My concern about Coach Rhoades was always about the number of transfers/exits we saw from his program over the brief 3 years he was at Rice. The total number of transfers from D-1 schools overall is around 25%-28%, while about 40% of D-1 freshmen/sophomore hoops players transfer. (
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/rese...basketball)
Each year there was a "justification" for the moves, and each year the trend continued. Overall, I counted at least 16 players left the team before their eligibility ended since Rhoades came on board.
The fact that Rhodes actively sought another coaching position each year while he was at Rice probably exacerbated the situation (it was not just other schools approaching him, he--thru his agent--let the recruiters know he was willing to move). It is understandable that he wanted to continue to progress thru the coaching ranks so I am not 'judging" him for positioning himself to move. Nonetheless, it certainly sent a message (to me, at least) that he was not building a foundation for a long-term successful program at Rice.
Rice is a unique school and culture so it is a more difficult task to find players that want to be part of the school culture and community and succeed at D-1 hoops. If you go for the "quicker fix" to find the best athletes and not do the research to make sure they are the right fit, the increased turnover is to be expected. I believe this was a major challenge for both Coach Braun and Coach Rhoades. (it is also something that most coaches do not have to think about as much at many other programs) Coach Wilson grew up in the Rice Culture so he had an advantage when he recruited young men to play for Rice during his tenure. Coaches that come in from the outside often remark that "they had no idea that Rice was such a unique culture" until they worked there. It was this challenge that I thought that Rice was going to begin to address first when they brought Coach Hartman, and later Coach B. Scott back into the fold. Unfortunately big B decided not to stay post Coach Rhoades. I am pleased that Coach Pera decided to bring in Omar Mance.
I thought the progress of the team under Coach Rhoades leadership was solid, but a little over-blown, considering the level of competition/schedule the Owls faced last year. The team finished 5th in CUSA, losing 7 games in conference. Certainly an improvement but the OOC schedule strength was not very good overall. The run in the post-season tournament was nice and certainly something to build on for the future.
My final grade on Coach Rhoades was incomplete, but if you had to give him a grade it was a "C" at best. If he would have been more committed to the school and would have wanted to build a long-term program here, he could have improved to at least a "B" and further, if he figured out how to recruit successfully to a quality student-athlete that can embrace the Rice Culture, he could have been an excellent, possibly transformational coach for Rice.
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