Head coach Mike Bloomgren and company are adding a familiar name to the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class. Wide receiver Keenan Arcega-Whiteside has committed to the Owls.
The football world is full of connections that go well beyond what meets the eye. Those relationships foster movement among staff and players alike and have brought at least one relatively familiar face into the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class. Keenan Arcega-Whiteside, brother of former Stanford standout JJ Arcega-Whiteside, has committed to the Owls.
This is not the first time Bloomgren’s Stanford connections have borne fruit for the Owls. In addition to adding special teams coordinator Pete Alamar to the staff and a few transfers directly from the Cardinal roster over the years, Bloomgren also coached Christian McCaffrey at Stanford before recruiting his brother, Luke, to come to South Main. That familiar connection paid dividends with an NFL Draft selection for Luke this past April
A multi-sport athlete, Keenan showcased his athleticism as a basketball player and a football player at the high school level. On the football side, he’d picked up a few offers this summer from the likes of Austin Peay, Gardner Webb and others before announcing his decision to commit to Rice.
Arcega-Whiteside was on campus for Junior Day earlier this year and clearly liked what he saw. His commitment is the fourth of the Owls’ 2025 class which could start to grow here in earnest following camp season.
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Already 6-foot-6 and 185 pounds, Arcega-Whiteside looks the part and his film backs it up. He’s the sort of big-body target this staff loves to utilize in the redzone and on chain-moving throws near the sticks. He’s fairly shifty for his size and while he probably won’t win a footrace against the speedier players the Owls bring into the fold in this class, bringing him down is no easy task. Rice has a good amount of speed on their roster right now. They need someone with some power. Arcega-Whiteside certainly delivers on that front.
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