(05-31-2018 10:05 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(05-31-2018 09:46 AM)Baconator Wrote:  Wayne Graham is probably the most important figure in the history of Rice University aside from William M. Rice and Edgar O. Lovett. Thank you coach, for all the great memories.

I'd add Jess Neely in there as well. But in the modern Rice era, no one other person has been as important to the University. (Richard Smalley and Robert Curl being a tandem.) Thanks Coach Graham, for saving Div-I sports at Rice for all the alumni who have greatly benefited from your having done so, improving the value of their degrees whether they understand how important Div-I sports is for the school or not.

I would NOT put Neely in that group. Our decline was pronounced before he left, and spotty prior to that. One SWC title in his last ten years? Part of the problem was his attitude toward black athletes.

For inclusion into the second tier, behind Rice, Lovett, and Graham, I would nominate Bobby May.