| Mode: | Basketball |
| Sex: | none |
| Year: | 2023–24 |
| Prev Year: | 2022–23 |
| Next Year: | 2024–25 |
| Team: | Rice Owls men's |
| Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Short Conf: | AAC |
| Record: | 11–21 |
| Conf Record: | 5–13 |
| Hc Year: | 7th |
| Asst Coach1: | Van Green |
| Asst Coach2: | Greg Howell |
The 2023–24 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, led by seventh-year head coach Scott Pera, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as first-year members of the American Athletic Conference. The team finished the season 11–21, 5–12 in AAC play to finish in a five-way tie for 10th place. As the No. 12 seed in the AAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Wichita State.
On March 14, 2024, the school fired head coach Scot Pera.[1] On March 24, the school hired Rob Lanier, who had been fired as head coach of SMU, as the team's new head coach.[2]
The January 6 home game against UTSA was played in the Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center on the campus of the University of St. Thomas due to water damage to Tudor Fieldhouse.[3]
The Owls finished the 2022–23 season 19–16, 8–12 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the C-USA tournament, they defeated UTSA before losing to UAB. They received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Duquesne before losing to Southern Utah in quarterfinals.
This was the last season for the team as members of Conference USA before joining the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023.[4]
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaden Geron | 0 | G | 6'8" | 175 | Sophomore | Transferred to Montana | ||
| Seryee Lewis | 1 | F | 6'9" | 245 | Sophomore | Transferred | ||
| 4 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Junior | Transferred to Xavier | |||
| Mason Jones | 10 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Freshman | Transferred to New Orleans | ||
| Ben Moffat | 12 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons | ||
| Reed Myers | 14 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Junior | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons | ||
| Damion McDowell Jr. | 20 | F | 6'6" | 190 | Sophomore | TBD | ||
| Jake Lieppert | 24 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Junior | Transferred to Minot State |
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Alajiki | 0 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Junior | California | ||
| Noah Shelby | 1 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Sophomore | Vanderbilt | ||
| Anthony Selden | 4 | G | 6'6" | 220 | Senior | Garder–Webb |
|-!colspan=12 style=|Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=|Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| AAC regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| AAC TournamentSource[5]