# 2024–25 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2024–25 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, led by first-year head coach Rob Lanier, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as second-year members of the American Athletic Conference.

## Previous season

The Owls finished the 2023–24 season 11–21, 5–12 in AAC play to finish in a five-way tie for 10th place. As the No. 12 seed in the AAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Wichita State.
On March 14, 2024, the school fired head coach Scot Pera. On March 24, the school hired Rob Lanier, who had been fired as head coach of SMU, as the team's new head coach.
The January 6 home game against UTSA was played in the Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center on the campus of the University of St. Thomas due to water damage to Tudor Fieldhouse.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Sam Alajiki | 0 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Junior | Dundalk, Ireland | Transferred to Oral Roberts |
| Noah Shelby | 1 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Sophomore | McKinney, TX | Transferred to Kansas |
| Mekhi Mason | 2 | G | 6'5" | 195 | Sophomore | Gilbert, AZ | Transferred to Washington |
| Travis Evee | 3 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Senior | Randolph, MA | Graduated |
| Anthony Selden | 4 | G | 6'6" | 225 | Senior | Boston, MA | Graduate transferred to Garnder–Webb |
| Cameron Sheffield | 5 | G/F | 6'6" | 195 | Junior | Alpharetta, GA | Transferred to Duke |
| Camp Wagner | 12 | G | 6'6" | 175 | Freshman | Dallas, TX | Transferred to Indiana State |
| Max Fiedler | 15 | F | 6'11" | 230 | Senior | Indialantic, FL | Graduated |
| Gabe Warren | 21 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Freshman | Plano, TX | Transferred to Holy Cross |
| Keanu Dawes | 24 | F | 6'9" | 205 | Freshman | Houston, TX | Transferred to Utah |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Kellen Amos | 1 | G/F | 6'7" | 190 | GS Senior | Houston, TX | Central Connecticut |
| Emory Lanier | 2 | G | 6'4" | 190 | GS Senior | Atlanta, GA | Walk-on; SMU |
| Trey Patterson | 3 | F | 6'9" | 225 | Senior | Somerset, NJ | Villanova |
| Denver Anglin | 4 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Montclair, NJ | SMU |
| Jacob Dar | 5 | G/F | 6'7" | 170 | Junior | Omaha, NE | Emory and Henry |
| Jalen Smith | 6 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Senior | Orlando, FL | SMU |
| Trae Broadnax | 12 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Senior | Savannah, GA | USC Upstate |
| Jimmy Oladokun Jr. | 24 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, CA | San Diego |
| Caden Powell | 44 | F | 6'10" | 220 | Junior | Waco, TX | Wyoming |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2024 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Aaron Powell #38 PG | Los Angeles, CA | Campbell Hall High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | Apr 29, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

#### 2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2025) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Cam Carroll #29 PG | Grand Prairie, TX | South Grand Prairie High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 4, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Boden Howell SG | Meridian, ID | Owyhee High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 10, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Evan Cochran PF | Houston, TX | The Village School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 10, 2024 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | FIU | W 77–70 | 1–0 | 17 – C. Powell | 11 – C. Powell | 6 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,111) Houston, TX |
| November 9, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Florida State The Battleground 2k24 | L 65–73 | 1–1 | 14 – Huseinovic | 7 – Oladokun Jr. | 3 – Broadnax | Toyota Center Houston, TX |
| November 12, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 66–50 | 2–1 | 15 – Huseinovic | 9 – Patterson | 7 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,096) Houston, TX |
| November 16, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northwestern State | W 77–75 $^{OT}$ | 3–1 | 16 – Amos | 8 – Amos | 7 – Amos | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,644) Houston, TX |
| November 19, 2024* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana | W 83–61 | 4–1 | 20 – Anglin | 9 – Tied | 6 – Broadnax | Cajundome (1,328) Lafayette, LA |
| November 22, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Houston Christian | W 61–58 | 5–1 | 19 – Broadnax | 13 – C. Powell | 4 – Broadnax | Sharp Gymnasium (847) Houston, TX |
| November 29, 2024* 6:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Hofstra Nassau Championship | L 63–68 $^{OT}$ | 5–2 | 16 – Broadnax | 7 – C. Powell | 5 – Amos | Baha Mar Convention Center (321) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 30, 2024* 6:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Arkansas State Nassau Championship | W 75–67 | 6–2 | 18 – Broadnax | 9 – C. Powell | 6 – Broadnax | Baha Mar Convention Center (333) Nassau, Bahamas |
| December 1, 2024* 1:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Iona Nassau Championship | W 70–66 | 7–2 | 16 – Broadnax | 7 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Baha Mar Convention Center (294) Nassau, Bahamas |
| December 8, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Texas State | L 66–75 | 7–3 | 14 – C. Powell | 6 – Tied | 5 – Amos | Strahan Arena (1,597) San Marcos, TX |
| December 16, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Alcorn State | W 77–75 | 8–3 | 20 – Huseinovic | 6 – Broadnax | 7 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,297) Houston, TX |
| December 19, 2024* 11:15 a.m., ESPN+ | | UNT Dallas | L 68–69 | 8–4 | 13 – Broadnax | 8 – C. Powell | 3 – Tied | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,381) Houston, TX |
| December 22, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Prairie View A&M | W 64–46 | 9–4 | 14 – Akuchie | 10 – Broadnax | 8 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,735) Houston, TX |
| AAC regular season |||||||||
| January 1, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tulsa | W 70–64 | 10–4 (1–0) | 12 – Anglin | 8 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Reynolds Center (2,970) Tulsa, OK |
| January 4, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Charlotte | W 68–55 | 11–4 (2–0) | 12 – Amos | 9 – Oladokun Jr. | 4 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,316) Houston, TX |
| January 8, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at North Texas | L 59–81 | 11–5 (2–1) | 12 – Powell | 8 – Akuchie | 4 – Broadnax | The Super Pit (2,836) Denton, TX |
| January 11, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Temple | L 70–73 | 11–6 (2–2) | 18 – Akuchie | 11 – Akuchie | 5 – Tied | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,300) Houston, TX |
| January 14, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTSA | L 84–90 | 11–7 (2–3) | 19 – Broadnax | 6 – Tied | 6 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,424) Houston, TX |
| January 19, 2025 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Florida Atlantic | L 73–75 | 11–8 (2–4) | 19 – Dar | 8 – Powell | 4 – Broadnax | Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena (3,161) Boca Raton, FL |
| January 25, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Tulane | L 71–82 | 11–9 (2–5) | 27 – Anglin | 11 – Powell | 3 – Tied | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,517) Houston, TX |
| January 28, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at South Florida | L 64–69 | 11–10 (2–6) | 17 – Anglin | 8 – Tied | 5 – Broadnax | Yuengling Center (4,238) Tampa, FL |
| February 2, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 19 Memphis | L 83–86 | 11–11 (2–7) | 19 – Broadnax | 8 – Dar | 6 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,278) Houston, TX |
| February 5, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at East Carolina | W 73–60 | 12–11 (3–7) | 18 – C. Powell | 10 – C. Powell | 8 – Broadnax | Williams Arena (3,827) Greenville, NC |
| February 8, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Charlotte | L 75–78 | 12–12 (3–8) | 21 – Broadnax | 8 – C. Powell | 4 – Broadnax | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,388) Charlotte, NC |
| February 11, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | North Texas | L 61–67 | 12–13 (3–9) | 16 – Dar | 8 – Tied | 5 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,617) Houston, TX |
| February 15, 2025 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | at Tulane | L 78–81 | 12–14 (3–10) | 21 – Dar | 9 – Amos | 4 – C. Powell | Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA |
| February 19, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | L 89–90 | 12–15 (3–11) | 24 – Dar | 10 – Akuchie | 3 – Tied | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,165) Houston, TX |
| February 22, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tulsa | W 71–50 | 13–15 (4–11) | 16 – Broadnax | 9 – Akuchie | 3 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,641) Houston, TX |
| February 26, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 18 Memphis | L 72–84 | 13–16 (4–12) | 19 – Powell | 7 – Powell | 3 – Tied | FedExForum (11,012) Memphis, TN |
| March 2, 2025 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UTSA | L 56–84 | 13–17 (4–13) | 12 – C. Powell | 9 – C. Powell | 3 – Tied | Convocation Center (1,124) San Antonio, TX |
| March 6, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Wichita State | L 59–63 | 13–18 (4–14) | 12 – Amos | 12 – Powell | 4 – Broadnax | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,647) Houston, TX |
| AAC Tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2025 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (12) | vs. (13) Charlotte First Round | L 61–65 | 13–19 | 15 – Amos | 9 – Dar | 4 – Amos | The Super Pit (497) Denton, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Source