(04-25-2024 05:48 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Huseinovic looks to be returning, which I think is good news. Even if he's relegated to more of a bench role, he's an elite shooter who can give you solid minutes. Think that means we have 3 more scholarships open. Still think we need at least one more big and a scoring guard.

Yes! He and Sheffield are the two I want(ed) to return the most. It also adds some continuity to the program. You really don’t want a team with 12 new faces because you just don’t know what type of chemistry all those new players will be able to create.

Alem also improved a ton defensively last year. But he had to play too many minutes and I think wore down at the end of games.

(04-25-2024 05:53 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(04-25-2024 05:48 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Huseinovic looks to be returning, which I think is good news. Even if he's relegated to more of a bench role, he's an elite shooter who can give you solid minutes. Think that means we have 3 more scholarships open. Still think we need at least one more big and a scoring guard.

Yes! He and Sheffield are the two I want(ed) to return the most. It also adds some continuity to the program. You really don’t want a team with 12 new faces because you just don’t know what type of chemistry all those new players will be able to create.

Alem also improved a ton defensively last year. But he had to play too many minutes and I think wore down at the end of games.

Not sure if we have any better knowledge of how the chemistry will be with 1 or 2 old faces versus no returning faces. A crucial part of Lanier’s job will be meshing all the new and whatever returning players he has. We shall see.

So with Akuchie staying, we're at 11 scholarship players (10 if Emory Lanier is not on scholarship). Still think we need another scoring guard. Probably also need another 3 and D wing/forward (Sheffield returning would be ideal). I wouldn't call the roster great by any stretch. But it can become a really solid offseason if we nail the last 2/3 additions.

Definitely a better roster than what Pera had in his first year and way, way, way better than what Rhoades played with in 2014.

Maybe biggest issue with the roster right now is the shooting. 3PT percentages from the guys we've added:

> Anglin: 5-29 (17%)...small sample size, didn't play last year
> Broadnax: Career 33% shooter
> Amos: Career 31% shooter
> Patterson: 1-10 in his career
> Powell: Hasn't taken a 3 in his career
> Lanier: Career 31% shooter

That's not great. It's unclear what Aaron Powell and Batson bring, but the more I look at the roster, the more I think we desperately need a shooter or two.

(04-26-2024 03:37 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Maybe biggest issue with the roster right now is the shooting. 3PT percentages from the guys we've added:

> Anglin: 5-29 (17%)...small sample size, didn't play last year
> Broadnax: Career 33% shooter
> Amos: Career 31% shooter
> Patterson: 1-10 in his career
> Powell: Hasn't taken a 3 in his career
> Lanier: Career 31% shooter

That's not great. It's unclear what Aaron Powell and Batson bring, but the more I look at the roster, the more I think we desperately need a shooter or two.

Well we shot .337 last year in 3’s so I doubt we would be any worse. Evee and Mason were .343. Alem was our best (.402), and everyone else basically was worse than Travis and Mekhi.

Alijiki headed to Oral Roberts. He should have a solid shot to start there, assuming he stays healthy.

(04-26-2024 03:37 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Maybe biggest issue with the roster right now is the shooting. 3PT percentages from the guys we've added:

> Anglin: 5-29 (17%)...small sample size, didn't play last year
> Broadnax: Career 33% shooter
> Amos: Career 31% shooter
> Patterson: 1-10 in his career
> Powell: Hasn't taken a 3 in his career
> Lanier: Career 31% shooter

That's not great. It's unclear what Aaron Powell and Batson bring, but the more I look at the roster, the more I think we desperately need a shooter or two.

Those six and Powell (the high school Powell)were officially announced by Rice today. Press releases include some quotes by Lanier on each one. Actually no release on Lanier - six releases altogether.

(04-29-2024 06:56 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(04-26-2024 03:37 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Maybe biggest issue with the roster right now is the shooting. 3PT percentages from the guys we've added:

> Anglin: 5-29 (17%)...small sample size, didn't play last year
> Broadnax: Career 33% shooter
> Amos: Career 31% shooter
> Patterson: 1-10 in his career
> Powell: Hasn't taken a 3 in his career
> Lanier: Career 31% shooter

That's not great. It's unclear what Aaron Powell and Batson bring, but the more I look at the roster, the more I think we desperately need a shooter or two.

Those six and Powell (the high school Powell)were officially announced by Rice today. Press releases include some quotes by Lanier on each one.

I would read the releases except that the Rice website (at least for me) is functionally unusable. Never seems to load, breaks often, slow and terrible interface, and on and on. It's remarkable that somebody (a) designed this and (b) that Rice sees it as acceptable.

I don’t disagree with you, but Rice uses the same company for the web site that maybe 90 percent of all colleges use? Not surprisingly, it’s the other 10 percent of sites that tend to be the best ones.

I will try to copy Lanier’s quotes as they do seem to add some insight and just don’t strike me as general coach speak.

Caden Powell - “Caden’s mobility, athleticism and basketball IQ will help us right away on both ends of the floor. He also has tremendous room for growth and the desire to match. We are so excited as about the impact Caden has the potential to make.”

Aaron Powell - “Aaron has the ball skills along with the shooting ability, speed and athleticism that fit our style of play. He’s grown up around the highest level of basketball (my note - his dad is the head trainer of the Clippers) so we don’t expect him to be overwhelmed by the transition to the college game.”

Trey Patterson - “Trey will bring so much to our program. He is so mature and has so much talent. He’s had a journey that’s been interrupted by injury, and now that he is healthy, we get to benefit from his hunger and versatility. This timing is perfect for Trey and us.”

Trae Broadnax - “Trae brings the kind of maturity and skill that will have an immediate impact on our team. His size for his position (6-4 guard) along with his skill, basketball IQ and physical strength will allow him to adopt quickly to the AAC.

Denver Anglin - “Denver is a worker and a winner. I am so delighted that I get to continue to work with him. He can flat out shoot the ball and he adds versatility to our backcourt as a ball handler and decision maker. He will bring an infectious spirit and attitude to the program every day, on and off the court.”

Kellen Amos - (note - listed as a 6-7 guard/forward) “Along with his size and significant athletic ability, we are most excited about Kellen’s experience. Double digit production on a 24-win team is critical to the mindset we expect him to bring. He’s a tremendous talent who has room for growth and we are fortunate to be a part of that.”

(04-30-2024 09:00 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Caden Powell - “Caden’s mobility, athleticism and basketball IQ will help us right away on both ends of the floor. He also has tremendous room for growth and the desire to match. We are so excited as about the impact Caden has the potential to make.”

Aaron Powell - “Aaron has the ball skills along with the shooting ability, speed and athleticism that fit our style of play. He’s grown up around the highest level of basketball (my note - his dad is the head trainer of the Clippers) so we don’t expect him to be overwhelmed by the transition to the college game.”

Trey Patterson - “Trey will bring so much to our program. He is so mature and has so much talent. He’s had a journey that’s been interrupted by injury, and now that he is healthy, we get to benefit from his hunger and versatility. This timing is perfect for Trey and us.”

Trae Broadnax - “Trae brings the kind of maturity and skill that will have an immediate impact on our team. His size for his position (6-4 guard) along with his skill, basketball IQ and physical strength will allow him to adopt quickly to the AAC.

Denver Anglin - “Denver is a worker and a winner. I am so delighted that I get to continue to work with him. He can flat out shoot the ball and he adds versatility to our backcourt as a ball handler and decision maker. He will bring an infectious spirit and attitude to the program every day, on and off the court.”

Kellen Amos - (note - listed as a 6-7 guard/forward) “Along with his size and significant athletic ability, we are most excited about Kellen’s experience. Double digit production on a 24-win team is critical to the mindset we expect him to bring. He’s a tremendous talent who has room for growth and we are fortunate to be a part of that.”

Thanks for posting this summary!

It would have been interesting to see a similar quote from Lanier on his son.

Was going to mention Warren headed off to Holy Cross. Good fit for him, as he needs a place to play where he can play some small power forward, even though he’s a small forward at heart. I like his potential though - more than Wagner as you might have been able to guess.

That leaves Sheffield and Shelby as the two current Owls who haven’t announced their plans for next year.

SMU guard Jalen Smith transferring to Rice. Averaged 5.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.8 steals last year and shot 38.0% on threes. One year of eligibility remaining

Didn’t get to any games live last year, but watched what I could get and it seemed that we lacked real point guards with a good handle. Mekhi and Evee were really shooting guards bringing it down and when we got pressed late in the game it seemed to result in lots of turnovers. Coach Lanier is bringing in point guards with size to not only handle the press, but play tight defense. By my math, we have 11 scholarship players. The Juco that is listed as a transfer, hasn’t committed, and his ship may have sailed. Seems like we need a couple of wing players, maybe Cam is one and yet to add another. We seem to be more athletic and longer than last year. Lanier has yet to set up his new twitter account, now X, so we can’t see who he is favoring, but so far he has done a helluva job. I think Caden Powell may be the real sleeper.

SMU had another late entry into the portal yesterday in 6-7 PF Ja’Heim Hudson. He has been with that staff twice already (first at Georgia State and then SMU), so it seems entirely possible he ends up at Rice for his final year.

He was another first one off the bench guy at SMU (which is pretty much the case for the other three SMU guys we have gotten already), but he did start the final game of the year for them (their NIT loss at Indiana State and had 21 points in that game). And based on what I saw at Tudor, SMU’s bench was better than our starters last year.

Just a thought. Does hiring a new coach now depend on what players he can bring with him from his old place?

I think the whole transfer thing has gotten totally out of hand. I would favor going back to the rule that you have to sit out a year if you transfer. But with the legal decisions regarding NIL, I'm not sure that's possible any more.

I think a lot of schools think and hope a new coach can bring players with their former school. Some can and do, but others are finding out the players really don’t like their old coach as much as they thought. It would be interesting to see a chart listing how many players followed a coach from one school to the next.