New Coach Don Suman has high hopes for the Rice Owls but he also understands the reality of what is happening in college athletics.  After all, Suman has a senior laden team coming back with a front line filled with size and experience and yet are picked to finish last in the SWC in their final year of existence.  Ironically the best player on the team might not be one of those behemoths who put Rice and SWC basketball on the map but a second-year wing.  Sophomore Ricky Pierce is a scoring machine.  He has that intangible that makes him impossible to guard.  Play off him and he will kill you with his jump shot which seems so automatic at times that he could probably make it in the dark.  Let him drive and he will go to the hoop and he will get fouled.  And if he gets fouled forget it because he does not miss foul shots.  Only a sophomore, Pierce will use this game to get what he wants out of life.  He knows he is not the most gifted player on the court but he will work hard and knows how to play this game. Pierce was the only option for the Owls for most of last season especially from anywhere near resembling the perimeter.  Just imagine what this team would have been like without Pierce on the team.  Some overmatched guard trying to force the ball into an overmatched post player for the 7th trip down the court in a row and that post guys shot getting rejected into the third row.  Now Sluman just needs a couple more just like and he is doing everything to bring in some athletic wings who can shoot to play for the Owls.

Point guard is tough for Owls as they tried to put some square pegs into round holes.  They did have a fine duo who split minutes but both are the score first type and with Pierce on the wing this team needs a guy who can distribute and run the show. Senior Greg Williams got the most starts and most of the minutes but would rather play the two spot even though he only goes 5’9.  He came around though and was actually pretty effective though he was a bit overmatched at times.  He can dish and score and has got a good head on his shoulders.  Junior Gary Reist is a similar player and has more size at 6’1.  He can also score but has a tough time defending. Both of these guys do which is the problem. The Owls do have some upperclassmen on the roster as well in the back court but most of these guys are even less athletic then Williams and Reist. Seniors Frank Carswell and Warren Switzer will be back but neither is expected to play much.  Carswell was the first star here as he was great at getting the big guys the ball down low but has stepped back after an injury.  Switzer was a war hero and is 25 years old so the team will rely on him for experience and Sluman has said he will be like having another assistant on the bench but that is probably where he will spend most of his what is this is his 6th or 7th senior year.  And he never even came close to catching Covid. 

 One other guard really stepped-up last year as junior Elbert Darden had a terrific season in Houston.  A stat sheet filler, the 6’3 two guard was third on the team in scoring and assists and gave the Owls some real get up and go on the perimeter.  Not a great perimeter shooter, Darden can get to the hoop and kept Pierce playing the three spot with his solid year.  Will he be able to do that again?  As we stated, Suman has brought in a flock of potential wings for the Owls so he will be challenged so if he wants to keep his starting job he better shoot the rock a bit better.  

Now for that once formidable front line for the Owls.  The group of seniors coming back include centers Kendall Rhine, Bill Henry and Temple Tucker, power forwards Gene Schwinger, Bob Kinney and Tom Robitaille and small forwards Bill Tom Closs, Don Lance and Doug McKendrick.  As you can see there is some real depth up front for the Owls but most of these guys play a style of ball that has become obsolete.  That old school get your back to the basket, post up and power the ball in with a variety of power moves is leaving the sport.  The OG’s (they gave themselves that nickname) realize this and know that this might be their last hurrah in the sport as the pros are not knocking the doors down of any of their houses to get them to come and play next year.  Two years ago this was a much different story.  These guys ruled the SWC.  You would have thought they were the offensive line for the Longhorns they were that well-known and big. Foremost of these might have been Tucker who was as close to a high school legend in basketball as this state has ever had.  The 6’10 big man led his team from the town of Bowie to many state championships and scored over 2300 points. Really. His first year here he was a rock star and was a huge part of this team’s success.  Problem is he only goes 205 pounds soaking wet and has regressed in productivity every season since. Big Kendall Rhine does not have that issue as he goes the same 6’10 but with a bull like 240 pounds on him.  He replaced Tucker and Henry as the starter last year and never looked back.  He will start again and he can score on the blocks and board but matching up with the Dream is a whole different proposition.  Schwinger as he made it clear is none of the sort and the only Vince Vaughn move he likes is Dodgeball but this kid can play.  He is the team captain but he only goes 6’6 and got destroyed by the Big E many times.  Kinnery and Robitaille are no better so these guys are in trouble of being replaced and there is a 6’10 250 pounder coming to town so these guys might go the way of the cuckoo.  Closs does not want to be referred to as Bill Tom anymore (have no idea where that came from he says) and this 6’7 kid can play but gave up minutes to Pierce at the three. He and McKendrick played more at the four when they did but might not get on the court much this year.  Lance is a 6’3 true wing but only plays when Pierce swings down to the two.  This group has been incredible in the past but that is where they sadly belong as basketball has passed up the big corn-fed post players. Ironically two sophomores are the prototype new style of forward.  LA born and bred Ken Austin and Greg Hines dominated the JV squad.  This duo goes 6’9 and 6’8 but like to play more on the perimeter then the paint.  They will push for minutes and are the future of not only Owl basketball but define what basketball is evolving into. 

The Rice Owls went into last season picked to finish third in the Southwest Conference by the media. That did not happen as the team from Houston seemed Dazed and Confused most of the year and did not have the horses to compete in the athletic SWC.  A horrible season ended in a last place finish and the loss of their Coach.  There is some hope as some freshman got some valuable playing time late and showed some potential.  The only real player on the team however is a shooter who needs to be set up to score and this team’s weakest position was having a pass friendly point guard.  Ricky Pierce will make do with whoever he plays next to this year.  He always does and if he could get some more gamers around him he might be able to lead this program out of the cellar.  But that is a big If!  New coach Don Suman has much bigger fish to fry as the future of this program is in limbo as the Owls were left out of the flight of fancy to form the new league already dubbed the Big 12.  There were not the 13th team either and Rice will become gypsies in the new basketball world.  Rumors are the Owls will be flying into the WACky world of western basketball.  But for one more year Rice is in the SWC and they mean to cause as much pain as they can to those programs (especially the Longhorns) who abandoned this original member of the grand ole Southwest Conference.