Rice head coach Mike Rhoades has announced the addition of Rhett Bonner to the coaching staff as Director of Operations. Bonner joins the Owls after spending the last two years as an assistant coach at Virginia Wesleyan.
“We’re excited to have Rhett join us at Rice,” said Rhoades. “He has a great background and is going to add a lot to our program. Rhett was a great player at Guilford College, helping them win a lot of games. He has worked his way up the coaching ranks and is known for his work ethic, his approach with players and having a do-it-all personality. I’m looking forward to working with Rhett and having him impact our program in a successful way.”
Bonner helped the Marlins to a 45-15 record over the past two years. Last year, Virginia Wesleyan earned a share of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. In 2014-15, the Marlins finished 27-6, making it to the NCAA Division III Final Four.
Prior to VWC, Bonner spent two years at Charlotte serving on the Men’s Basketball staff. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the video program while helping the 49ers to the 2012 Great Alaska Shootout and the 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off championships.
He began his coaching career in 2011-12, spending one year at Randolph-Macon, where he helped the Yellow Jackson to a 21-7 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Bonner was a two-time All-ODAC player at Guilford from 2007-10. He averaged 12.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in his three-year career. He finished his career ranked 25th in scoring with 1,126 points while helping the Quakers to three NCAA Tournaments, including two Division III Final Fours. He also helped Guilford to an 87% winning percentage in his three years. He was also a part of a program that led Division III in wins and had the eighth-best winning percentage (85%) among all NCAA divisions over a four-year period. “I can’t begin to say how excited I am to be a part of Rice Basketball and to be working for Mike Rhoades,” said Bonner. “He’s always been someone I’ve admired from a distance. There’s no doubt this program is headed in the right direction, and I want to do my part to help continue to build this program.”
Following graduation, Bonner spent a year playing for the Washington Generals, the team that competes against the Harlem Globetrotters. During his time with the Generals, he competed in 22 countries.
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