Rice replaces a collection of prematurely departed talent which includes guards Trey Murphy III and Drew Peterson. Rice will try to incorporate eight players without the benefit of five-on-five scrimmages or full team workouts this summer.

It’s tempting to expect a drop-off when a team loses a historically productive player. But Rice might weather such a departure after COVID-19-related shutdowns prematurely ended star guard Erica Ogwumike’s college career in March.

Pera’s team wasn’t immune this offseason—it lost starting center Quentin Millora-Brown to Vanderbilt—but the third-year coach can finally look forward to building instead of reconstructing this year.

Erica Ogwumike and Mulkey are back, so it’s easy to assume the Owls will steamroll their way to another NCAA Tournament berth—and they probably will. But their depth will be tested.

Again, Pera’s team was gouged by transfers as walk-ons, budding freshmen, and star guard Connor Cashaw took their talents to schools like Wake Forest, Florida State, and Creighton. Still, a more stable circumstance off the court, plus some new additions have given Pera a solid platform to rebuild the foundation of the program compared to year one.

Oklahoma-transfer Nancy Mulkey highlights that excitement. The 6-9 center sat out last year and is poised to make a serious impact, especially on the defensive side of the floor where she averaged nearly two blocks per game as a freshman at OU.