http://www.yardbarker.com/colleges/rice_owls/117 Recent articles about Rice Owls en-us Remember this guy? This clip (uploaded in November of 2006) brings me back to my high school days sitting in a computer lab flipping through the four cool YouTube videos I knew of (the others being Jason Williams highlights, Mike Tyson's best knockouts, and that awesome Earl Campbell run against the Rams). I remember hearing that this YouTube sensation, Sam McGuffie, was going to play at the University of Michigan, but after he decided to transfer he completely fell out of the public eye. I never expected to hear from him again, but all of a sudden he ends up signing with my favorite team, the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders signed the 5'10'' speedster - who finished up his collegiate career at Rice University - on Monday, and they plan to see if they can make any use of him as a slot receiver. McGuffie made the full transition from running back to receiver as a senior, catching 54 passes for 603 yards and five touchdowns. McGuffie is a very intr... Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:15:00 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/raiders_sign_high_school_youtube_sensation_sam_mcguffie/13517306 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/raiders_sign_high_school_youtube_sensation_sam_mcguffie/13517306 Raiders sign high school YouTube sensation Sam McGuffie http://www.yardbarker.com/all_sports/articles/raiders_sign_high_school_youtube_sensation_sam_mcguffie/13517306 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png The Rice University Athletics Department has granted a request by Owls basketball player Arsalan Kazemi for a release to explore transfers to another school. Kazemi, who has played forward with the Owls for three seasons, also may explore professional career opportunities. Head coach Ben Braun said hes sorry to see Kazemi leave and praised his contributions to the team. Last season we had the most wins since 2004-05, we equaled our best Conference USA record, and we had the highest GPA in our history, Braun said. The team is proud of those accomplishments and is training hard for the coming season. Athletics Director Rick Greenspan called Kazemis decision to leave Rice disappointing. Kazemi follows the departure of five other Owls since last season, part of a growing national trend. There have been more than 450 basketball transfers -- a record high -- in collegiate athletics over the past year, and unfortunately, Rice is not immune, said Greenspan, who serves on an ad hoc C-USA committee that is studying Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:17:08 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/kazemi_leaves_rice/11741383 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/kazemi_leaves_rice/11741383 Kazemi leaves Rice http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/kazemi_leaves_rice/11741383 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png The Rice Owls have won as many games across their last three seasons - 10 - as they did in their breakthrough 2008 campaign. But coach David Bailiff sees at least some glimmers of hope for 2012, his sixth season leading the Owls. Rice rolled to a 10-3 record and its first bowl victory in 54 years in 2008, on the strength of one of the nation's most potent offenses. Bailiff sees some offensive potential in this year's group, too, mostly because of continuity. The Owls have been through three offensive coordinators in four years, but John Reagan is back for a second straight season. So is quarterback Taylor McHargue, who split time with senior Nick Fanuzzi last season. McHargue completed 100 of 174 passes with eight touchdowns and five interceptions as a sophomore in 2011. Fanuzzi finished with slightly better numbers, and Bailiff says McHargue was a victim of his own high standards. ''He wanted to perform to everybody's high expectations,'' Bailiff said. ''When you put too much pressure on yourself, it's never a good thing. He just kept pressuring himself, trying harder and harder and wasn't getting the results.'' Having Reagan back, Bailiff says, will help McHargue this season. McHargue redshirted in 2009, when Ed Zaunbrecher was the offensive coordinator. David Beaty replaced him in 2010, and Reagan took over when Beaty left to become the receivers coach at Kansas. ''We're speaking the same language,'' Bailiff said, ''so we were really able to, in this training camp, to pick up where we left off. It's allowed us to do things at a faster rate, as far as installation. That leads to more reps, and that leads to getting better as a team.'' The top two receivers from last year, tight ends Vance McDonald and Luke Willson, also are back. McDonald led the Owls with 43 catches for 532 yards and five touchdowns and Willson was second on the team in yards receiving (313) and third in receptions (29). Versatile Sam McGuffie also returns for one more season at Rice. The transfer from Michigan rushed for 883 yards and added 384 yards receiving in 2010, but then missed the final five games of last year because of an ankle injury. ''We can put Sam about anywhere we want,'' Bailiff said. The Owls averaged only 23 points per game, but they did score on 32 of 36 drives inside the opponents' 20-yard line. The offensive line is rebuilt, although Bailiff says the level of experience is deceptive. Right guard Drew Carroll started 10 games as a freshman in 2011, and left guard Ian Gray, a redshirt freshman last year, played in eight. The Owls have also plugged in 6-foot-4, 305-pound Nate Richards at center. Richards is a junior-college transfer, a rarity at academic-minded Rice. ''Nate is such a brilliant kid,'' Bailiff said. ''He's able to communicate, gets them in the right protections and our misalignments are way down from camp last year. I actually feel really good about our offensive line.'' Only five starters return on defense, including 2011 leading tackler Cameron Nwosu, a linebacker. The Owls can hardly be worse statistically after ranking 112th against the pass (278.6 yards per game) and 111th overall (462 yards per game). But three key players return from injuries - defensive end Cody Bauer, linebacker Trey Briggs and cornerback Phillip Gaines. The Owls also get back cornerback Bryce Callahan, who intercepted six passes as a freshman in 2011. Rice was plus-8 in turnover margin, picking up 14 fumbles and intercepting 13 passes last season, and Bailiff says the defense has more speed overall than it did in 2011. ''We had to get faster on that side of the ball,'' Bailiff said. ''The game has changed, to where everybody is playing some kind of a spread (offense), so you need guys who can run. Every year, we've recruited better and every year, those kids mature a little more. So you're getting better each year, just through the maturity of the players you've recruited. The nonconference schedule is challenging, as always, although the Owls will dodge Texas for the second time in four years. Rice opens at home against UCLA, followed by road tests at Kansas and Louisiana Tech. The Owls play Conference USA opponents the rest of the way, including a late September matchup against Houston at Reliant Stadium. ''I think we're going to be very competitive this year,'' Bailiff said. ''UCLA will help get us better. For us, our goal is still to go to a bowl game and compete for the conference championship. We're going to go into every game expecting to win. I really like our team.'' Fri, 17 Aug 2012 04:21:23 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/bailiff_has_high_hopes_for_rice_in_2012/11478925 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/bailiff_has_high_hopes_for_rice_in_2012/11478925 Bailiff has high hopes for Rice in 2012 http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/bailiff_has_high_hopes_for_rice_in_2012/11478925 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png David Bailiff is fired up. No, make that FIRED. UP. That's closer to how he says it. And David Bailiff is FIRED. UP. because he is the Rice football coach, and it is almost time for Rice football season. "I am fired up," Bailiff said on Saturday, the first day of fall practice. "I really am. About two days ago you get, as a coach, where you really don't sleep, because you're excited about what's coming, and you set your alarm this morning for 5:30 but you wake up at 4 and you pull in here and you absolutely get goosebumps." Saturday's practice marked the beginning of the 101st season of Rice football. The Owls went 436-564-32 in their first 100 years. In the program's 50th year, President John F. Kennedy famously noted the challenge of winning at Rice, when in a speech in Rice's football stadium, he asked, "But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Fifty years later, it has not gotten any less hard, but it is Bailiff's charge to reverse that trend. He is 23-38 in five seasons and his contract is up after the 2013 season, so there is a sense that the direction of the program, and Bailiff's career, could depend on the outcome of this season. We don't do these things because they are easy. Ironically enough, Rice does not play Texas this year and that is part of the reason to be fired up about Rice football in 2012. The Owls rarely have a schedule that could be described as "favorable," but this one is less the gauntlet of 2011, when Rice's nonconference games were at Texas, at Baylor and at home against Purdue. This year the Owls host UCLA, which made a coaching change after a 6-8 2011 season, play at Kansas, which also has a new staff and is on a 10-game losing streak, and play at Louisiana Tech. The Owls also had an especially damaging rash of injuries last year, maybe most significantly to running back Sam McGuffie, the onetime Michigan Wolverine who got just 38 carries as a junior in 2011. McGuffie is healthy again and the Owls have plans to use him in every kind of way. He's been spending a lot of time at receiver, but the big idea is really to just make sure he gets the ball one way or another. The schedule is easier, the team is healthier and the big takeaway is that Rice is fired up. "This is a team that absolutely can compete for this conference championship," quarterback Taylor McHargue said. "A bowl game is the minimum expectation." Yes, Rice would like to win the Conference USA championship like anybody else, but the season won't be a bust if they don't. This season is about becoming a winning team again. "We want to go to a bowl game," McGuffie said. "I think that's the same goal as a lot of other teams. I think a bowl game is definitely possible." Rice hasn't played in a bowl game since 2008, when it won 10 games and Bailiff got a five-year contract extension. In the four years since, its crosstown rival, Houston, became a national storyline while the Owls have suffered three losing seasons in a row. We do these things because they are hard. Bailiff is a man of enthusiasm, a man of humor, a man of situational insomnia. He said he was happy to be at media day on Saturday, because media day meant practice was beginning, and practice beginning means he gets to coach the Rice football team again, and he is fired up. "You know, in the summer, you really can't work with them," he said. "So it's just fabulous to hear them back in the halls, to hear the laughter and the stories, to hear them talking to each other out there. We have a very optimistic feeling about this season." Sat, 04 Aug 2012 18:06:30 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_coach_bailiff_fired_up/11377678 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_coach_bailiff_fired_up/11377678 Rice coach Bailiff 'fired up' http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/rice_coach_bailiff_fired_up/11377678 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png David Bailiff is fired up. No, make that FIRED. UP. That's closer to how he says it. And David Bailiff is FIRED. UP. because he is the Rice football coach, and it is almost time for Rice football season. "I am fired up," Bailiff said on Saturday, the first day of fall practice. "I really am. About two days ago you get, as a coach, where you really don't sleep, because you're excited about what's coming, and you set your alarm this morning for 5:30 but you wake up at 4 and you pull in here and you absolutely get goosebumps." Saturday's practice marked the beginning of the 101st season of Rice football. The Owls went 436-564-32 in their first 100 years. In the program's 50th year, President John F. Kennedy famously noted the challenge of winning at Rice, when in a speech in Rice's football stadium, he asked, "But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Fifty years later, it has not gotten any less hard, but it is Bailiff's charge to reverse that trend. He is 23-38 in five seasons and his contract is up after the 2013 season, so there is a sense that the direction of the program, and Bailiff's career, could depend on the outcome of this season. We don't do these things because they are easy. Ironically enough, Rice does not play Texas this year and that is part of the reason to be fired up about Rice football in 2012. The Owls rarely have a schedule that could be described as "favorable," but this one is less the gauntlet of 2011, when Rice's nonconference games were at Texas, at Baylor and at home against Purdue. This year the Owls host UCLA, which made a coaching change after a 6-8 2011 season, play at Kansas, which also has a new staff and is on a 10-game losing streak, and play at Louisiana Tech. The Owls also had an especially damaging rash of injuries last year, maybe most significantly to running back Sam McGuffie, the onetime Michigan Wolverine who got just 38 carries as a junior in 2011. McGuffie is healthy again and the Owls have plans to use him in every kind of way. He's been spending a lot of time at receiver, but the big idea is really to just make sure he gets the ball one way or another. The schedule is easier, the team is healthier and the big takeaway is that Rice is fired up. "This is a team that absolutely can compete for this conference championship," quarterback Taylor McHargue said. "A bowl game is the minimum expectation." Yes, Rice would like to win the Conference USA championship like anybody else, but the season won't be a bust if they don't. This season is about becoming a winning team again. "We want to go to a bowl game," McGuffie said. "I think that's the same goal as a lot of other teams. I think a bowl game is definitely possible." Rice hasn't played in a bowl game since 2008, when it won 10 games and Bailiff got a five-year contract extension. In the four years since, its crosstown rival, Houston, became a national storyline while the Owls have suffered three losing seasons in a row. We do these things because they are hard. Bailiff is a man of enthusiasm, a man of humor, a man of situational insomnia. He said he was happy to be at media day on Saturday, because media day meant practice was beginning, and practice beginning means he gets to coach the Rice football team again, and he is fired up. "You know, in the summer, you really can't work with them," he said. "So it's just fabulous to hear them back in the halls, to hear the laughter and the stories, to hear them talking to each other out there. We have a very optimistic feeling about this season." Sat, 04 Aug 2012 18:06:30 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_coach_bailiff_fired_up/11377597 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_coach_bailiff_fired_up/11377597 Rice coach Bailiff 'fired up' http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/rice_coach_bailiff_fired_up/11377597 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png MINNEAPOLIS The Minnesota Lynx confirmed Wednesday that veteran forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named an assistant women's basketball coach at Rice University. McWilliams-Franklin, who's playing in her 14th season in the WNBA, will join the Rice team when the Lynx's season ends. She has played overseas during the past 10 offseasons, but she has a home in San Antonio, which is about three hours from Houston, where Rice is located. "We are pleased and excited to add Taj McWilliams-Franklin to our staff," Rice coach Greg Williams said in a statement on the Rice Athletics website. "Having coached vs. Taj in the WNBA, I have always respected her abilities, her competitiveness, leadership, and tremendous desire to win. She brings instant credibility to our players and her expertise in the post position will greatly benefit our young post players. Last season, the Owls went 16-16, with a 9-7 record within Conference USA. Williams, who has coached Rice since 2006, previously coached with the Utah Starzz and Detroit Shock in the WNBA. Follow Joan Niesen on Twitter. Wed, 30 May 2012 15:31:25 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/lynx_f_mcwilliams_franklin_to_coach_at_rice/10905038 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/lynx_f_mcwilliams_franklin_to_coach_at_rice/10905038 Lynx F McWilliams-Franklin to coach at Rice http://www.yardbarker.com/all_sports/articles/lynx_f_mcwilliams_franklin_to_coach_at_rice/10905038 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png MINNEAPOLIS The Minnesota Lynx confirmed Wednesday that veteran forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named an assistant women's basketball coach at Rice University. McWilliams-Franklin, who's playing in her 14th season in the WNBA, will join the Rice team when the Lynx's season ends. She has played overseas during the past 10 offseasons, but she has a home in San Antonio, which is about three hours from Houston, where Rice is located. "We are pleased and excited to add Taj McWilliams-Franklin to our staff," Rice coach Greg Williams said in a statement on the Rice Athletics website. "Having coached vs. Taj in the WNBA, I have always respected her abilities, her competitiveness, leadership, and tremendous desire to win. She brings instant credibility to our players and her expertise in the post position will greatly benefit our young post players. Last season, the Owls went 16-16, with a 9-7 record within Conference USA. Williams, who has coached Rice since 2006, previously coached with the Utah Starzz and Detroit Shock in the WNBA. Follow Joan Niesen on Twitter. Wed, 30 May 2012 15:31:25 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/lynx_f_mcwilliams_franklin_to_coach_at_rice/10904966 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/lynx_f_mcwilliams_franklin_to_coach_at_rice/10904966 Lynx F McWilliams-Franklin to coach at Rice http://www.yardbarker.com/all_sports/articles/lynx_f_mcwilliams_franklin_to_coach_at_rice/10904966 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png The Rice Owls will welcome Arkansas, Sam Houston State and Prairie View A&M to Reckling Park this weekend for regional action in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Baseball Championship. The Owls (40-17) will open NCAA play against Prairie View (28-23) at 6:00 on Friday at Reckling Park. Arkansas (39-19) and Sam Houston (38-2-00 will meet in the opener at 1 pm on Friday. The two losers on Friday will meet in an elimination game on Saturday at 1, followed by a meeting of Friday's two winners at 6 p.m. The winner of the elimination game on Saturday will then meet the loser of Saturday's winner's bracket game at 1 p.m. on Sunday, with that winner advancing to meet the unbeaten team at 6 p.m. on Sunday. If needed, a seventh game would be played on Monday at 6 p.m. The winner of this regional will face the winner of the Waco Regional in the Super Regional round next weekend. Official announcement of the eight Super Regional hosts will be made on www.NCAA.comcws, Monday, June 4 at approximately 11 p.m. (ET). This will be the first postseason meeting between Rice and Prairie View since 2007 when the Owls won 5-0 to kickoff a run to the College World Series. The Owls split a pair of games with Sam Houston this year. First-year Bearkats head coach David Pierce will be in familiar surroundings for his NCAA head coaching debut, having been an assistant coach at Rice from 2003-2011. Rice head coach Wayne Graham has never faced Arkansas in his career at Rice, but the two schools were common opponents when both were members of the Southwest Conference. The national top eight seeds are Florida (42-18), UCLA (42-14), Florida St. (43-15), Baylor (44-14), Oregon (42-17), North Carolina (44-14), LSU (43-16) and South Carolina (40-17). The Southeastern Conference (SEC) led all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with eight, while the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has seven institutions. The Pacific-12 had five and the Big 12 and Conference USA each has four selected. Making the tournament for the first time are Dayton of the Atlantic 10 Conference and Samford of the Southern Conference. Overall, 37 of the 64 teams were in the field last year. Miami (Florida) is in the field for the 40th consecutive year, extending its own record. Florida State is making its 35th straight appearance, second all-time. Other long consecutive streaks: Cal State Fullerton (21), Rice (18) and Oral Roberts (15). Each of the 16 regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 1, to Monday, June 4 (if necessary). The 66th Men's College World Series begins play Friday, June 15, at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska Mon, 28 May 2012 22:22:45 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/owls_to_host_ncaa_regional/10891520 http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/owls_to_host_ncaa_regional/10891520 Owls to host NCAA regional http://www.yardbarker.com/wwe/articles/owls_to_host_ncaa_regional/10891520 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png HOUSTON Most every parent experiences that moment with their football-playing child, an uneasy discussion following the first cringe-worthy injury that leaves all involved questioning the sanity of it all. Scott Solomon was reared in an academic environment. His father Dale is an anesthesiologist. His mother Diane is a neurologist. His twin brother Stewart is a first-year medical student at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Football was steadfastly supported in the Solomon home; suggesting it was promoted would be taking liberties. Thus when Solomon was concussed during the fourth game of his freshman season at Rice, a brutal 44-point loss at seventh-ranked Texas on Sept. 22, 2007, Diane Solomon had seen enough. She was set to toss in the towel, and would have been ecstatic had her son done likewise. "She was like, 'OK, that's it. I can't stand to see him get hurt like that,'" Dale Solomon recalled with a chuckle. "At that point she said some things to (Scott) l Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:36:42 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/nfl_or_not_solomon_has_a_team_in_his_corner/10665818 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/nfl_or_not_solomon_has_a_team_in_his_corner/10665818 NFL or not, Solomon has a team in his corner http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/nfl_or_not_solomon_has_a_team_in_his_corner/10665818 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png HOUSTON - It was important to pay rapt attention to exactly what Rice senior guard Connor Frizzelle said in the moments before the Owls boarded a charter bus to catch their private plane to Memphis, the host city of the 2012 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship. It is too easy to lose the details in the hysteria of this breakthrough season, to forget just how low the program had sunken and how far the Owls have come in posting their first winning record since 2004-05. Frizzelle, one of four seniors who arrived after Rice hit rock bottom, was qualified to attest to the change and deserved to relish in the moment. "When I first got here, the year before I got here, we had three wins none in conference - to now, my senior year, having eight wins in conference, over .500 record overall and then teams being interested in postseason," Frizzelle said. "You play college ball so you can play in the postseason. It's just like the NBA: you want to make it to the playoffs, and then once Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:43:18 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/rice_on_a_high_entering_c_usa_tournament/10246189 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/rice_on_a_high_entering_c_usa_tournament/10246189 Rice on a high entering C-USA tournament http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/rice_on_a_high_entering_c_usa_tournament/10246189 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png HOUSTON - It was important to pay rapt attention to exactly what Rice senior guard Connor Frizzelle said in the moments before the Owls boarded a charter bus to catch their private plane to Memphis, the host city of the 2012 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship. It is too easy to lose the details in the hysteria of this breakthrough season, to forget just how low the program had sunken and how far the Owls have come in posting their first winning record since 2004-05. Frizzelle, one of four seniors who arrived after Rice hit rock bottom, was qualified to attest to the change and deserved to relish in the moment. "When I first got here, the year before I got here, we had three wins none in conference - to now, my senior year, having eight wins in conference, over .500 record overall and then teams being interested in postseason," Frizzelle said. "You play college ball so you can play in the postseason. It's just like the NBA: you want to make it to the playoffs, and then once you're in the playoffs you see what happens." That the Owls (17-14, 8-8 C-USA) had planned to be stationed on the cusp of their first postseason appearance since seniors Michael Harris, Jason McKrieth and Brock Gillespie led Rice to the NIT seven years ago shouldn't detract from the fact that they realized that goal. Fourth-year coach Ben Braun meshed a heralded class of freshmen with grizzled veterans and then constructed a manageable nonconference schedule so that the Owls could develop confidence. That doesn't mean it was easy. There were highs the Owls' win at Texas A&M on Dec. 22 snapped the Aggies' 67-game nonconference win streak at Reed Arena and there were lows Rice dropped six of eight starting with a New Year's Eve loss at Texas that made it difficult to gauge whether the Owls were on schedule. There was no surprise when their ballyhooed freshmen struggled to adjust, but the Owls were set back when junior leaders Tamir Jackson (a midseason shooting slump) and Arsalan Kazemi (a knee injury) battled against forces set to undermine their seasons. That the Owls persevered might be a greater testament to their success than improvement with perimeter defense or in late-game situations. "I've been proud of our team when we've competed win or lose," Braun said. "We've lost some games that we've competed awfully well in, and you can take something away from that. We want to compete; being competitive is important. And generally when we've competed we've been rewarded. Generally, not always, but generally." The competing component was the most arduous step in rebuilding under Braun. The Owls won a grand total of 18 games (just five in conference) over his first two seasons on the bench before taking a significant step forward last season with their first-ever victory over league powerhouse Memphis, a series sweep of cross-town rival Houston, and a win over SMU at the conference tournament in El Paso. Once Braun welcomed his freshmen in the fold, the last piece of the puzzle was integration. With seniors Lucas Kuipers and Frizzelle critical to the Owls' success this season yet set to depart when the schedule is complete, Braun had to initiate a transfer of power to freshmen Dylan Ennis, Ahmad Ibrahim, Jarelle Reischel and Julian DeBose. Striking that delicate balance while Rice advanced as a program was paramount, and that objective was achieved in accordance to expectations. As a reward the Owls have been so bold as to openly discuss the postseason. When Rice was in the doldrums such talk seemed unrealistic, but by winning six of their final 10 games the Owls earned the right to be so brazen, to look forward with eager anticipation. "It's definitely a big reward for the guys who've been here," Ennis said. "They've been going through so much their four years and finally to make a postseason would be great for them. And the freshmen coming in to have that experience your first year just gives you so much more confidence. Being on a team that pushed through the whole year and could be playing in the postseason is a great achievement." For the first time throughout this process of modest gains, the Owls have turned greedy. Frizzelle blended the one-game-at-a-time clich with the hope of doing so four times at FedEx Forum, starting on Wednesday against East Carolina (14-15, 5-11). Instead of setting their sights low on a third-tier postseason tournament, Rice is aiming high. "Our immediate goal is to pursue our Conference USA tournament (championship) because the grand prize for every team in the country is the NCAA Tournament," Braun said. "That's the greatest tournament. Obviously if you fall short perhaps an NIT (bid is in the offing), and then there are two other tournaments (College Basketball Invitational and CollegeInsider.com) out there. "So we've got a great possibility of playing in a postseason tournament somewhere, but we'd like it to be the NCAA Tournament." Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:43:18 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/rice_on_a_high_entering_c_usa_tournament/10246222 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/rice_on_a_high_entering_c_usa_tournament/10246222 Rice on a high entering C-USA tournament http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/rice_on_a_high_entering_c_usa_tournament/10246222 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png HOUSTON -- You can take your cynicism and your bitterness and your disgust at collegiate recruiting and the NCAA and wrap it in some foil and and put it in the freezer for later. It'll keep. This is a different kind of recruiting story. Five months ago, David Wilganowski's heart stopped beating in the middle of a football game he was playing for Rudder High School in Bryan, Texas. He collapsed and his parents and medical personnel rushed to a nightmare. "He had taken his last breath," said his mom, Susan. Paramedics revived him, but doctors diagnosed Wilganowski with something called Long QT Syndrome, a genetic mutation that can result in sudden death. Although it did not end Wilganowski's life, it did end his football career. Or so everyone thought. "I got to thinking maybe I lost my scholarship," he said. "I'm gonna have to work on my grades some more." Susan said she thought there was "no chance" her son would be on an athletic scholarship Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:20:02 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rices_bailiff_stands_by_ill_recruit/9754963 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rices_bailiff_stands_by_ill_recruit/9754963 Rice's Bailiff stands by ill recruit http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/rices_bailiff_stands_by_ill_recruit/9754963 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png The score could have been named at any point during the evening thus the final tally was largely irrelevant. Coming out of a 10-day break for final exams, what was of critical significance was how Rice performed. Would the Owls appear lethargic following their lengthy layoff, or were they chomping at the bit to take the court for the first time since Dec. 3? Would they pick up where they left off, defending with vigor and sharing the basketball selflessly, or did their good habits require reinforcement? That Louisiana College served as the opponent was immaterial. What the Owls needed to do was adhere to previous standards of excellence. Rice throttled its Division III opposition on Wednesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse, racing to a 109-51 win that matched the third-largest margin of victory in program history. More important than the point total, the fourth-most in a single game, was the defense the Owls played and the energy they used to stifle Louisiana College at most every turn. "I thought we set the tone defensively to start the game, and we talked about that," Rice coach Ben Braun said. "When you get a lead or you got things going, we want this to be part of our identity. We talked about pretty much the defensive end and getting better at challenging shots, getting better at getting defensive rebounds (and) not giving people percentages that they've been shooting on us. We did a good job the first half." If the outcome was in doubt with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half and the Owls (7-2) leading 19-9, all concern was squashed when Rice scored 20 of the ensuing 22 points. The Owls ran away and hid at the free-throw line and in transition, converting layups and second-chance shots when they weren't parading to the charity stripe. They limited the Wildcats (4-2) to 22.2 percent shooting and more than doubled their rebound total prior to intermission. That defensive dominance translated into easy offense, with Rice scoring 34 of 58 first-half points in the paint and 14 off 10 Louisiana College turnovers. Their control on the boards came courtesy of who else? junior forward Arsalan Kazemi. By the break Kazemi had corralled as many defensive rebounds (six) as the Wildcats, and he opened the second half just one rebound shy of his 34th career double-double. His energy was palpable, particularly via his penchant for crashing the defensive glass and looking to orchestrate the Owls' break at almost every opportunity. The bludgeoning continued unabated in the second half. The Owls led by as many as 63 and, because they were so effective at flipping turnovers and defensive rebounds into easy baskets, didn't face many opportunities to actually run their offense. During one six-minute stretch where the lead swelled to 53 points with a 22-2 run, Rice scored exclusively on layups, dunks and at the line excluding one 3-pointer from freshman Seth Gearhart. The game was a magnificent refresher. "It was a great game for us to start getting it going after 10 days not playing basketball," said Kazemi, who posted 20 points and 16 rebounds and four steals. "We came with a great intensity, but at the end of the game it was kind of like an open gym. We stopped playing defense and all we were looking for was to score on the offensive end. "That's why we're not happy about it. If we look at the future right now we play some of the great teams in college basketball. If we play like that, of course we have no chance to beat those teams." If Louisiana College failed to offer Rice a test, Lamar on Saturday will serve as the perfect bridge between Wednesday and Monday's showdown with Temple. What follows are road games at No. 22 Texas A&M, Texas and TCU sandwiched around a home tilt against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The challenges will stiffen, and the Wildcats were the transition out of the break. The totals weren't important. As the Owls continue to develop, they will measure their performances against their own exacting standards. "We're always going to make this about who we are and what we do. It's not about who we play," Braun said. "I don't care if it's a ranked team, an unranked team, a tall team, a short team. It doesn't make any difference. We need to play at our best level and we need habits to continue. "We have three games coming up in a short period of time. It's not going to matter who we're playing, it's going to be how we play. It's all going to come down to how we play." Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:24:45 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/kazemi_rice_hammer_louisiana_college/8743696 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/kazemi_rice_hammer_louisiana_college/8743696 Kazemi, Rice hammer Louisiana College http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/kazemi_rice_hammer_louisiana_college/8743696 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png And then there was one. With the announced dismissals of Chuck Driesbach and Rick LaFavers on Monday, Rice coach David Bailiff has just one remaining member from his original staff from 2007: linebackers coach Darrell Patterson. Driesbach, 59, and LaFavers, 38, joined Bailiff in the weeks following his Jan. 19 2007 hiring. Driesbach had served as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, linebackers and safeties coach during his tenure while LaFavers initially coached tight ends and coordinated the special teams before shifting to running backs and coordinating recruiting prior to the 2010 season. Driesbach was part of the second wave of assistants hired by Bailiff on Jan 24, 2007; LaFavers and Patterson were announced as the final staff additions four weeks later on Feb 20, 2007. "I appreciate everything that Chuck and Rick have done for Rice over the past five seasons," Bailiff said via statement. "But after evaluating the program, I felt that we needed to make some changes in order to Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:09:31 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_coaches_driesbach_lafavers_dismissed/8540311 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_coaches_driesbach_lafavers_dismissed/8540311 Rice coaches Driesbach, LaFavers dismissed http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/rice_coaches_driesbach_lafavers_dismissed/8540311 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png It was difficult to predict exactly how things would unfold on Wednesday evening for Rice giving the gaping hole in its rotation. Junior forward Arsalan Kazemi strained his back against Northern Iowa last Friday at the South Padre Island Invitational and played through the pain the following afternoon against Iowa State. He exhausted his resiliency this week during practice, forcing Rice coach Ben Braun to make the prudent decision and rest Kazemi against Houston Baptist. That move left the Owls bereft of the rebounding, interior scoring and infectious vibrancy Kazemi provides most nights. That he was missing his first game since Dec. 2, 2009 put the Owls in a precarious position of needing to discover an identity without their most identifiable player. Collectively the Owls picked up the slack and filled the void, crashing the boards in concert to will their way past the Huskies 78-66 at Sharp Gym. "I really didn't know what to expect in terms of where our rebounds would come from and where our go-to baskets are going to come from," Braun said. "I kind of looked around and we had different guys we looked at. Obviously it's a good sign that our team could respond in the way that we did. I thought collectively our guys did a pretty good job." Sophomore center Omar Oraby stepped into the starting lineup and produced a career-high 12 rebounds to pair with 11 points. Freshman point guard Dylan Ennis, inserted into the starting lineup to combat the Huskies' up-tempo attack, added eight rebounds. Senior forward Lucas Kuipers chipped in eight boards, including a team-high four on offense. Even without Kazemi, who began the week ranked second in Conference USA in rebounding at 11.5 per game, the Owls (5-2) corralled 34.1 percent of available offensive rebounds. That dovetailed nicely with their 19-6 edge in second-chance points, an advantage that curtailed the Huskies (2-5) as they attempted to run and shoot their way to an upset. As for the 11.7 points per game the Owls lost with Kazemi on the bench in street clothes, freshman forward Ahmad Ibrahim took up the cause. On the heels of emergent performances in South Padre Island and emboldening workouts, Ibrahim erupted for a career-high 19 points. If you blinked, you missed the flurry of first-half points. With the Owls trailing 13-12 and in need of a spark, Ibrahim drilled a 3-pointer, tipped in his missed baseline layup attempts, and hit another trey. He followed with his own 8-0 run, extending the Rice lead to 31-23 at the 6:27 mark. That burst enabled Rice to seize control, extending to an 11-point lead that provided the cushion necessary to fend off the dogged Huskies. Ibrahim was due for a breakout of this magnitude, for a showcase that validated his versatility and reputed penchant for scoring in bunches. "I struggled at first the first couple of games. I wasn't really used to (the college game)," Ibrahim said. "Then South Padre we didn't win, but personally I started to get better and it made me want to play better every day. It really helped me because my confidence was up." Ibrahim shot 7 for 11, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers. He grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots, doing a bit of everything like Kazemi. "I'm feeling great," Ibrahim said. "It feels like high school." Finding the scoring to overcome the loss of Kazemi wasn't too much of a concern, not with junior guard Tamir Jackson at the controls. He keyed the 10-0 run that erased the Huskies' early 8-2 lead, and it was Jackson who tallied 14 second-half points to thwart subsequent HBU rallies. For three seasons Jackson has teamed dynamically with Kazemi. It was interesting to study his demeanor with his partner sidelined, completely capable of carrying the load when the Owls required occasional heroics. Like everyone else, Jackson was curious as to how the Owls would handle this stress test. And like everyone else, he came away impressed. "We haven't been playing great the past three games, and not having one of our top players, top rebounders, top shot blockers not playing is kind of a culture shock," Jackson said after scoring 20 points. "We just had to get used to it, and then we picked it up late first half, second half. "A lot of people are in my ear telling me I need to take over from the get-go, but I feel like I want to be the setup guy first. And then if we need a score, I'll do it. If we need somebody to get assists, I'll do it. If we need somebody to rebound and play defense, I'll do that. Whatever we need for the team to win I'll do it." Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:27:53 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/owls_step_up_with_kazemi_out_beat_hbu/8432284 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/owls_step_up_with_kazemi_out_beat_hbu/8432284 Owls step up with Kazemi out, beat HBU http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/owls_step_up_with_kazemi_out_beat_hbu/8432284 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png It seemed just for the 2011 season to end like this, with Rice senior quarterback Nick Fanuzzi playing the role of Sisyphus, laboring to move an offense that had sputtered far more frequently than it had succeeded. The Owls' defense, good but not great, provided an opportunity by stopping SMU one final time midway through the fourth quarter. The Owls' special teams, solid yet unspectacular, delivered via a splendid onside kick from Chris Boswell and a determined recovery by Corey Frazier. The stage was set for Fanuzzi, an afterthought when the season began, to muster the improbable leading a unit that had underwhelmed. When his fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 36 seconds remaining on Saturday, there was little left for Fanuzzi to do besides walk dejectedly to the visiting sideline at Ford Stadium. The Owls couldn't march far enough for Boswell to attempt a game-tying field goal, thus their season concluded with a 27-24 Conference USA defeat to SMU. From a macro perspective, the numbers are troublesome. The Owls (4-8, 2-5 C-USA) dropped their 12th consecutive league road game and fell to 10-26 since their 2008 Texas Bowl triumph over Western Michigan. That victory capped a 10-3 campaign, meaning Rice has won as many games in three seasons as it did in its second season under David Bailiff. The momentum former Rice athletic director Chris Del Conte aimed to build by accepting an invitation to participate in a bowl game contested three miles from campus never materialized. Rice has had problems fortifying its roster through recruiting, succeeding at tight end, running back and linebacker, scuffling on the offensive line and at wide receiver. The fan support at Historic Rice Stadium remains non-existent, with the Owls' average home attendance for league games of 15,331 emblematic of a program that has struggled to capture the attention of casual fans. Winning would help lure spectators under the tent, but attrition, injuries and difficult non-conference schedules have greased the skids. The micro view reveals a promising offense that never got untracked. Despite returning nine starters, including ascendant sophomore quarterback Taylor McHargue, five talented tailbacks, the entire offensive line, and a stable of plus-sized and athletic tight ends, the Owls eclipsed 400 total yards only three times this season. They were handled decisively in two of those contests, losing by a combined 64 points at Baylor and Houston. Their 671-yard outburst against UTEP, the third-highest single-game total in program history, proved a mirage. In the three games since that 41-37 victory over the Miners, the Owls have totaled 741 yards. They've averaged 247 yards per game and 4.0 yards per play. Fanuzzi, after passing for a career-best 405 yards against UTEP, totaled only 336 yards against Northwestern, Tulane and SMU. The offensive line provided Fanuzzi modest protection at best, inhibiting his ability to complete passes downfield. The ground game, most notably senior tailback Tyler Smith, came alive in the second half before SMU stifled its momentum. Smith averaged 110.8 rushing yards over the five previous games before netting 32 yards on 14 attempts. What Saturday revealed is that plenty of work remains. The Owls started 13 seniors on offense and defense against the Mustangs, but experienced players will fill several of those holes. McHargue has an entire offseason to reclaim his confidence after a spell of turnovers cost him his job. The rushing attack will miss Smith (155 attempts for 860 yards and five touchdowns), but Turner Petersen, Sam McGuffie, Charles Ross and Jeremy Eddington will return. The depth there remains solid. Of the 15 receiving touchdowns recorded, the Owls lose only two: one apiece from Smith and senior receiver Randy Kitchens. The offensive line will be rebuilt with guards Drew Carroll and Ian Gray, and tackles Jon Hodde and Justin Warren. The defensive line will sorely miss nose tackles John Gioffre and Michael Smith and end Scott Solomon, Rice's all-time leader in career sacks with 24. However, depth was developed there as well, so the drop off in production shouldn't be significant. Bailiff opened this season pleased that he wasn't forced to rely on true freshmen to earn critical repetitions, and he managed to complete the schedule without relying on his freshman class. That bodes will for next season and beyond as Rice strives to develop its numbers. There will be redshirt freshmen waiting in the wings at quarterback, receiver and on both lines. Whether they provide quality depth remains to be seen. Rice will continue attempts to shore up a defense that finished ranked in the bottom 10 nationally yet again, but the non-conference schedule in 2012 is more forgiving. UTSA, Louisiana Tech, Kansas and UCLA are less formidable than Texas, Baylor, Northwestern and Purdue, and after suffering close losses at Marshall and SMU, Rice will get both at home. Perhaps momentum will build then. In the immediacy of their third consecutive losing season it might seem difficult to conceptualize the Owls as a program moving forward. The challenge is determining whether their struggles on Saturday will end or linger into the future. Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:32:12 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_run_over_by_smu_27_24_in_regular_season_finale/8340247 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/rice_run_over_by_smu_27_24_in_regular_season_finale/8340247 Rice run over by SMU 27-24 in regular-season finale http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/rice_run_over_by_smu_27_24_in_regular_season_finale/8340247 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png There are too many fresh faces, too many moving parts seeking cohesion for nights like Tuesday to be avoided. It was bound to happen and, in truth, Rice is better off for the experience so early in the season. Every step the Owls take in this season of promise won't lead the team forward. That's a guarantee. But if they can avoid the catastrophic while occasionally staggering about, teaching points can be presented while the won-loss ledger remains palatable. In the end, everyone's happy. Rice sloshed its way past Florida A&M 75-59 at Tudor Fieldhouse, surviving as much as thriving. The Owls (4-0) remained undefeated while completing their prep for legitimate competition at the South Padre Island Invitational, but the process was marred with miscues. They struggled shooting against the Rattlers' alternating defenses, a significant factor behind an offense that seemed disjointed for most of the game. There were personnel groupings that fizzled, questionable decisions with the basketball, and way too many missed free throws. "If we can get to the line 44 times I'll take our chances," Rice coach Ben Braun said after the Owls missed 18 of those attempts. "At least we did that in a physical game, but I'd be hard pressed to think our team is going to leave almost 20 points in the balance. I think we're going to have to knock those down and convert just to really make a statement. You can't come away empty handed." The Owls should have wrangled control of this game early, especially after limiting the Rattlers (0-4) to 26.9 percent shooting before the intermission. But Rice missed 16 of 24 first-half shots and sank just half of their 18 free-throw attempts. Their constant misfiring negated their impressive defensive might, and their 28-18 halftime lead meant the Owls had much more work left ahead coming out of the locker room. Lethargy was to blame for those early doldrums. Senior guard Connor Frizzelle used the word "sluggish" to describe the performance; junior forward Arsalan Kazemi opted for "lazy" as his adjective of choice. When presented with an opportunity to spark his teammates, Kazemi did so. Having missed his first four shots, Kazemi threw down a thunderous alley-oop dunk with 15:49 remaining to get on the board and extend the Owls' lead to 34-22. He followed with another alley-oop basket, this time taking the pass from Tamir Jackson and laying the ball in at the rim, 24 seconds later. Kazemi followed with a dunk through a foul, completing the three-point play for a 39-28 lead with 14:01 remaining. "I missed three shots at the beginning of the game and then I was like, 'Maybe it's not my day today,'" said Kazemi, who recorded his 30th double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. "I just tried to get everyone involved, giving out a couple of assists, stealing the ball and trying to get my teammates going. So they picked it up. "In the second half they (the Rattlers) were focusing on a different player and that's when I got in and got my points. That was the deal." Kazemi was a godsend, stabilizing things until the Owls discovered the momentum needed to extend the lead to 23 points with 2:18 left. Rice continued to miss free throws -- the Owls shot 17-of-26 in the second half -- but the shooting from the floor (51.7) improved dramatically. Because the Owls failed to pull away early, Braun was forced to scuttle his continuing plan to play his freshmen extended minutes in the second half. Frizzelle logged a season-high 32 minutes; Kazemi played a season-high 30. Only three reserves logged double-digit minutes: freshmen Dylan Ennis (19), Jarelle Reischel (14) and Seth Gearhart (10). Kazemi joked that he's spent more time watching from the bench than playing in the second half this season, but when Rice needed him on Tuesday he delivered. Their hope is that he mustn't carry such a load against Northern Iowa and Iowa State this weekend. He'll require aid if the Owls are to beat those quality teams, and Rice will need to perform with greater urgency for its developmental plan to remain on schedule. "If we play like this we're not going to have any chance," Kazemi said. "We're going to go back to practice and practice harder and bring it everyday, so when we get to this situation that the team is struggling, then we can do something about it." Said Frizzelle, who scored 13 points: "Overall though we did get the win so we're happy about that. We're going out to (South Padre Island) 2-0 (in tournament play), but obviously there are some areas we still need to improve for this team to be successful and go to the postseason." Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:28 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/owls_must_learn_from_sloppy_win/8275681 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/owls_must_learn_from_sloppy_win/8275681 Owls must learn from sloppy win http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/owls_must_learn_from_sloppy_win/8275681 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png If given the option of having his fourth team at Rice identified for its defensive might or its ability to accumulate easy baskets in transition, Owls coach Ben Braun might opt for both. He can afford to be audacious. Rice fulfilled both descriptions Sunday against Maryland-Eastern Shore at Tudor Fieldhouse, harassing the Hawks into a miserable shooting performance while scoring with ease in transition in an 81-49 victory. For the second time in three games Rice (3-0) limited an opponent to sub-30 percent shooting, holding UMES (1-3) to 29.6 percent from the floor. Subtract the Hawks' impressive 3-point accuracy (9-for-20) and the Owls allowed only 7-for-34 shooting (20.6 percent) inside the arc. "I asked our team, 'Guys, what kind of identity do we want to have?'" Braun said. "We've got to create our identity in practices, not just games. I want our games to be a reflection of what we've done in practice. If that's our identity and we can keep people down and not give them high percentages, not put them to the line, not give teams second shots - that's important. "Defensively, if we can play those percentages, I'd feel pretty good." After surrendering on average 25 free-throw attempts to New Orleans and Southern, the Owls put the Hawks at the charity stripe just 14 times. Their interior defense was effective UMES recorded only 10 points in the paint and their help defense was sufficient. The Owls aren't particularly big in the post but they've added length at the wing positions, thus when rotations are timely taller opponents are thwarted. The correlation between stout defense and transition offense was on display against UMES, with Rice turning defensive stops into points during a 20-0 run that allowed it to establish control early in the game. Rice forward Arsalan Kazemi fed the blitz with a steal and coast-to-coast dunk just prior to forward David Chadwick converting a transition layup off the feed from Tamir Jackson. Dylan Ennis assisted on a fast-break layup by Ahmad Ibrahim at the 7:23 mark of the first half, and teamed with Jackson during an exhilarating six-minute span in the second half. Jackson sparked the run with a brilliant crosscourt bounce pass to freshman Julian DeBose, who caught the ball in stride and finished with a one-handed dunk. Ennis assisted Ibrahim and Chadwick for back-to-back baskets with just over nine minutes to play, and when the running was complete, the Owls had expanded the lead from 18 points to 61-32. With Ennis and Jackson combining for 10 assists, the Owls assisted on 21 of 28 baskets. They posted 22 fast-break points, more than double their combined total of 10 fast-break points against UNO and Southern. "I like our ability to run, and it's all going to be predicated on our defensive rebounding," Braun said after the Owls rebounded 33 of the 44 shots the Hawks missed from the floor and the line. "If we can get that ball and go (and) can run lanes, boy we can hurt some teams. We can get the ball from the defensive end to the offensive end in a hurry. "We have a team that can really run. I'd like that to be part of our identity if we can continue to do that. That's something I think we can do." Rice has one game remaining against inferior competition, Florida A&M on Tuesday, before taking a step up in weight class against Northern Iowa and Iowa State at the South Padre Island Invitational this weekend. On Sunday the Owls continued tinkering with rotations. DeBose started in place of classmate Jarelle Reischel, who'd battled the flu last week. Ennis stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals in 19 wholly productive minutes. Ibrahim added four points, four rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes. However, the breakthrough performance of the afternoon belonged to 7-foot center Omar Oraby, who produced a career-high 17 points in just eight minutes. He added three rebounds and two blocks, showing no discomfort from an ankle problem that limited him against Southern. What Oraby provided was another glimpse at a developing team. The victories are quite nice, but fundamental to this growth process is, well, growth. Even the younger players are aware of the fluidity of things, thus their focus rests with adhering to the tenets Braun harps about. "That's what we do in practice: just try to get better every game," Oraby said. "We work on our mistakes, we see what went wrong because every game maybe something different will go wrong so we have to keep getting better and work on our mistakes. Try to get better next game and don't do the same mistakes again." Said Braun: "We have different combinations we can look at and we're trying to find those things out now. We're giving guys opportunities, which is important. Some of our young guys are playing pretty solid basketball right now." Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:37:34 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/rice_rolls_past_maryland_eastern_shore_81_49/8226871 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/rice_rolls_past_maryland_eastern_shore_81_49/8226871 Rice rolls past Maryland-Eastern Shore 81-49 http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/rice_rolls_past_maryland_eastern_shore_81_49/8226871 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png  Jayson Carter was recently brought on to Rice University as a walk-on, and he's walking into the campus as a popular figure now. Now we've seen Darren Sproles and how short he is, at 5'6", but Carter excelled that range, as he is 4'9" and 130 pounds, playing running back for the Owls. He was recently named a legalized midget and qualified for dwarfism. But that doesn't stop Carter from excelling on the gridiron. Nine inches shorter than Sproles, who currently has been a big part of the New Orleans Saints franchise, Carter has huge heart. "If they ever come up with a device that measures the heart and put it on top of my head, they'll see I'm 6-9," said Carter.Carter played at Kipp High School, and was impressive. He had 1,233 rushing yards along with 18 touchdowns. What really stands out is that Carter was also an intimidating figure on the defensive side of the ball, having 92 solo tackles and an interception, along with three sacks. Don't let Carter& Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:50:00 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/rice_university_brings_in_basically_the_smallest_running_back_ever/7693681 http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/rice_university_brings_in_basically_the_smallest_running_back_ever/7693681 Rice University Brings In Basically the Smallest Running Back Ever http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/rice_university_brings_in_basically_the_smallest_running_back_ever/7693681 http://www.yardbarker.com/media/c/1/c1c7ccce0aaa11a88d96a771d83d2853e4ab6a86/mini/Washington_Redskins_v_c880.jpg