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The Rice Thresher
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by Ryan Keedy thresher editorial staff On the one hand, the men's basketball team's 14-16 record is a lot better than last year's 5-22 disaster. On the other hand, this season fell well short of the expectations generated by the team's 5-0 start. Most obviously, two key injuries changed the complexion of the season and likely cost the Owls a winning campaign. Sophomore point guard Omar-Seli Mance suffered stress fractures in both feet two games into the conference schedule, and the injuries kept him off the court for most of the season. He returned to the lineup late in the year but was never back to full strength and did not start again after his injury. Junior center T.J. McKenzie was the second Owl starter to go out of commission, suffering a knee injury midway through conference play. McKenzie had been playing the best basketball of his career in the games leading up to his injury, and his loss left the Owls with a huge gap inside and only untested freshmen and sophomores available to fill it. After McKenzie's injury, Rice lost 10 of its last 13 games. Still, the Owls fought back to play some of their best basketball at the end of the season, including a 60-44 rout over the University of Nevada and a close 60-52 loss to top seed Fresno State University at the Western Athletic Conference tournament. "What I'm most impressed with about this team is that they did a great job of adapting," head coach Willis Wilson said. Hopes are high for next season because McKenzie and Mance will be back at full strength. Still, the Owls will have to find a way to deal with the loss of guard Mike Wilks and forward Erik Cooper, who are both seniors. The duo scored 76 of Rice's 112 points during the WAC tournament and will be sorely missed next year. Wilks has been the Owls' undisputed leader all season. His 20.1 points per game was second in the WAC and he received nearly every postseason honor imaginable. He was named to the all-WAC first team and all-WAC defensive team and was also voted WAC Player of the Year by College Insider and "Mr. Clutch" by WAC players. Cooper caught fire as the season progressed, and his 13.2 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game were both second-best on the team. Wilks is slated to play in the Portsmouth Invitational from April 4-7. The tournament invites 64 of the nation's top seniors to compete in front of NBA coaches and scouts from every team. "I'm going into this camp with a positive attitude and am going to try to play my best," Wilks said. "My dreams are still alive, I've got to go there and play hard." Head coach Willis Wilson is optimistic about Rice's future, especially if that future is injury-free. "We'll have a more experienced team," head coach Willis Wilson said. "We'll look very different next year. God willing we'll have a healthy team and we'll be able to do some things we couldn't do this year, including pressing and a more up-tempo style. "I don't think we're going to replace Mike's scoring 21 points per game, but we need someone to build up to that point. And I have confidence that we can do that since we've done that in the past."
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