Recruits helping men's squad

By Brody Rollins     2/5/09 6:00pm

When the men's basketball team plays the University of Houston Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, freshman guard Connor Frizzelle will most likely make the 11th start of his young career. Not bad considering he was planning on attending prep school until mid-July.

In the hectic world of college recruiting, a player capable of starting in a collegiate game rarely remains unsigned after graduation. Frizzelle, a Dallas native, received offers from Army, Yale University and Texas State University, among others, but for one reason or another found himself preparing for a post-graduation year of study at a boarding school on the East Coast.

This path is not uncommon for players either unsatisfied with the lack of attention they are receiving or faced with academic hurdles that bar their admission to universities.

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Sophomore forward Suleiman Braimoh attended the Lawrenceville School in Lawrence Township, N.J., for one season after averaging 27 points and 11 rebounds at the United Nations School the year before. Even after posting lower numbers at Lawrenceville amidst the stiffer competition in the Middle Atlantic Prep League, Braimoh caught the attention of former head coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice '82), who signed him that fall.

Prior to his departure, Wilson signed several players, including forwards Lucas Kuipers and Emerson Herndon, but several others retracted their commitments to Rice or transferred to other schools.

So, when head coach Ben Braun showed up with only a few months to piece together the final parts of a roster, he still needed a point guard. After deliberation, Braun decided to give out all twelve scholarships at his disposal rather than wait for what could have been a more highly-touted prospect in next year's incoming class.

Braun and his staff made contact first with Frizzelle during the early part of the summer during the Amateur Athletic Union summer circuit.

"A couple of coaches called and said, 'You might want to check out this player,' " Braun said. "[Assistant coach] Kevin [Mouton] and I went to see him together. He was a player that had come from a winning program and he had a very competitive side to him, which we appreciated."

For Braun and his staff, the gamble has paid off so far.

Through Saturday's game against Eastern Carolina University, Frizzelle was averaging over eight points per game, leading Conference USA in free-throw percentage and playing the third-most minutes on the team with a disposition that brings out the best in his teammates.

"He has a confidence about himself," Braun said. "But I don't think he's cocky. To his credit, when we took him out of the starting lineup to take a little pressure off of him [in December], I think initially it was tough to swallow, but he took the challenge to get himself back into the lineup. That's what competitors do."

Back in the starting lineup once more, this time at shooting guard, Frizzelle has become adept at drawing his defender close before penetrating within 10-15 feet and pulling up for the jumper.

"When I first started, it was the speed and physicality [of the game] that threw me off," Frizzelle said. "I handled it pretty well, but [the game] wasn't slowing down for me. Over time I got in tune with it and that's why I'm back in the starting lineup."

Even with the solid play of Frizzelle and the recent emergence of senior forward Aleks Perka in the frontcourt, Rice (7-14, 2-5 C-USA) will be heavy underdogs against Houston (13-7, 4-3 C-USA) tomorrow.

The Owls went a disappointing 1-1 last week against Tulane (9-11, 3-4 C-USA) and East Carolina (11-10, 3-5 C-USA) despite finding themselves up by 19 points during the first half in both games.

A last-second layup by Tulane guard Kevin Sims cost them the game on Wednesday night, but the team rebounded on Saturday, pulling off a gutsy six-point victory against the Pirates.

Perka posted the second double-double of his career in the win, scoring a career-high 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

Sophomore center Trey Stanton added another 10 rebounds for the Owls, who out-rebounded the Pirates by seven in the game, something they will need to do against the up-tempo Cougars.

Houston has emerged as a contender for second place in the conference despite losing a number of players to graduation after last season. Kelvin Lewis and Aubrey Coleman each average a little over 19 points a game, good for third- and fourth-best in the conference.

The Cougars recently gained national notoriety when Coleman stepped on University of Arizona forward Chase Budinger's head during an overtime loss in Tucson. However, the forced suspension rest might have done him good, as he returned with a career-high 35 points in a loss to the University of Memphis last Saturday.

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