Nicky Adams
	Position: Head Coach At Rice: In eighth season

Nicky Adams, who had served as the program's Interim Head Coach since mid-September 2010, was officially promoted to Head Coach by Rice Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan on November 15, 2010. The news was extra-special for Adams, as the announcement was made on her birthday.

Adams is only the second head coach in the history of the Rice soccer program. The El Paso native and former All-America player at Texas A&M had served the previous eight seasons on the Rice coaching staff, including the last four-and-a-half as the program's associate head coach.

Greenspan appointed her the interim head coach seven games into the 2010 season, and she proceeded to lead the Owls to their best conference start in school history at 5-0-1. Rice went on to qualify for the Conference USA Tournament for the first time since 2008 with its highest seed in that event since 2007. With Adams at the helm for all 11 C-USA league games, four Owls earned all-conference honors and three were named to the conference All-Academic team.

Her long influence on the program shows the promotion was earned. Since she joined the staff in January 2003 Rice soccer has been at its best. Adams' lead as the recruiting coordinator, identifying the nation's top young student-athletes on the field and in the classroom, has helped Rice earn national recognition for its signing classes. The most recent signing class from the spring of 2010 was among the top tier of the central region, a near-perfect compliment to the 2008 and 2007 classes that were rated among the best in Conference USA. With Adam's personal attention, there's every reason to expect the Rice recruiting to continue to get better and better.

Nicky Adams

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Nicky Adams on being named head coach...

"I am honored and thrilled about this opportunity. When I heard my name and `head coach' for the first time I got goose-bumps. I want to thank Mr. Greenspan and (Sr. Associate Athletics Director-Sport Administration and Support Services) Dr. Jack Garrett for their work with me, especially the last two months, and their belief in me of taking this program to the next level. I want to thank the players on the team. The played with such heart and pride this year, it was unbelievable to be around. I want to thank (assistant/goalkeepers coach) John (Adams), who helped so much by taking-on a lot of added responsibility this season.

Soccer has always been a passion of mine. The sport means so much to me that it always has come natural to me to want to do my job to the best of my ability. I had put my heart and soul in to the program, and I'm happy to keep doing that. I am ready to keep working hard. We're going to hit the recruiting trail this weekend. This is a great birthday present for sure."

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In her first season as associate head coach in 2006, Adams' expanded role resulted in the Owls posting their first-ever win over a Top 10 opponent. The program soon earned its first-ever national ranking in 2006.

Rice won the 2005 Conference USA championship and made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The team has played in the championship game of its conference tournament in three of her five years with the Blue and Gray.

Right from the start the Owls won as many games in Adams' first year (11 in 2003) as the program did in its first two years combined. The Rice win total climbed to a school record 14 victories in 2004, but that's not all. Rice advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and set a host of team and individual records.

As a member of the Texas A&M teams that won the Big 12 championship in 1997 and Big 12 Tournament titles in `97 and 2001, the former Nicky Thrasher finished her career near the top of virtually every Aggie offensive category.

One of A&M's most decorated players of all time, the El Paso native ranks third in career points (140), second in goals (57) and fifth in assists (26) for the Aggies, and her 391 shots rank as the most in Texas A&M history. She was nominated for the Herman Trophy as the Division I women's soccer player of the year in both 1999 and 2001.

In her first three years with the Aggies, Thrasher emerged as the team's main offensive threat and one of the best forwards in the country. She earned first-team NSCAA all-Central Region honors in 1998 and `99, along with being named to the first team all-Big 12 in `99. Also, Thrasher was the Big 12 Tournament's most valuable player in `98 and was named the Aggies' offensive MVP on three occasions.

In 2001, Thrasher returned from a medical redshirt for a magical senior season. Coming off a broken leg suffered three games into the 2000 campaign, Thrasher led A&M through the Big 12 Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament before falling to Portland in the Elite Eight. She again earned all-region, all-conference and team MVP honors for her efforts in 2001, but this time she also included NSCAA third-team all-America honors to her distinguished list of accolades.

Thrasher graduated from Texas A&M in 2001 with a B.S. in kinesiology. Prior to joining the Owls, Thrasher was the second selection of the Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association in the league's 2002 draft, even appearing with the Beat as it took on the Washington Freedom Oct. 19, 2002, at Rice Track/Soccer Stadium in the Space City Shootout.

She married Charlie Adams of New Braunfels, Texas, in June of 2005.

Got a question for the coach? E-mail Nicky Adams here.