rice men's basketball tip-off 2012-13

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RiceOwls.com 1

WHAT’S INSIDEOpponents ........................2Tamir Jackson ....................5Head Coach Ben Braun ......8Assistant Coaches..............10

Meet the Players ..............12David W. Leebron ............20Rick Greenspan ................22Rice Through The Years....27

2012-13

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 0 1 2 - 1 3 R I C E O W L S B A S K E T B A L L

Date Opponent Time/ResultSat., Nov. 10 St. Thomas 7 p.m.Wed., Nov. 14 St. Edwards 7 p.m.Sat., Nov. 17 at Temple 7 p.m.Thu., Nov. 22 vs. Georgia Tech# 8 p.m.Fri., Nov. 23 DirectTV Classic TBASun., Nov. 25 DirectTV Classic TBASat., Dec. 1 Houston Baptist 7 p.m.Wed., Dec. 12 LIU Brooklyn 7 p.m.Sat., Dec. 15 Hartford 7 p.m.Wed., Dec. 19 Chicago St. 7 p.m.Sat., Dec. 22 TCU 7 p.m.Sat., Dec. 29 at Texas 1 p.m.Sat., Jan. 5 at Harvard 3 p.m.Wed., Jan. 9 Southern Miss* 7 p.m.Sat., Jan. 12 at Tulsa* 5:30 p.m.Wed., Jan. 16 Memphis* 6 p.m.Sat., Jan. 19 New Orleans 7 p.m.Wed., Jan. 23 at UCF* 6 p.m.Sat., Jan. 26 at Tulane* 1 p.m.Wed., Jan. 30 Houston* 7 p.m.Sat., Feb. 2 East Carolina* 7 p.m.Wed., Feb. 6 at UTEP* 8 p.m.Sat., Feb. 9 SMU* 7 p.m.Wed., Feb. 13 at Marshall* 6 p.m.Sat., Feb. 16 at UAB* 7 p.m.Sat., Feb. 23 Tulane* 7 p.m.Wed., Feb. 27 at SMU* 7 p.m.Sat., March 2 UTEP* 7 p.m.Wed., March 6 at Houston* 7 p.m.Sat., March 9 Tulsa* 7 p.m.# DirecTV Classic (Anaheim, Calif.)* Conference USA gameAll game times are tentative and subject to change

Up Next for the Owls2012-13 SCHEDULE

The 2012 Official Rice Men’s Basketball GamedayProgram is published by the Rice University Athletics

Department and IMG College.

RICE UNIVERSITYDIVISION OF ATHLETICS

Director of AthleticsRick Greenspan

Asst. Athletics Director, Sports InformationChuck Pool

PhotographyTommy LaVergne, Anthony Vasser

Cover PhotosAnthony Vasser

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CORPORATE OFFICERSChairman and Chief Executive Officer

Michael DolanPresident, Sports and Entertainment

George Pyne

IMG COLLEGEPresident

Ben C. Sutton, Jr.Senior Vice President,

Chief Operating OfficerTony Crispino

Senior Vice President,Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

Roger VanDerSnickSenior Vice President,Business Development

Hunter NickellSenior Vice President,

Chief Innovation OfficerMark Dyer

Vice President,Strategic Communications

Andrew Giangola

PUBLISHINGSenior Vice President, Operations

Joe PotterVice President, Publishing

John JustusDirector of Publishing

Kirk PhillipsManaging Editors

Chad Laytham, Matt Coy, Jason CrislerProject Editors

Jason Brunn, Richard Groves, John Stegeman, Brandon Brown

Editorial DivisionDan Peters, Kara Schroyer, Todd Krise,

Courtney Feltner, Tommy DillardCreative DirectorKristy MarquesDesign Studio

Sarah Jane Snowden, Joy Chambers

RICE IMG SPORTS MARKETINGGeneral Manager, Rice Sports Properties

Sammy TorresClient Services Coordinator

Alexandra RichouxBroadcast Manager/Voice of the Owls

JP Heath

PUBLICATION ADVERTISING/MARKETINGDirector, Local/Regional Print Sales

Doug Iler, 502/459-4346Marketing & Fulfillment Director

Matt Briggs, 859/226-4556

GAME NOTERice opens the season at home for the fifth-straight year. The

Owls are 3-1 in four season openers under head coach BenBraun, including a three-game winning streak on opening day.Rice is 9-0 against its first three opponents of the season with sixof the wins coming against Houston Baptist. The Owls have wontheir last three home openers by an average of 25 points.

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MATCHING UP VS. THE OWLS

OPPONENT ROSTERS

2 0 1 2 R I C E O W L S B A S K E T B A L L

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No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Previous School0 Barrett Lauer G 6-3 180 Sr. Montgomery HS1 Sean Edwards G 5-8 175 Fr. Waltrip HS 3 Dante Maxwell G 5-8 155 Fr. Corpus Christi King HS5 Travis Lampley G 5-11 165 Sr. Reagan HS12 Adrian Morales G 5-9 165 Sr. Deer Park/San Jacinto13 Deric Dudley G 6-3 185 So. Elkins HS20 Patrick Graves F 6-5 195 Sr. Liberty Hill HS22 Bryan Kaase F 6-4 205 Sr. Klien Collins HS23 Blake Torres G 6-0 155 Jr. University of Houston/Friendswood HS32 Nate McAnelly F 6-6 190 Jr. Bridge City HS33 Caleb Williams F 6-5 200 Sr. Bush HS34 Ryan Victor G 6-1 190 Fr. North Shore HS 40 Ian Davis F 6-7 225 Jr. Clear Creek HS/UCLA/San Jac42 Andrew Graves F 6-7 220 Sr. Liberty Hill HS/Austin CC44 Henoc Jean F 6-6 195 Jr. Elkins HS50 Ramy Mahfouz F 6-6 200 Jr. Mount Olive/Cairo, Egypt

Head Coach: Todd SmithAssistant Coach: Erich Schoeffler

St. Thomas (Houston) Nov. 10, 2012MEET THE CELTS

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown1 James Stukes F 6-5 225 Jr. Harlem, N.Y.5 Jeff Campbell G 6-2 185 Sr. Allen, Texas10 Frankie Mgbolu G 5-11 170 Fr. Tucson, Ariz.11 Matt Miner G 6-3 180 Jr. Clifton Park, N.Y.12 Joseph Saldana G 5-8 155 Sr. San Marcos, Texas14 Harley Nussman F 6-10 230 So. Pearland, Texas21 John Rutherford G 6-1 177 Jr. Bowie, Md.23 Quinton Lilley G/F 6-4 205 So. San Bernardino, Calif.24 Zilijan Jones G 5-9 190 Jr. Chicago, Ill.25 Zac Graham G 6-0 180 Sr. Austin, Texas31 Conner Kjer F 6-6 210 So. Whittier, Calif.32 Shimeek Johnson G/F 6-7 215 Sr. Albany, N.Y.33 Jae Ricketts F 6-5 205 Fr. Parker, Texas34 Tyler Foster G 6-5 215 Jr. Albany, N.Y.35 Evan Doremus F 6-8 195 Fr. Cypress, Texas44 Chris Wacker F 6-7 215 Jr. Universal City, Texas

Head Coach: Andre CookAssistant Coaches: Jack Dorn, Mike Grushkin, Tim Hamstra

St. Edwards Nov. 14, 2012MEET THE HILLTOPPERS

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown2 Marcel Smith G 5-6 150 So. Detroit, Mich.3 Tyler Russell G 6-0 180 So. Goodyear, Ariz.4 Art Bernardi F 6-9 225 Sr. Caxias do Sul, Brazil5 James Harper G 6-4 185 Fr. Phoenix, Ariz.10 Lamar Thomas C 6-9 235 Sr. Littleton, Colo.11 Anthony Hill G 6-0 175 Sr. Plano, Texas12 Rob Lewis G 5-11 180 Fr. Clear Lake, Texas14 Aaron Asp G 5-10 180 Jr. Houston, Texas15 Mike Turner G 6-2 170 So. Alpharetta, Ga.22 Dauson Womack G/F 6-6 205 Fr. Milwaukee, Wis.23 Dewayne Bowden G 5-11 165 So. Houston, Texas32 Marcus Davis G/F 6-5 190 Sr. Glendale, Ariz.33 Spenser Gales C 6-8 190 Fr. Wichita, Kan.34 Caleb Crayton G/F 6-3 205 Fr. Oklahoma City, Okla.35 Jonathan Evans G 5-10 170 Jr. Houston, Texas42 Cody Joyce F 6-8 220 Fr. Churchton, Md.

Head Coach: Ron Cottrell Assistant Coach: Steven Key, Jud Kinne, Jeremy Case

Houston Baptist Dec. 1, 2012MEET THE HUSKIES

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RiceOwls.com 5

R ice basketball fans already know TamirJackson as an athletic guard that can seem-ingly score from anywhere on the court.

They may also know about his hard work in thecommunity in his spare time. But one of thebiggest questions surrounding the team’s lone sen-ior is whether the guard is ready to lead a youngteam into a challenging schedule at the start of the2012-13 campaign.

The Owls open with a rough non-conferenceschedule, facing traditional powers such as Templeand Texas in addition to a tough nationally televisedslate of games at the DirecTV Classic in Anaheimjust two weeks into the season.

Fortunately for Rice and fifth-year head coachBen Braun, the team’s top returning scorer is ex-cited to take on a prominent leadership role for hisfinal campaign.

“The transition came easily for me, because Iknew I was going to have to take on a leadershiprole this season, as a senior,” Jackson said. “I alreadyhad it in my mind to take on a leadership role whenI went to train over the summer, and some older proplayers taught me how to be vocal and be a leader.”

According to some of his younger teammates,those leadership qualities were apparent the mo-ment they arrived on campus prior to the start ofthe fall semester.

Freshman guard Keith Washington says that Jack-son not only leads vocally, but by example as well.The freshman noted that Jackson’s work ethic anddesire for success is unparalleled.

“He has put together team meetings without thecoaches and he just has laid it out to us that he isgoing to fight for us,” Washington said. “It almostmade me cry. He really touched my emotional side.”

Jackson knew this would eventually be his des-tiny, whether or not he knew when the opportunitywould come or what path he might take to get there.

“Coach Braun always thought I was a leader andhe pushed for me to lead, but as a younger guy, Iwould fight it because we had older players and Iwanted to lead by the way I play, instead of by talk-

ing and being a vocal leader,” Jackson said. “So nowI try to be more vocal and communicate with theguys every day and tell them what they can do better.Try to help out because this is my fourth year. I’veplayed college basketball for three years so I know toexpect on the court.”

Jackson entered the season with 1,135 careerpoints and started 87 of the 97 games played in hiscareer, so his teammates know that he has what ittakes to be successful on the court. Jackson is the topreturning scorer from a team that won 19 games andadvanced to the CollegeInsider.com Tournamentquarterfinals just a year ago. Through three seasons,he already ranks in the program’s top 10 in both as-sists and steals.

Despite that on-court prowess, Jackson hasn’t al-ways felt comfortable as a younger player in takingcontrol of the team.

“I always knew I wanted to be a team leader. Buta lot of times when I would say things as a youngerplayer, people didn’t want to listen simply because Iwas younger,” Jackson said. “I knew that once I gotolder and had younger teammates that were willingto listen, it would be so much easier.”

(Story continued on page 24)

TAMIR JACKSON

EMBRACES LEADER ROLE


Tamir Jackson entered the season with 1,135 careerpoints and 87 starts in 97 games played.

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Early in his tenure, Rice University basketball coach Ben Braun posi-tioned the Owls for the future. The success on the recruiting trail,work on the practice court and efforts in the community have certainly

come to fruition.This past season, Braun’s fourth year guiding the Rice program, the

Owls won 19 games, marking the program’s most wins and first win-ning season since the 2004-05 campaign. The Owls’ record includedan 8-8 mark in Conference USA play as the Owls finished seventh inthe final league standings and equaled their best C-USA record.

Late in the regular season, Rice charged back from a double-digitdeficit at home against UCF to beat the Knights 83-74 and give

Braun his 600th career victory. He became the 40th headcoach in NCAA Division I history and the 64th NCAA

coach, regardless of division, to win 600 career games.Rice advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Post-

season Tournament where it won a postseasongame for the first time since 1993 and went on torecord multiple victories in a postseason tourna-

ment for the first time in program history. The Owlsadvanced to the quarterfinals of the CIT.

IN THE CLASSROOMUnder Braun’s leadership, the Owls have excelled in the classroom.Rice Basketball received Conference USA’s Sport Academic Award

during the summer of 2011. The award annually recognizes the teamwith the highest grade point average for each conference-sponsoredsport. During the fall, 2011 semester, members of the Rice basketballteam combined for a 3.099 term grade point average.

In four seasons at Rice, Braun has had a total of 15 student-athletesnamed to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll a total of26 times.

PERSONALA native of Chicago, Braun graduated from New Trier High School,

where he starred in both basketball and baseball. He went on to play oneyear of basketball at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse before he trans-

ferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned a teaching degreein English in June of 1975 with a minor in African-American Studies. Five years later,he earned his master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Siena Heights.

Braun and wife Jessica have a son, Julius (3), and a daughter, Eliza, born inApril 2012.

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010 Head Coach_Layout 1 10/31/12 1:28 PM Page 1

LOUIS REYNAUDAssociate Head CoachSan Francisco State, 1982

As the Associate Head Coachfor Rice Basketball, Louis Rey-naud begins his fifth season asone of the country’s most re-spected and accomplished assistant coaches.

During his tenure at Rice, Reynaud has helpedbuild the foundation for a rise to the top of Confer-ence USA. In Reynaud’s first season at Rice, the pro-gram made immediate strides as the Owls morethan tripled their total victories from the previousseason. Following that first year, he helped Rice signan early recruiting class that both ESPN.com andRivals.com recognized as one of the Top 10 amongmid-major universities. And that recruiting successhas continued.

Reynaud received his bachelor’s degree from SanFrancisco State in 1982 and a master’s degree inhealth/physical education from Saint Mary’s Collegein 1995. Reynaud has one daughter, Lauren (20).

GUS ARGENALAssistant CoachUC Davis, 2004

Gus Argenal, who spent the2011-12 season as a member ofthe staff at UC Davis, was namedto the Rice coaching staff inJune, 2012.

Argenal joined the Rice staff after spending thepast four years coaching in Northern California.Prior to returning to UC Davis, Argenal’s almamater, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach atChico State.

Argenal was one of UC Davis’ all-time best pointguards and still shares the school’s game record forassists (13). He graduated from UC Davis in 2004with a bachelor’s degree in history and earned a mas-ter’s degree in education from Arizona State in 2005.

Argenal’s wife, the former Hannah Turner, playedfor the UC Davis women’s team. The couple has twosons, Bo (2) and Ace, who turned one in August.

ADAM COHENAssistant CoachArizona, 2008

Adam Cohen is in his first sea-son as a member of the Rice Bas-ketball coach staff.

Prior to joining the Rice staff,Cohen received increased responsibilities each of theprevious three seasons while on the basketball staffat Southern Cal.

The 2008 graduate of Arizona served as a studentmanager/assistant video coordinator for three yearsat UA. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in polit-ical science, Cohen was a graduate assistant at NewOrleans during the 2008-09 season.

Cohen has worked numerous summer basketballcamps including Five Star, Arizona, Buffalo andUSC. He also ran a camp in Chengdu, China duringthe summer of 2007 for Nike Basketball.

Cohen grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., and attendedWilliamsville North High where he played basketballfor four seasons.

ASSISTANT COACHES

GUIDING THE OWLS


Rice OwlsSUPPORT STAFF

RiceOwls.com10

Adam GierlachVideo Coord.

Dean MillerAthletic Trainer

Barbara GillEvents Coord.

Chris PalomarezEquip. Mgr.

Gaelyn RoseDir. of Operations

Ben SandersGrad. Asst.

Thomas WalterMgr.

012 Staff_Layout 1 10/31/12 1:28 PM Page 1

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No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr./Exp. Hometown/Previous School1 Max Guercy G 5-9 170 Fr./HS Arleta, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS3 Tamir Jackson G 6-3 194 Sr./3L Paterson, N.J./St. Benedict’s Preparatory4 Nizar Kapic G/F 6-6 195 Fr./HS Sankt Poelten, Austria/Perkiomen School5 Keith Washington G 6-1 170 Fr./HS Philadelphia, Pa./Mont Clare Academy

10 Dan Peera G 6-0 185 So./1L Concord, Calif./De La Salle HS11 Ross Wilson F 6-7 205 Fr./HS Gosforth, England/

Queen Alexandra Sixth Form Coll.15 Julian DeBose G 6-4 196 So./1L Washington, D.C./St. John College High41 Seth Gearhart F 6-7 215 So./1L Wilsonville, Ore./Wilsonville HS42 Austin Ramljak G 6-3 170 Jr./TR Thousand Oaks, Calif./Ventura College44 Bahrom Firozgary F 6-8 200 Jr./HS Houston/Stratford HS

MEET THE PLAYERS

TAKING THE COURT FOR RICE


RiceOwls.com12

#1 MAX GUERCYBishop Alemany High School

Helped lead Bishop AlemanyHigh School to its first DivisionIII CIF state championship as asenior ... Tray Meeks-coachedteam posted a 33-4 record duringthe 2011-12 season, culminating with a 71-67 winover Sacred Heart Cathedral in the state title game... scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds inthe championship game ... for the season, averaged18 points along with four assists and four rebounds... earned First-Team CIF Division 3 All-State hon-ors and was named the Division 3A Co-Player of theYear ... named the Mission League Co-MVP whileleading Alemany to its first league title since 1999.

PersonalBorn in Panorama City, Calif., on July 29, 1994

... son of Marilyn and Max, Sr., Guercy ... has twoolder sisters, Lilia and Marilyn Jr. Rice College: Wiess

#3 TAMIR JACKSONSenior Campaign

Enters his senior campaignwith 1,135 career points at Rice ...has a 11.7 career scoring average... ranks 25th all-time in scoringat Rice, 10th in all-time assistsand ninth in all-time steals at Rice ... has played in97 games during his career, starting 89 contests ... atthe conclusion of his junior season, received Confer-ence USA’s Spirit of Service Award in recognition ofhis community service ... is a volunteer for Big Broth-ers / Big Sisters of Greater Houston and has been aregular speaker at elementary schools.

As a Junior (2011-12)Averaged 10.5 points and 2.5 rebounds ... scored

357 points during the year ... had 100 assists and 26steals during the season ... 2.9 assists per game tiedfor 12th among Conference USA players.

As a Sophomore (2010-11)Scored 487 points during sophomore season, av-

eraging 13.9 points an outing ... 14.3 points pergame in Conference USA games led the team.

PersonalBorn Dec. 29, 1990 in Passaic, N.J. ... son of Tai-

hessa Jackson Lee and Sam White ... has three youngersiblings, Tamia White, Rayya Lee and Sam White ...Sport Management major. Rice College: McMurtry

S O P H O M O R E J U L I A N D E B O S E

014-020 Players_Layout 1 10/31/12 1:31 PM Page 1

MEET THE PLAYERS



RiceOwls.com14

#4 NIZAR KAPICPerkiomen School

In pursuit of playing basket-ball at the NCAA Division Ilevel, attended the PerkiomenSchool his senior year ... in hislone year at the school, led thePanthers to their first-ever Tri-County Leaguechampionship, scoring 18 points in a 69-32 winover Delaware Valley Friends ... scored 21 points andhad seven rebounds in his first ever high school game... finished the season averaging 13.2 points, 2.4 re-bounds and 1.6 assists per game ... shot 55 percentfrom the field and converted on 80 percent of hisfree throw attempts in his lone season playing for thePerkiomen School ... Mark Longstreth-coached teamposted a 25-3 record and was 14-0 in league play ...previously played for UBC Sankt Polten in Austria.

PersonalBorn in Lilienfeld, Austria on Oct. 24, 1992 ...

son of Semir and Indira Kapic ... has a youngerbrother, Nadim (12). Rice College: Lovett

#10 DAN PEERAAs a Freshman (2011-12)

Saw action in six games duringfreshman season at Rice ... had arebound in each of his first threegames played in an Owl uniform... scored his first career field goalin the Owls’ win over Florida A&M.

De La Salle High SchoolMember of high school team which captured the

Nor Cal Championship ... the Spartans defeated fa-vored Castro Valley for the Nor Cal title and ad-vanced to play in the California state championshipgame ... team also captured the East Bay AthleticLeague championship senior year, posting a 27-5overall record ... De La Salle also won the EBALchampionship junior year ... team defeated NewarkMemorial in the North Coast Section Champi-onship after losing to the same opponent a year ear-lier in the state playoffs ... Spartans posted a 26-3record during the 2009-10 season ... high schoolcoach was Frank Allocco ... National Honor Societymember who was also involved in the Student Coali-tion on Respectful Education.

PersonalDaniel Peera ... born Dec. 24, 1992 in Des

Plaines, Ill. ... son of Dennis and Alberta Peera ... hasa younger brother, Michael. Rice College: Will Rice

#5 KEITH WASHINGTONFrankford High School

One of the top five pointguards coming out of Philadelphiain 2011 who elected to attendMont Clare Academy prep schoolfollowing high school ... namedthe PIAA District 12-4A Most Valuable Player as wellas the Northeast Times Player of the Year ... graduatedthird in his class from Frankford High School in 2011... was the recipient of the White Williams Scholarshipand also received the J. Wesley Harvey Alumni Grantfor Academic Excellence.

PersonalBorn in Philadelphia, Pa., on May 7, 1993 ... son

of Tracy Wiggins and Keith Washington Sr. ... hastwo older brothers, Ronald Lassiter and ShaKeithWashington. Rice College: Hanszen S O P H O M O R E S E T H G E A R H A R T


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2012 C-USAWomen's Championship

&2012 C-USA

Men's Championship

March 7-10FedExForum

Hosted by Memphis

The women will play first-round and quarterfinal games in

Elma Roane Fieldhouse

TU

LS

A

For information on the host city visit:www.visittulsa.com

Join us for four days of exciting basketball action as C-USA teamscompete for the men's and women's basketball championship titles!

Be sure to visit conferenceusa.com for all the latest informationand updates about the 2013 C-USA Basketball Championships.

p

TIC

KE

TS

2013 C-USA Women's Basketball Championship

&2013 C-USA Men's

Basketball Championship

March 13-16BOK Center

Hosted by Tulsa

The women will play first-round and quarterfinal games at the Tulsa Convention Center.


MEET THE PLAYERS



RiceOwls.com16

#11 ROSS WILSONQueen Alexandra SixthForm College

Attended Queen Alexandra SixthForm College which provides aunique school-college partnership toprepare students for university stud-ies and life following school ... as a student, was active inthe North East Sports Academy ... has been a memberof the Newcastle Eagles since age 12, coming up throughthe Eagles Academy ranks and representing Newcastle atNational League level events in several age groups ...played this past year for the Eagles Team Northumbriain the English National League Division II.

PersonalBorn in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

on March 9, 1993 ... son of Christine Wilson andTony Phillip. Rice College: Lovett

#41 SETH GEARHARTSophomore Campaign

Selected by the coaching staffto be a part of a pilot leadershipprogram within the athletic de-partment ... completed the de-partment’s “Developing Leadersin Sports and in Life” program during the 2011-12academic year.

As a Freshman (2011-12)Averaged 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds as a fresh-

man ... shooting 47.4 percent from the field andmade 7-of-17 three-pointers during the season ... de-buted with five points in the Owls’ season-openingwin over New Orleans.

Wilsonville High SchoolAveraged 18.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.8 as-

sists en route to being named to the Class 5A Ore-gon All-State First-Team as a senior ... unanimouslyselected the Northwest Oregon Conference Playerof the Year and also named to the Class 5A All-Tour-nament team ... shot 54 percent from the field andwas an 81-percent shooter at the free throw line.

PersonalSeth Clarence Gearhart ... born Oct. 17, 1992 in

Wilsonville, Ore. ... son of Rolf and Lauren Gearhart... has a younger sister, Nicole. Rice College: Will Rice

#15 JULIAN DEBOSEAs a Freshman (2011-12)

In first season at Rice, aver-aged 3.7 points and 1.5 rebounds... had 26 assists, 29 steals andfour blocks in 34 games played ...rookie started eight games duringthe year including all three games of the CollegeIn-sider.com Postseason Tournament ... led Rice inscoring his collegiate debut, finishing with 12 pointsagainst New Orleans.

St. John College High SchoolFirst-team All-Metropolitan as well as a First-Team

All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference ...named the team’s Most Outstanding Senior.

PersonalJulian DeBose ... born April 28, 1992 in Wash-

ington, D.C. ... son of Julius and Michelle DeBose... has two older siblings, Chante Ford and LaKishaBlalock ... father played basketball at Bowie State ...Rice College: Duncan S O P H O M O R E D A N P E E R A


MEET THE PLAYERS



RiceOwls.com18

#42 AUSTIN RAMLJAKVentura College

Named to the 2012 All-West-ern State Conference Team ...ranked sixth in the conference inscoring as a sophomore, averaging19.2 points per game ... con-verted 102-of-250 three-point attempts (40.8 per-cent) ... 74.7 percent free throw shooter ... alsoaveraged 4.4 rebounds to go along with 43 total as-sists and 21 steals.

Oak Park High SchoolAll-California Interscholastic Federation selection

who was also named All-Ventura County and namedAll Tri-Valley ... scored 25 points in the 2010 Ven-tura County All Star game ... as a senior, averaged16.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

PersonalBorn in Tarzana, Calif., on May 12, 1991 ... son

of Mark and Debbie Ramljak ... has a youngerbrother, Keith, and an older sister, Taylor. RiceCollege: Hanszen

#44 BAHROM FIROZGARYStratford High School

Averaged 10.0 points, 7.0 re-bounds, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 assistsas a senior for head coach MitchHornsby ... earned Stratford’s De-fensive Player of the Year award ...helped lead the Spartans to the bi-district playoffstwo times and the the 2009 Houston ISD JayceesTournament consolation bracket title ... named sec-ond team all-district in 2010 and earned honorablemention accolades in the season before ... for his ca-reer, averaged 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per gameto accompany 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks in four sea-sons ... academically, was co-valedictorian of hisclass, graduating with summa cum laude honors ...served as National Honor Society vice president andchurch youth group president ... earned the rank ofEagle Scout and was active in student council.

PersonalBorn Dec. 2, 1991 in Houston ... son of Farrokh

and Mahnaaz Firozgary ... has one sister ... Biochem-istry major (pre-medicine). Rice College: Wiess

S E N I O R T A M I R J A C K S O N


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David W. Leebron has served as Rice Uni-versity’s seventh president since 2004, aperiod of growth and transformation for

the institution.Early in his presidency, Leebron engaged in ex-

tensive consultations that produced the Vision forthe Second Century, a plan for Rice’s growth and ad-vancement as one of the world’s premier researchuniversities. As Rice approaches its centennial an-niversary this October, the university is well-posi-tioned for its second hundred years.

Undergraduate enrollment has increased 30 per-cent since 2004. More than 15,000 applications werereceived for the fall 2012 class, with more than11,000 applications from outside of Texas. Interna-tional applicants increased fivefold. Undergraduateand graduate students come from 89 countries.

Much like Rice’s first president, Edgar OdellLovett, Leebron has a powerful international visionand has reached out to Asia and Latin America. Newstudy-abroad programs in Argentina and India havebeen added, along with study and research opportu-nities in China, Brazil and Turkey.

Leebron also has strengthened the university’slocal presence with programs that connect studentsand faculty with the Greater Houston community,such as Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research,home to the Houston Area Survey.

Under Leebron’s leadership, the campus hasadded two new residential colleges, bringing the totalto 11; the 10-story BioScience Research Collabora-tive, where scientists and educators from Rice andother Texas Medical Center institutions work to-gether; a new recreation and wellness center; an ad-ditional food servery; a central campus pavilion thatserves as a meeting and study place; an updatedsports arena; a new physics building; and the PublicArt Program, a presidential initiative that has addedbeautiful art across campus.

Prior to taking the helm at Rice, Leebron wasdean of Columbia Law School. A native of Philadel-phia, he is a graduate of Harvard College and Har-vard Law School, where he was elected president ofthe Law Review in his second year. After graduating

in 1979, he served as a law clerk for Judge ShirleyHufstedler on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals inLos Angeles. He began teaching at the UCLA Schoolof Law in 1980 and at the NYU School of Law in1983. In 1989, Leebron joined the faculty of Co-lumbia Law School, and in 1996 he was appointeddean and the Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law. Lee-bron also served as a visiting fellow at the MaxPlanck Institute for Comparative and InternationalPrivate Law in Hamburg, Germany, and as the JeanMonnet Visiting Professor of Law at Bielefeld Uni-versity. He is currently part of the political sciencefaculty at Rice and has authored a textbook on in-ternational human rights.

In 2006, Leebron was presented with France’sCommandeur de l’Ordre national du Mérite, and in2008, he received an honorary doctorate fromNankai University. In 2010, Leebron and his wife,University Representative Y. Ping Sun, were selectedby the Greater Houston Partnership as the city’s In-ternational Executives of the Year for helping makeHouston a center of international business.

Leebron and Sun have two children, Danieland Merissa.

RICE PRESIDENT

DAVID W. LEEBRON


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Rick Greenspan, who led successful athleticsprograms, facilities construction andfundraising campaigns as athletics director

at Indiana University, West Point and Illinois State,was named Rice University’s 15th Director of Ath-letics on March 12, 2010.

Greenspan has more than 32 years of administra-tive and managerial experience in intercollegiate ath-letics, physical education and recreation at publicand private universities. He has worked closely withRice President David Leebron to create a Vision forRice Athletics as the school enters its second century.

He initiated a comprehensive study of the futureof Rice Stadium. The first phase of that process fo-cused on the support systems for the football teamand concluded with the approval by the Rice Boardof Trustees for a $44.5 million football facility at thesouth end of Rice Stadium to improve the stadiumfacilities and fan experience. He has also overseen thedevelopment a new $7 million tennis facility whichis currently undergoing final design concepts.

Greenspan has endeavored to enhance the OwlClub as the primary engine of Rice’ Athletic Devel-opment efforts. He served as the C-USA represen-tative on the NCAA Championship Cabinet beforebeing named to the NCAA Division I Baseball Com-mittee in September.

Indiana captured eight individual or team na-tional titles during Greenspan’s tenure from 2004 to2008. He oversaw a 24-sport NCAA Division IA in-tercollegiate athletics program with a $53 million op-erating budget, nearly 700 student-athletes and acoaching and administrative staff of more than 175.He organized the university’s first comprehensivecapital campaign, which increased annual giving by41 percent, raised $65 million toward the $80 mil-lion goal by the midpoint and led the constructionof numerous new athletics structures and refurbishedoutdated facilities.

From 1999 to 2004, Greenspan served as directorof intercollegiate athletics at the U.S. Military Acad-emy at West Point, where he managed a 25-sportNCAA Division IA intercollegiate athletics programwith a $23 million budget and 800 student-athletes.

His overhaul of the annual giving program resultedin a 300 percent increase in gifts and a doubling ofthe average gift. Under his leadership, 34 percent ofall student-athletes made the dean’s list. He also de-veloped and funded an athletics facility master plan.

The Greenbelt, Md., native has also served as di-rector of intercollegiate athletics at Illinois State Uni-versity (1993-99), senior associate athletics directorat University of Miami (1992-93), associate athleticsdirector at University of California-Berkeley (1983-1991), recreational athletics coordinator at Univer-sity of New Hampshire (1982-83) and associatecoordinator for the Klotsche Center for Physical Ed-ucation and Recreation at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1979-82).

Greenspan has a master’s degree in physical edu-cation and athletic administration from Idaho StateUniversity, where he graduated summa cum laude.He has a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science fromthe University of Maryland-College Park, where hewas a four-year letter winner in baseball.

Greenspan and his wife, Jenny, have been married34 years. They have two grown children: Emily, agraduate of the University of Connecticut, and Ben,a graduate of Indiana University and currently an as-sistant baseball coach for the Hoosiers.

RICE DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

RICK GREENSPAN


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(Story continued from page 5)Sophomore Dan Peera agrees with Jackson’s as-

sessment, as he has witnessed the transformationfirst hand.

“It’s been incredible to see the change,” the sopho-more Peera stated. “His attitude and mindset andwhatever decisions he made to take a larger role withleading the team have really reflected in his perform-ance and leadership so far. It’s been obvious since westarted summer workouts. Day one, it was clear thathe was for real. That really unified us as a team andgave us inspiration.”

“In practice and scrimmages, it’s clear,” Peera con-tinued. “He knows the game better than anybodyand he’s very verbal and passionate and competitive.It’s infectious, so everybody climbs on board.”

Even before this summer, Jackson laid the foun-dation for being the mentor of a basketball team.Jackson has served as a mentor for Big Brothers/BigSisters of Greater Houston during his time at Rice.He has also contributed to team-related communityservice, reaching out as a guest reader and speakerat area elementary schools.

The work in the community has led to Jacksonreceiving Conference USA’s Spirit of Service Awardin April. The C-USA Spirit of Service Award is de-signed to recognize the community service efforts ofthe league’s student-athletes based upon significant

community service, good academic standing andparticipation in their elected sport.

Jackson said he believes that he equally gets as muchout of working with Big Brothers as the kids he mentors.

"I enjoy doing it," Jackson said. "I really like tohelp make a better life for another kid or be a betterrole model for someone. I think they get a lot out ofit because I am a college athlete and a student at oneof the best schools in the country. They see if anotherblack man can do it, they can do it as well."

Growing up in New Jersey, Jackson said he lookedup to the AAU and city-league coaches who helpedto teach young people and provide an opportunityfor an activity off the street.

While Jackson knew that he would eventually takethe reins among the Rice players, it never hurt that hereceived encouragement from Braun and his staff.

“They asked me to lead and be vocal, but it has mostlyhappened naturally,” Jackson said. “I’m not trying to forcethe issue and be a leader. That’s just not my character.”

The non-conference schedule is a time for Jacksonand the Rice squad to prepare for a challenging C-USA slate. So as for Jackson’s expectations, he saysthe young Owls shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“I expect us to do well as a team and for me to dowell, personally. I know we are going to shock a lotof people. I have a feeling, and I’m proud to playwith these guys and call them my teammates.”

TAMIR JACKSON (CONTINUED)

EMBRACES LEADER ROLE


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Tamir Jackson has taken on the role of team leader for the Owls, a role he has embraced with open arms.

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RiceOwls.com 27

RICE BASKETBALL

THROUGH THE YEARS


1. In the 1934-35 season, Rice set a new record with 20 wins and dropped just three games to claim the program'sfirst conference title since 1919. Head coach Jimmy Kitts led the Owls to winning streaks of 10 and nine games.

2. Led by head coach Don Suman, the 1953-54 squad posted a 16-6 record and won the Southwest Conferencechampionship. Rice went on to face Oklahoma State and Colorado in the 1954 NCAA West Regional.

3. Autry Court’s notorious curtain (pictured 1954-55) dates back to the building’s early years.

4. Rice fans packed Autry Court when the Owls hosted No. 1 Connecticut on JAN. 4, 2004.

5. After an extensive overhaul to the venerable arena, Tudor Fieldhouse officially opened its doors for the 2008-09.Among the numerous transformations, the signature curtain was removed to place the student section closer to theaction than ever.

1 1

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rice men's basketball tip-off 2012-13

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