2016–17 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by third-year head coach Mike Rhoades, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 23–12, 11–7 in C-USA play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Southern Miss in the first round of the C-USA tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to UTEP. They received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated San Francisco in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals to Utah Valley.

2016–17 Rice Owls men's basketball
CBI, Quarterfinals
Conference	Conference USA
Record	23–12 (11–7 C-USA)
Head coach	Mike Rhoades (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Scott Pera J.D. Byers Brent Scott
Home arena	Tudor Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee †	17	–	1		.944			31	–	5		.861
Louisiana Tech	14	–	4		.778			23	–	10		.697
Old Dominion	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
UTEP	12	–	6		.667			15	–	17		.469
Rice	11	–	7		.611			23	–	12		.657
Marshall	10	–	8		.556			20	–	15		.571
UAB	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Western Kentucky	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
UTSA	8	–	10		.444			14	–	19		.424
Charlotte	7	–	11		.389			13	–	17		.433
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			10	–	20		.333
Southern Miss	6	–	12		.333			9	–	22		.290
FIU	3	–	15		.167			7	–	24		.226
North Texas	2	–	16		.111			8	–	22		.267
† 2017 C-USA Tournament winner

On March 21, 2017, head coach Mike Rhoades resigned to become the head coach at VCU.^[1] He finished at Rice with a three-year record of 47–52. On March 23, the school promoted assistant coach Scott Pera to head coach.^[2]

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2015–16 season 12–20, 7–11 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. They lost in the second round of the C-USA tournament to Charlotte.

Preseason

The Owls were picked to finish in ninth place in the preseason Conference USA poll.^[3] Marcus Evans was selected to the preseason All-Conference USA team.^[3]

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Max Guercy	1	G	5'9"	170	Senior	Arleta, CA	Graduated
Oliver Xu	30	G	6'2"	170	Sophomore	Hong Kong	Walk-on; didn't return
Amir Smith	32	F	6'6"	200	Freshman	Missouri City, TX	Transferred to State Fair Community College
Nate Pollard	45	C	7'1"	220	Sophomore	Bountiful, UT	Transferred to Chaminade

Recruiting class of 2016

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ako Adams #55 PG	Arlington, VA	Bishop O'Connell High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Sep 5, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (3)
Tim Harrison #66 PF	El Cajon, CA	Francis Parker High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Oct 1, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (3)
Austin Meyer #51 C	Mustang, OK	Mustang High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Nov 25, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (3)
B.J. Martin #92 PF	Waltham, MA	Tilton School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jan 15, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (2)
Corey Douglas PF	Louisville, KY	Fork Union Military Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Mar 26, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (2)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved August 3, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 Rice Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Connor Cashaw 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Stevenson High School Lincolnshire, Illinois G 2 Marcus Evans 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Cape Henry Collegiate School Chesapeake, Virginia F 3 Robert Martin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Tilton School Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania G/F 4 Egor Koulechov 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Jr Arizona State Volgograd, Russia G 5 Ako Adams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School Washington, D.C. F 11 Corey Douglas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Fork Union Military Academy Louisville, Kentucky F 12 Marquez Letcher-Ellis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Montverde Academy Houston, Texas G 13 Addison Owen (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr The Paideia School Atlanta, Georgia G 15 Bishop Mency 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Chino Hills High School Chino Hills, California G 20 Grant Youngkin (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr St. Albans School Washington, D.C. G 21 Chad Lott 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Fr C. E. Byrd High School Shreveport, Louisiana G 22 Marcus Jackson (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Pacific Hills School Acton, California F 30 Austin Meyer 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Rouse High School Pflugerville, Texas G/F 31 Harrison Brown (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So McCallum High School Austin, Texas F 35 Tim Harrison 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Francis W. Parker School San Diego, California C 54 Andrew Drone 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Sr Gallatin High School Ridgway, Illinois	Head coach Mike Rhoades (Lebanon Valley) Assistant coach(es) Scott Pera (Penn State) J.D. Byers (Lebanon Valley) Brent Scott (Rice) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/05/2016* 7:00 pm		Our Lady of the Lake	W 96–86		Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
Non-conference regular season
11/13/2016* 1:00 pm		at James Madison	W 94–70	1–0	JMU Convocation Center (3,480) Harrisonburg, VA
11/16/2016* 7:00 pm		Texas Southern	L 68–71	1–1	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,082) Houston, TX
11/19/2016* 1:00 pm		at Nebraska–Omaha	W 100–87	2–1	Baxter Arena (1,814) Omaha, NE
11/21/2016* 7:00 pm		Montana State	W 83–78	3–1	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,408) Houston, TX
11/23/2016* 7:00 pm		Delaware State	W 80–58	4–1	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,275) Houston, TX
11/26/2016* 3:00 pm		at Incarnate Word	W 87–79	5–1	McDermott Center (530) San Antonio, TX
11/30/2016* 7:00 pm		Houston Baptist	W 90–77	6–1	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,766) Houston, TX
12/03/2016* 1:00 pm, FSSW		at Texas Tech	L 84–85	6–2	United Supermarkets Arena (10,452) Lubbock, TX
12/10/2016* 7:00 pm		Stephen F. Austin	W 70–63	7–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,205) Houston, TX
12/15/2016* 11:45 am		St. Edward's	W 93–64	8–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (5,307) Houston, TX
12/17/2016* 6:00 pm, ACCN Extra		at Pittsburgh	L 73–83	8–3	Peterson Events Center (7,017) Pittsburgh, PA
12/19/2016* 7:00 pm		Northwestern State	W 100–93	9–3	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,555) Houston, TX
12/21/2016* 7:00 pm		St. Thomas	W 83–63	10–3	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,878) Houston, TX
Conference USA regular season
12/31/2016 12:00 pm		at Old Dominion	L 56–62	10–4 (0–1)	Ted Constant Convocation Center (5,431) Norfolk, VA
01/02/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Charlotte	W 89–70	11–4 (1–1)	Dale F. Halton Arena (3,660) Charlotte, NC
01/05/2017 7:00 pm, beIN		Middle Tennessee	L 77–80	11–5 (1–2)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,513) Houston, TX
01/07/2017 7:00 pm		UAB	L 81–88 OT	11–6 (1–3)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,001) Houston, TX
01/14/2017 2:00 pm		North Texas	W 101–79	12–6 (2–3)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,749) Houston, TX
01/19/2017 6:30 pm		at Louisiana Tech	L 64–74	12–7 (2–4)	Thomas Assembly Center (3,313) Ruston, LA
01/21/2017 4:00 pm		at Southern Miss	W 61–58	13–7 (3–4)	Reed Green Coliseum (2,366) Hattiesburg, MS
01/26/2017 7:00 pm, CI		Old Dominion	L 72–80	13–8 (3–5)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,460) Houston, TX
01/28/2017 7:00 pm		Charlotte	W 84–67	14–8 (4–5)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,206) Houston, TX
02/04/2017 2:00 pm		at North Texas	W 95–80	15–8 (5–5)	The Super Pit (2,154) Denton, TX
02/09/2017 6:00 pm		at FIU	W 89–78	16–8 (6–5)	FIU Arena (802) Miami, FL
02/11/2017 6:00 pm		at Florida Atlantic	W 81–75 OT	17–8 (7–5)	FAU Arena (1,655) Boca Raton, FL
02/16/2017 7:00 pm		UTSA	W 80–68	18–8 (8–5)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,713) Houston, TX
02/18/2017 7:00 pm		UTEP	L 71–79	18–9 (8–6)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,988) Houston, TX
02/23/2017 7:00 pm		Southern Miss	W 72–71 OT	19–9 (9–6)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,589) Houston, TX
02/25/2017 7:00 pm		Louisiana Tech	W 88–81	20–9 (10–6)	Tudor Fieldhouse (3,302) Houston, TX
03/02/2017 6:00 pm		at Marshall	W 89–88	21–9 (11–6)	Cam Henderson Center (4,994) Huntington, WV
03/04/2017 7:00 pm		at WKU	L 72–79	21–10 (11–7)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,283) Bowling Green, KY
Conference USA tournament
03/08/2017 2:00 pm, CI	(5)	vs. (12) Southern Miss First round	W 86–75	22–10	Legacy Arena (3,207) Birmingham, AL
03/09/2017 2:00 pm, ASN	(5)	vs. (4) UTEP Quarterfinals	L 76–86	22–11	Legacy Arena (3,228) Birmingham, AL
CBI
03/15/2017* 7:00 pm		San Francisco First Round	W 85–76	23–11	Tudor Fieldhouse (3,207) Houston, TX
03/20/2017* 7:00 pm		Utah Valley Quarterfinals	L 79–85	23–12	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,584) Houston, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. Source[4]

See also

2016–17 Rice Owls women's basketball team