Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/130678
BUSINESS THE PITCH PHOTO. WORDS. Mirin Fader Rice University Athletics Ben Braun, Rice University Ben Braun took a Rice University team that won just four Conference USA games in 2009 to 19 total wins a year ago, the most in school history since 2005. Now in his ffth year at the helm of the Owls, Braun is one of 12 current Division I coaches to win 600 career games. Set on turning Rice into a premier mid-major program, Braun has over 30 years of collegiate experience to his name, including time with the University of California. In 12 years at Cal, Braun led the Bears to fve NCAA Tournaments and three NIT appearances, including an NCAA Sweet 16 berth in 1997 and an NIT championship in 1999. Braun was a fnalist for Naismith National Coach of the Year in 2003. Previously, he spent 11 seasons at Eastern Michigan (1985-96) and eight seasons at NAIA Siena Heights (1977-85). But Rice is much different from any of the programs he's been in charge of, as it is the second smallest Division I school in the country. Combining a unique blend of prestigious academics and competitive sports, Rice aims to give student-athletes the best of both worlds. AT RICE YOU CAN get a big-time basketball experience in a small-school setting with a high academic reputation. We've had the Conference USA Scholar Athlete Award for four straight years, which is very important to us. The college experience shouldn't just be about improving your jump shot. We want to prepare you for when you graduate, so we do seminars for players on public speaking, resume building, job fairs and time management. We've got Ivy League-caliber studentathletes, but we don't play an Ivy League schedule. Our schedule is very competitive. I'm proud of our teams and what we've done over the last couple of years. We had our program's frst win over Memphis two years ago in addition to beating LSU. Those are big milestones for us. We struggled this year with the fourthyoungest team in the country, but we're building something back up for the future. Our guys are getting a lot of experience. We just try to keep competing and keep our morale up. We've got an outstanding recruiting class for next season with fve players who will all be competing for state championships. I think we're on an upward movement. Our goal here is to build a program and sustain it with quality people. What I enjoy most about coaching at Rice is the campus and local community. Because of the small, close-knit campus, you really get to know people. The University is located in the heart of Rice Village. We don't isolate our student-athletes. They regularly interact with students who are not athletes, which doesn't happen in a lot of other Division I programs around the country. I'm proud to coach at Rice because it hasn't succumbed to some of the temptations and pressures that would lure student-athletes at bigger programs. We've always maintained the integrity of the student-athletes' experiences. 28