Rice Men’s Basketball Coach Rob Lanier has named Chris Kreider as the associate head coach and Josten Crow and Andre Owens as assistant coaches. All three were on Lanier’s staff at SMU last season.
Kreider begins his second stint on South Main and his sixth season working with Lanier, including the last two years as an assistant coach at SMU and three seasons at Georgia State.
This past season at SMU, he helped lead the Mustangs to a 20-13 record, including an 11-7 in the American Athletic Conference and berth in the NIT. SMU saw a nine-game improvement in its overall record and more than doubled its win total in the conference this past season. Under his tutelage, SMU led the AAC in field goal percentage defense (.413), assists (15.7), rebounding margin (+5.1), offensive rebounds (14.5), and assist/turnover ratio (1.4), ranked second in rebounding (39.8), steals (8.4), and scoring margin (+8.0), and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.317) and blocks (4.8).
Following his first season on the Hilltop, which included a runner-up finish at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, Kreider helped bring in a transfer class ranked as high as No. 42 nationally and No. 2 in The American. In August of 2023, the Mustangs went on a 10-day trip to Spain, going 3-0 with games in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.
Kreider was selected to the Top Connect Basketball Symposium in 2022 and 2023. The networking and leadership event that includes athletics directors and some of the top assistant coaches in the country. He was also invited to the 2023 Jay Bilas Coaches Leadership Program, which is intended to help experienced Division I assistant coaches continue to refine philosophy both on and off the court.
In his three seasons at Georgia State, the Panthers went 53-30, winning the Sun Belt Tournament in 2022 and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers also made the Sun Belt Tournament final in 2021. Additionally, he led GSU to a victory over Georgia Tech, the program’s first win over an ACC opponent. The Panthers also claimed the 2019-20 2K Empire Classic Riverside Regional.
Kreider’s first stint at Rice was from 2017-19, where he helped recruit classes ranked fourth (2018) and third (2019) in C-USA according to 247 Sports. Guard Chris Mullins was named to the 2018-19 C-USA All-Freshman Team by both the league’s head coaches and media. Additionally, eight Owls were named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll in each of his two seasons on staff. Guard Connor Cashaw capped his junior campaign in 2017-18 earning a spot on the C-USA All-Academic Team.
Prior to his tenure at Rice, Kreider spent two seasons (2015-17) at Virginia Military Institute, serving as the recruiting coordinator and post coach. Kreider’s career also includes four seasons at George Mason (2011-15), where he helped the Patriots to a pair of 20-plus win seasons and a run to the CBI championship series in 2012 before the program transitioned to the Atlantic 10 in 2012-13. The 2011 incoming class was ranked the No. 10 mid-major class by ESPN.com before the Patriots inked one of the top recruiting classes in the A-10 in 2014.
Kreider also held the role of recruiting coordinator during his two-year stay at Georgia Southern from 2009-11. Prior to his stop in Statesboro, Kreider served at Georgia Tech from 2007-09. While with the Yellow Jackets, he held positions as an administrative assistant and volunteer assistant coach.
From 2006-07, Kreider was an assistant coach at USC Aiken after working three years at St. Francis High School where he held head coaching positions for the men and women’s basketball teams (2003-04 assistant; 2004-05 women’s coach; 2005-06 men’s coach). He got his start in coaching as an assistant coach at the University of Great Falls in 2002-03.
A collegiate letterwinner, Kreider started as a small forward at three colleges, playing one year at Mansfield University before transferring to Grove City College (Pa.). In his junior season, Kreider led the Wolverines in scoring (12.3 ppg) and steals (52). He finished his playing and academic career at Lebanon Valley College, earning a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish in 2003.
Kreider is married to the former Heather Akers of Atlanta, Ga. The couple has an 8-year-old daughter, Livia.
This past season at SMU, he helped lead the Mustangs to a 20-13 record, including an 11-7 in the American Athletic Conference and berth in the NIT. SMU saw a nine-game improvement in its overall record and more than doubled its win total in the conference this past season. Under his tutelage, SMU led the AAC in field goal percentage defense (.413), assists (15.7), rebounding margin (+5.1), offensive rebounds (14.5), and assist/turnover ratio (1.4), ranked second in rebounding (39.8), steals (8.4), and scoring margin (+8.0), and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.317) and blocks (4.8).
Following his first season on the Hilltop, which included a runner-up finish at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, Crow helped bring in a transfer class ranked as high as No. 42 nationally and No. 2 in The American. In August of 2023, the Mustangs went on a 10-day trip to Spain, going 3-0 with games in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.
In his lone season with Louisiana Tech (2021-22), Crow helped the Bulldogs finish with a 24-10 record while advancing to the Conference USA championship game. He helped coach two All-C-USA selections in Kenneth Lofton, Jr. (First Team, now with the Memphis Grizzlies) and Cobe Williams (Honorable Mention) as well as Kaleb Stewart who was voted to the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Crow previously worked at University of Louisiana from 2015-21, first as the Director of Student-Athlete Development for one year then as an assistant coach for five seasons. Crow was part of five winning seasons at UL under head coach Bob Marlin. He played a key role in the development of nine All-Sun Belt honorees. The 2017-18 Ragin’ Cajuns went 27-7, won the Sun Belt regular season title and earned an NIT bid.
Crow also served as a graduate assistant at ULL in 2011-12, where he worked with 2014 NBA Draft lottery pick Elfrid Payton. Crow then played professionally overseas for three years from 2012-15. He played in the top two levels of professional basketball in Germany for the Hakro Merlins, spending two years in the ProA (second-level) league before competing in 2014-15 in the BBL (highest level).
During that time, he spent the summers as Head of Athletics for the Greatness Factory – an individual and team training center based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Crow was a four-year letterwinner, three-year captain and all-conference honoree at Sam Houston State (2007-11), playing for Bob Marlin. He helped lead the Bearkats to both the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles as a junior in 2010, along with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. As a senior, Crow ranked second on the team in both scoring (12.7) and rebounds (5.3) while dishing out 3.5 assists. He was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-Region team.
A native of Houston, Crow earned his bachelor’s degree in three years from Sam Houston State, obtaining a degree in Business in 2010. He earned his MBA from SHSU in 2012.
Rice Men’s Basketball Coach Rob Lanier has named Chris Kreider as Associate Head Coach, announced Tuesday morning.
This past season at SMU, he helped lead the Mustangs to a 20-13 record, including an 11-7 in the American Athletic Conference and berth in the NIT. SMU saw a nine-game improvement in its overall record and more than doubled its win total in the conference this past season. Under his tutelage, SMU led the AAC in field goal percentage defense (.413), assists (15.7), rebounding margin (+5.1), offensive rebounds (14.5), and assist/turnover ratio (1.4), ranked second in rebounding (39.8), steals (8.4), and scoring margin (+8.0), and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.317) and blocks (4.8).
Following his first season on the Hilltop, which included a runner-up finish at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, Owens helped bring in a transfer class ranked as high as No. 42 nationally and No. 2 in The American. In August of 2023, the Mustangs went on a 10-day trip to Spain, going 3-0 with games in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.
Owens came to the Hilltop after three seasons as an assistant coach at Sam Houston (2019-2022). The Bearkats went 56-36 in three seasons, including a 37-17 conference record. The Bearkats were in the top four in the league standings each season. In 2021, Owens was named to the Dave Campbell’s Texas Basketball 40 under 40.
He spent the previous three seasons as the head coach at Western Texas College in Snyder (2016-19). The Westerners went 50-38 under Owens. Western Texas College finished 22-10 and placed second at the Region V tournament in Owens’ first season. He coached three National Junior College Athletic Association Academic All-Americans, six All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference selections and nine players who signed to play Division I basketball.
Before taking the helm at Western Texas College, Owens was an assistant coach at Oklahoma City University from 2012-15. While there, his responsibilities were recruiting, player development, practice planning, film breakdown, scouting, strength and conditioning program and fundraising.
Owens previously serves as a volunteer coach at Eastfield Community College from 2010-12.
As a player, Owens attended UTSA where he was a two-year starter after signing with the Roadrunners out of McLennan Community College. He averaged 18 points and six rebounds and was a second-team All-Southland Conference selection.
After college, Owens played professionally in Germany and Turkey for two years, then played in the Continental Basketball Association for a season.
Owens is a native of Irving. He earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from UTSA in 2007.
