The Rice Owls announced Thursday they are parting ways with Jose Cruz Jr. as their head baseball coach after a 2-14 start to the 2025 season.

Rice Owls head coach Jose Cruz, Jr. has used his connections in Puerto Rico to recruit and change the dynamic of the Owls all three seasons he’s been the head coach. Now, Cruz, Jr. and the Owls will travel to the Commonwealth not just for recruiting purposes, but for games.

Scott Abell has been introduced as coach at Rice, replacing Mike Bloomgren, who was fired in October.

Rice fired seventh-year coach Mike Bloomgren with the program headed toward a 10th straight losing season following losses in six of eight games.

Graham led Rice to a national championship in 2003 and led Owls for 26 years.

Rice Owls swimmer Ahalya Lettenberger is ready to head to Paris to compete for Team USA in the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Owls took down East Carolina, 61-41

Owls coming off 6-6 season and trip to the First Responders Bowl in Dallas.

Owls open AAC play at Army September 21, host Charlotte in AAC opener September 28

Quinn Ewers passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as No. 11 Texas overcame a sluggish start with an overwhelming third quarter to beat Rice 37-10 on Saturday in the season-opener for both teams.

Longhorns standout visits Texans

Rice University’s all-time leader in three-pointers, Quincy Olivari, has a new home. The sharp-shooter announced that he is heading to the Big East Conference to join the Xavier Musketeers.

Nelson Ceaser returned a fumble for an 11-yard score with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter and Thabo Mwaniki intercepted a tipped pass on the next possession as Houston beat Rice 34-27 on Saturday to retain the Bayou Bucket for a record seventh consecutive time.

New coach Lincoln Riley's tenure at No. 14 Southern California got off to a roaring start with a 66-14 victory over Rice.

Abou Ousmane had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks and Thomas Bell recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists as North Texas defeated Rice 68-50 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Conference tourney.

Max Fiedler posted 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists as Rice beat Charlotte 73-61 in the Conference USA Conference Tourney second round.

Erik Czumbel had a career-high 22 points as UTSA got past Rice 82-71.

Keonte Kennedy made a foul shot with 45 seconds left to give UTEP the lead en route to a 70-67 win over Rice.

Travis Evee hit a 3-pointer to start overtime and Rice never trailed in the extra period to beat Southern Miss 77-72.

Kenneth Lofton Jr. had 16 points and Amorie Archibald scored 14 to lead Louisiana Tech to an 83-79 victory over Rice.

As Lance Berkman and Jose Cruz Jr. meet today for the first time as opposing head coaches, it's a good time to look back at their careers when they were both starring at Rice University.

Tevin Brewer matched his career high with 25 points to help Florida International beat Rice 80-77 on Saturday night.

Quan Jackson had 21 points as UAB won its eighth straight home game, beating Rice 92-68.

Thomas Bell tied his career high with 21 points as North Texas won its 10th consecutive game, routing Rice 67-44.

Max Fiedler had 16 points to lead six Rice players in double figures as the Owls rolled past Jarvis Christian 98-63.

Jamal Bieniemy scored a career-high 36 points and Tydus Verhoeven scored 12 and UTEP beat Rice 72-70 on Saturday for its sixth-straight win.

Max Fiedler had 22 points as Rice beat UTSA 91-78.

Quincy Olivari scored 16 and grabbed 10 rebounds and Max Fiedler scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and the Owls defeated Southern Miss 76-62.

Kenneth Lofton Jr. had 19 points and 13 rebounds as Louisiana Tech topped Rice 80-63.

Austin Butler made a layup with 1:23 left to give Charlotte the lead en route to a 67-64 win over Rice on Saturday.

Carl Pierre had 21 points as Rice topped Old Dominion 77-69.

Carl Pierre scored a career-high 30 points and tied a school record with eight 3-pointers to lead Rice to an 87-77 win over Marshall.

Jairus Hamilton had 22 points and 10 rebounds as Western Kentucky topped Rice 80-66.

Travis Evee had a season-high 25 points as Rice held on to beat UAB 85-80.

Carl Pierre recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds to lift Rice to a 65-61 win over Middle Tennessee.

Tylor Perry had 18 points and North Texas rolled past Rice 75-43 in a Conference USA opener.

Rice has announced the postponing of Saturday's women's basketball game with North Texas due to COVID-19 related issues within the Rice program.

Rice University has announced its December 29 women's basketball game against Texas College has been canceled due to COVID-19 cases within the Owls program.

COVID-19 issues within the Owls program has wiped out the Rice basketball schedule for Sunday for both men's and women's basketball teams.

Travis Evee matched his season high with 24 points as Rice routed Incarnate Word 85-55.

Quincy Olivari had a season-high 27 points as Rice topped Houston Baptist 88-73.

Mason Harrell scored 24 points as Texas State beat Rice 80-69.

TJ McMahon threw two late touchdown passes — including a 3-yarder to Cedric Patterson III with 61 seconds remaining — and Rice rallied for a 35-31 victory over Louisiana Tech. Rice led 14-10 at halftime, but JD Head connected with Smoke Harris for a 5-yard score to give Louisiana Tech a 17-14 lead midway through the third quarter.

Max Fiedler had 30 points and 12 rebounds, Chris Mullins added 25 points and Rice edged past Evansville 109-104 in triple overtime.

Gavin Hardison threw for a career-high 366 yards, Ron Awatt ran for 119 yards and UTEP defeated Rice 38-28.

Carl Pierre had 20 points as Rice beat Southern 81-63.

Bailey Zappe threw five touchdown passes, including three during a four-minute span in the second quarter, and Western Kentucky beat Rice, 42-21.

Owls open basketball season with easy win over Pepperdine

The American Athletic Conference will add UAB, Texas-San Antonio, Rice, North Texas, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic to the league.

Rice University and men's basketball head coach Scott Pera have agreed to a contract extension through the end of the 2023-24 season.

Two Rice Owls earned big-time conference honors.

Former Rice Owls star and current Detroit Tigers coaching staff member Jose Cruz Jr. will be named the head baseball coach at Rice University, according to multiple sources close to the situation.

Former Memorial High and Rice Owls golfer Mario Carmona qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, Calif.

Matt Bragga out as Rice baseball coach after three seasons

Rice (23-4), which won the 2017 WBI, won its first WNIT title. Jasmine Smith added 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals for the Owls. Donetta Johnson made a layup that gave Ole Miss (15-12) its first lead with 6:12 left in the first quarter but Schwartz answered with a layup on the other end just 18 seconds later and Rice led the rest of the way. The rest of the Ole Miss team combined to make 11 of 45 (24.4%) from the field. The previous two WNIT champions, Arizona and Indiana, are in the Elite 8 of the 2021 Women's NCAA Tournament.

The Owls (22-4) won their fourth consecutive game in the tournament by 10 or more points by shooting 54 percent from the field and making a season-high 22-of-28 (79 percent) at the free throw line. Rice never trailed in the contest and limited Delaware (24-5) to 33 percent shooting from the floor. Senior guard Sydne Wiggins (11 points) also scored in double-figures and tied a career-high with seven assists. Senior center Nancy Mulkey led the Owls with 11 rebounds and three blocks and tied a career-high with five assists. AdRice will now face the winner of Ole Miss and Northern Iowa in the championship game, set for Sunday at 1 p.m. on FloHoops.com.

HOUSTON – The class consists of 16 high school seniors, one from a prep school and one from the junior college ranks. Among the high school players, 11 reached the postseason and six will be in action this weekend in the Texas state playoffs. The Owls added four linebackers--including three high school signees who were ranked in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s preseason top 25 linebackers in Texas--and four defensive linemen, three offensive linemen, receivers and defensive backs and one quarterback. Nine of the players come from Texas and four are from Alabama, two from Florida and one each from California, Mississippi and New Jersey. Since coming to Rice in December of 2017, Bloomgren has expanded the Owls national footprint to include recruits from 21 states.

Hello from the Xfinity Sports Desk at KPRC 2 as we kick off this new week. Tom Brady is gone, but signal-caller Cam Newton has the Pats trending in the right direction, winning two in a row. The Patriots have a solid rushing attack which isn’t good for the Texans, who have been terrible against the run. High school footballThe high school football season continues this weekend. It’s a busy week of sports ahead here in H-Town.

HOUSTON – Klein High School libero Gaby Mansfield is just happy to be back on the court. But it was also an offseason, which she committed to stay at home post-high school and play for the Rice Owls. “I really just wanted to stay close to home because of my brother,” Mansfield said. They’re amazing.”But before she goes to Rice University, the junior still has two years of high school left and she has big goals. “Get the top digs in Texas, and also to keep all A’s in school to get me ready for Rice,” Mansfield said.

HOUSTON - When Gaby Mansfield was 14-years-old, she knew then that she wanted to play collegiate volleyball. In the end, the Klein junior decided to stay close to home verbally committing to Genny Volpe's Rice Owls. When looking at Rice, the university is in the Top 10 academically. 1 team Klein Bearkats, who's 2020 season begins in the next week with Class 6A volleyball being pushed back a month due to COVID-19. Teammates Devan Taylor (Clemson) and Annie Antar (University of North Florida-Indoor) are also verbally committed to play college volleyball.