The Rice Owls men's basketball program is the
intercollegiate men's basketball program of
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
. The program is classified in the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
's
Division I, and the team competes in
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...
. They previously participated in the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
(1914–1996) and the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas.
Due to most of t ...
(1996–2005).
The Owls play their home games in
Tudor Fieldhouse, which they have called home since 1950. Previously known as Rice Gymnasium, it was renamed in honor of Rice alum Bobby Tudor, who spearheaded the 2008 renovation of the facility with a multimillion-dollar donation. The court is designated "Autry Court" in memory of Mrs. James L. Autry. Her husband James Lockhart Autry was a descendant of
Micajah Autry
Micajah Autry (1793March 6, 1836) was an American merchant, poet and lawyer who died in the Texas Revolution at the Battle of the Alamo.
From Natchitoches, Louisiana, on December 13 he wrote: "About 20 men from Tennessee formed our squad.... e ...
, who was a hero of the
Battle of the Alamo. Her daughter, Mrs. Edward W. Kelley, made a generous donation to the gymnasium building fund in honor of her late mother, an ardent supporter of Rice.
Head coaches
Postseason history
NCAA tournament results
The Owls have appeared in four
NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 2–5.
NIT results
The Owls have appeared in five
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York Cit ...
s. Their combined record is 1–6.
CIT results
The Owls have appeared in one
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their combined record is 2–1.
CBI results
The Owls have appeared in 2
College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Their combined record is 1–2.
Players of note
Owls in the NBA
*
Morris Almond
*
Ken Austin
*
Bill Closs
Bill Tom Closs (January 8, 1922 – June 6, 2011) was an American basketball player. He played collegiately for Rice University. In his final year, he led the Southwest Conference in scoring and was All-American in 1943. In 1971 he was inducted ...
*
Mike Harris
*
Bill Henry
*
Bob Kinney
*
Trey Murphy III
*
Ricky Pierce
*
Brent Scott
*
Mike Wilks
Owls in international basketball
*
Suleiman Braimoh
Suleiman Okhaifoede Braimoh Jr. (born October 19, 1989) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the Euroleague. He played college basketball fo ...
(born 1989), Nigerian-American in the
Israel Basketball Premier League
*
Egor Koulechov (born 1994), Israeli-Russian basketball player for Israeli team
Ironi Nahariya
Retired numbers
Rice University has
retired six numbers.
References
External links
*
{{Conference USA men's basketball navbox
Basketball teams established in 1914