First heard this rumor at lunch today (http://hoopdirt.com/blog/60469aea/hot-rumor-braun-done-at-ri…). It’s now official – Ben Braun has resigned at Rice.
Rice Director of Athletics Joe Karlgaard announced on Thursday that he has accepted the resignation of head men’s basketball coach Ben Braun effective immediately.
“Ben and I met this morning to review the program and at that time he expressed to me his decision to resign as our head coach,” Karlgaard said. “I want to thank Ben for his hard work during his time at Rice. We will immediately begin identifying and contacting individuals who we feel are ready to come to Rice and lead this program to an exciting future.”
“I thought it was in our program’s best interest that I step down as Rice’s head basketball coach,” Braun said. “I want to thank Rice University for the opportunity to coach our team for the last six years. The players, coaches and staff have worked diligently to represent Rice with class and dignity. I am proud we were able to take our program to a postseason tournament as well as achieve academic excellence off the court. I believe both the returning players and those currently signed for next year will form the nucleus for a very solid future. The team will always have my support.”
Braun, 60, compiled a 63-128 record in six seasons at Rice and has an overall record of 615-517. His 615 career wins rank 12th among active coaches and 41st all-time. Over his 36 seasons of coaching, Braun led teams to seven NCAA appearances, including a pair of trips to the Sweet 16 and four berths in NIT.
The Owls were 7-23 this past season, which ended with a 63-62 overtime loss to North Texas in the opening round of the Conference USA Basketball Tournament in El Paso.
His final team at Rice saw 14 of its 30 games decided by five points or less with the Owls finishing 5-9 in those games. They were led by All C-USA Freshman selection Sean Obi, who set a Rice freshman record with 279 rebounds and his 9.3 rebounds per game led all of C-USA and ranked second nationally among freshmen. He also tied the Rice freshman mark by hitting on 59.1% of his field goals.
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