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Rice notebook
Nov 05, 2009 (Houston Chronicle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Rice men's basketball coach Ben Braun doesn't care what the preseason magazines have to say. He knows what he's seen from the Owls the past few weeks.
Not that he's eager to prove any of those publications -- some of which went to press as early as August -- wrong, but in a weird way he understands.
"The reality is, we lost our leading scorer and our leading rebounder," said Braun. "We have a bunch of freshmen coming in. It doesn't surprise me."
Athlon Sports and Lindy's selected Rice 12th. Sporting News and USA Today Sports Weekly both settled on 9th.
Those predictions don't serve as motivation because Braun believes that would only be an emotional reaction. He'd rather demand the most of the Owls every day so they can play to the best of their abilities.
Rice conducted one of those closed-door, hush-hush scrimmages Tuesday night against Incarnate Word that the NCAA forbids anyone involved to speak about. The first and only exhibition is less than a week away -- Monday against Angelo State at Tudor Fieldhouse.
"I think our team will compete," Braun said Wednesday. "We've been very competitive in practice, and you expect that to carry over to games. Coming together as a team takes time, and our team is going through that right now, developing chemistry."
Braun has been impressed by the effort of junior forward Suleiman Braimoh, insisting he's been a bright spots in the post due to his rebounding. Freshman guard Tamir Jackson's transition from high school to Division I hasn't been as jarring as some might have expected because of his leadership abilities, Braun said.
The Rice coach lauded how well sophomore Lucas Kulpers has bounced back from a broken wrist suffered last year, but he also expressed regret at losing senior guard Cory Pflieger, a true deep shooting threat, for the season with a torn ACL.
"It's a tough blow for Cory," said Braun, who indicated Pflieger might pursue a sixth season of eligibility.
HITTING THE BOOKS: Four Rice senior soccer players -- Alexa Coralli, Katelyn Ostendorf, Erin Scott and Shelley Wong -- were named to the 2009 Conference USA Women's Soccer All-Academic teams Wednesday. Ostendorf, Scott and Wong were first team honorees, and Coralli was a second-team selection.
On the links
Led by the trio of Jade Scott, Christopher Brown and Michael Buttacavoli, the golf team just missed capturing its second team tournament of the fall season Tuesday, finishing second out of 13 teams at the Carter Plantation Invitational. Scott, Brown and Buttacavoli finished tied for eighth. The Owls had four top-5 finishes in the fall, and the spring season begins Feb. 15 with the 10th annual Rice Intercollegiate at Westwood Golf Club.
CELL PHONE DRIVE: A message from senior infielder Jimmy Comerota:
"The Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is conducting a cell phone drive to benefit Hope Phones and Front Line SMS programs. Bring your old phones to Rice sporting events to receive free tickets and support a great cause. For football, bring a phone to the homecoming game against Tulane and earn a ticket for the UTEP game. For volleyball and basketball, bring a phone, get a ticket. One phone equals one ticket. The drive runs through homecoming weekend. So come out and support your Rice Owls -- and bring your old phone!"
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