Willis Wilson out at Rice

[JMay]

Willis Wilson will not be retained as Rice's basketball coach....

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

[KFDM COOP]

Beat me to it!

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

[Guest DickVitale]

He is definitely a class act and it is sad how they fired him under the circumstances..No home gym this year, lost 5 players to injury...AND do you know how HARD it is to recruit kids to play at RICE?!  Good luck Willis....I hope he lands somewhere else real soon..

[Guest etbu]

He is definitely a class act and it is sad how they fired him under the circumstances..No home gym this year, lost 5 players to injury...AND do you know how HARD it is to recruit kids to play at RICE?!  Good luck Willis....I hope he lands somewhere else real soon..

I was there when he first came and time for Willis to go fellers. IF IF IF they hire Josh Pastner from Arizona look for many of the Houston Hoops to find their way to South Main. He and the AD are tight plus he is a Kingwood kid.  ;D

[Guest DickVitale]

He is definitely a class act and it is sad how they fired him under the circumstances..No home gym this year, lost 5 players to injury...AND do you know how HARD it is to recruit kids to play at RICE?!  Good luck Willis....I hope he lands somewhere else real soon..

I was there when he first came and time for Willis to go fellers. IF IF IF they hire Josh Pastner from Arizona look for many of the Houston Hoops to find their way to South Main. He and the AD are tight plus he is a Kingwood kid.  ;D

How many of those kids that play for the Houston Hoops even qualify to attend Rice academically?  One, maybe two? That has been Willis' problem for the last 16 years...Josh WON'T get the Rice job...Name ALWAYS comes up when jobs come open, but this one is definitely a no go.

[JMay]

A lot of the Rice people seem to want them to go after Jeff Van Gundy.  It may sound far fetched, but he lives close to campus and attends quite a few Rice athletic events each year.  He is always at Reckling Park during the summer.  I never realized how short he was ;D.  He or the AZ guy (give Del Conte's background) to me would be the front runners.

[Guest DickVitale]

I dont know if Van Gundy's ego would take him to Rice...John Lucas would be a good fit, especially as far as recruiting goes, and unlike Drexler to UH, Lucas can actually coach!! I certainly hope NOT SHSU's Bob Marlin...WAYYY overrated..

[JMay]

I only go with JVG because of I've seen him around at sporting events and he seems to like Rice.  I wouldn't be surprised if Chris Del Conte went after someone from Arizona since he came to Rice from AZ.  I'm guessing Houston Hoops is an AAU team.  I don't see a bunch of those guys heading to Rice just because of the coaching change though, I think most of those guy would probably chose Arizona over Rice if they are dedicated to playing basketball.

[Guest DickVitale]

Heck, like I said, most of those guys that play for the Hoops AAU organization would not qualify at Rice..Pastner is like the 3rd assistant at Arizona...Thats why I think the Rice job would be out of his league..There are way to many other candidates that are more qualified to take over that program...I really hate they did Willis that way though...Del Conte will live to regret that bad move...(See TSU AD now FIRED for bad moves)

[JMay]

Kevin O'Neil is the #2 at AZ.  I think he is waiting for Lute Olsen to retire, and I think he's probably over qualified to come to Rice.  I do think they will look for more qualifications than the #3 guy from Arizona, not to knock him.  The jury is still out on Del Conte. Promoting the Rice program has not improved much in the last year, and I don't have huge expectations.  He does seem to have some fire behind him.  The Willis Wilson move took heuvos to do, and a lot of Rice people were ready to see a change, despite their respect and likeness of Wilson.  Perhaps he will shock us with the new hire.  I don't see where Bob Marlin would leave SHSU to come to Rice when he can stay in  Huntsville and be just as competitive until someone else comes callng in a year or two.

[Guest DickVitale]

SFA's Danny Kasper? He is a really good coach, although, he has had many, many players AND coaches to leave his program because of the way he dealt with them...I have known the guy for years, and he is a piece of work, though he has mellowed in his older years  8)...STILL the guy can get it done and has proven it...had SFA on the brink of a NCAA tourney berth...In the NIT...He might be a better fit than Bob Marlin...Matter of fact I KNOW he would be a better fit...Kasper is a very cerebral coach that would love to coach some kids with a little extra brain power!! ..what do you think?

[JMay]

I'm a huge Kasper fan.  I wanted to see him at Lamar, even though I think Roc will get the job done here.  Kasper would be a pretty good fit.  They may try for more of a "name", but the answer could be right down the road at SFA.

[Guest etbu]

JVG said not way last night but hope they bring in a name but never know with Rice. Could have had the  Larry Coker and they hire Baliff from Texas State?  8) Until the powers to be change their MO they they treat it as a club sport.