pera admitted, “I feel our guys are connected. I feel we have shown a lot of growth.”

The team is in the early stages of that developmental process. It’s going to take some time. Pera knows that, and he knows now is the time to press in rather than throw in the towel. “You gotta believe in your guys. You know that they’re capable… What can you do? Get back in the gym and keep working,” Pera proclaimed adamantly.

The rebuild won’t happen overnight. Rice is working and they’ll continue to be tested from this point onward. There are going to be more licks with high points mixed in. It’s going to be every bit as much the rollercoaster Pera described. The Owls will have to do their best to make sure they don’t get stuck in a loop.

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Owls add size with 2019 center Max Fiedler

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Rice basketball added some size to their 2019 recruiting class with the commitment of 6-foot-10 center Max Fielder from Melbourne, Florida.

One of three commitments in favor of the Owls over the span of less than a week, center Max Fiedler has locked down his recruitment, calling Rice “the right place for me.”

Fielder picked the Owls over a host of programs, including Army, Air Force, Lipscomb, Texas State and Lehigh. The latter was the most recent to offer Fiedler, but unable to fight off the momentum the Owls had picked up since they offered Feidler in early August.

Part of the reason for the Owls’ holding Fiedler’s interest was the relationships he’d developed with the coaching staff and the current players. The culture and the academics of a top-tier institution like Rice was too good for him to pass up. “I know Rice basketball has a bright future,” Fielder said, “I’m excited to be a part of it.”

It might not be long before Fiedler becomes an integral piece for the Owls on the court. Standing at 6-foot-10, he’ll be listed as the tallest person on the Rice team next year. Recent commit Zach Crisler is 6-foot-9, as is freshman Quentin Millora-Brown. Size can’t be taught. An offseason in the weight room to add power to that stature has the potential to pay significant dividends for both Fiedler and the Owls.

Adding a shooting element to his game would be icing on the cake. Feidler said Pera wants him to “be able to stretch the floor and shoot the three,” as well as be a weapon on the glass. If Fiedler can continue to develop on the offensive end, he could turn into an impressive under the radar candidate for Rice in the 2019 signing class. His work on the boards and in the paint speaks for itself.

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Owls add shooting guard Quincy Olivari to 2019 class

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Rice basketball continues to grow their 2019 recruiting class. Guard Quincy Olivari was excited to jump on board and join the Owls.

Scott Pera has been a busy man. A week removed from having only preferred walk-on Ben Moffat in the fold, Rice basketball added three players to the 2019 class. Power forward Zach Crisler jumped aboard first, but he was quickly followed center Max Fiedler and guard Quincy Olivari.

A 6-foot-3 combo guard from Atlanta, GA, Olivari was the final piece of a three-player haul brought in by Pera in a few days time, and he could be an important piece for the Owls on the court next season. He held an offer from Charleston Southern and had drawn interest from Cornell prior to pulling the trigger and committing to the Owls.

For Olivari, there wasn’t any need to wait around for more offers. “Rice is a great fit for me. It’s in the perfect place with great academics,” he said. Olivari continued, sharing high praise of the Owls’ coaching staff, led by Scott Pera. “Coach Pera is a great coach and he’s coached some great players. He’s a legend in the game and I look forward to playing for him.”

As to where he’ll fit once he gets to South Main, Olivari projects to be a fast-paced, accurate shooter who can play both ways. His quickness on the court will be crucial for winning fast break points, something he’s said Pera expects him to provide the Owls in the future.

Olivari is a more of a combo guard and a shooter than a true point guard. Ball handling is one of his focal points that he plans to improve during his senior year. He’s hoping a better handle on the ball will improve his versatility at the college level. Regardless, the guy can flat out shoot.

 

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