Rice promotes Scott Pera to head basketball coach

As soon as Scott Pera's name left Rice athletic director Joe Karlgaard's mouth, the excitement emanating from players as they surrounded and hugged their new basketball coach made it clear.

There was only one viable choice for the job.

Rice didn't stray far Thurday in promoting Pera to the perch. He replaes Mike Rhoades, who left for Virginia Commonwealth on Tuesday.

As an associate head coach, Pera was an integral part of Rhoades' Rice staff for three years. Now it's Pera's show on South Main.

"I've been coaching a long time, I think maybe my 25th year," said Pera, who will be formally introduced Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse. "I've been fortunate to be a part of a lot of successful programs and do some special things on the court as a coach. That memory in that locker room is as memorable to me as anything I've ever done."

On the heels of a 23-victory season, Rice opted for continuity in trying to build on one of the program's better seasons heading into 2017-18. The wins tied for second most in program history, and the team had two first team all-conference picks for the first time since 1954 in combo guard Marcus Evans and guard/forward Egor Koulechov.

The entire starting lineup and almost all of the team is projected to return. The only player out of eligibility is center Andrew Drone.

Hire fits goals

Pera doesn't have to start from scratch like Rhoades did. He has a fast-paced offense that was second in Conference USA in scoring. There is a feeling around the program that next year can be special, and Karlgaard, who called this hire a "grand slam", didn't want to deviate from that with a new face. Karlgaard was at Minnesota soon after Dan Monson left Gonzaga for the Golden Gophers and watched Mark Few take Gonzaga to even greater heights after he was promoted from assistant coach.

He hopes something similar happens at Rice.

"We had a couple of goals," Karlgaard said. "I think starting out in the process, one was to keep the philosophy of the program in place, which I obviously think we've done. The other one was to seize upon the positive momentum of this season. We won 23 games. When I got here, I think the year before, we'd won five. We wanted to make sure the hire accomplished those two things, and I think that's exactly what we did."

Pera has been around the game for a long time, but he's perhaps most famous for his tie with Rockets star James Harden, whom he coached at Artesia High School in California and recruited to Arizona State.

Harden elated

Harden, who has attended Rice basketball games in the past, gave Pera a ringing endorsement Thursday before the announcement was official.

"He's a great mentor," Harden said. "Obviously, he's a great coach. He just knows the game. He knows how to recruit. In that spot, he deserves an opportunity. He worked his tail off. He's been doing it for a long time. Hopefully, it's a great opportunity for him.

"He's been there throughout my entire life, just mentoring me, helping me out," Harden continued. "So for him to get an opportunity finally, it'd be a dream come true for him, and it'd be great for me to watch him turn that program around."

Pera started at Arizona State as director of operations in 2006 before being promoted to a full-time assistant and recruiting coordinator a year later.

Pera brought Koulechov to South Main when the junior was looking to transfer from Arizona State in 2014.

Prior to coming to Rice, Pera spent two seasons as an assistant and top recruiter at Penn.

Pera laughed at the memory of Rhoades trying to convince his wife, Alyssa, that moving across the country again after just 15 months on the job at Penn was a good idea.

That move led to his moment.

Years of preparation

"I remember being at a coaching clinic years ago," Pera said. "It was probably 10, 15 years ago. John Calipari said when you're an assistant coach, prepare like you're going to be the head coach every day. I never forgot that, and I've tried to do that. I don't know if I've always been perfect at it, but I'm ready."