The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class has its quarterback in the fold. Playmaking signal caller Aiden Smalls has committed to the Owls.
Getting the right triggerman in place is paramount for success and the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class has found its solution at that all-important position. Quarterback Aiden Smalls has committed to the Owls.
Landing Smalls represents a massive recruiting win for the Owls’ new staff. To this point in his recruiting process, the bulk of Smalls’ offers have come from regional schools, including a wide array from the Power 4. He picked Rice over offers from NC State, Duke, Boston College and Virginia Tech, as well as Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Liberty and others.
To get Smalls to Texas and away from schools of that caliber is impressive. Part of the Owls’ pitch was where Smalls would play. Some of those programs viewed Smalls as an athlete, typecasting his athleticism into a skill position. Rice wants Smalls at quarterback where he can use those abilities to impact the game on a down-to-down basis.
The commitment to put Smalls at quarterback and the intrigue of being the point man for head coach Scott Abell’s electric offense were enough for Smalls to pull the trigger, further solidifying the Owls’ 2026 class, already at three commitments and growing. Smalls joins tight end Colten Cole and offensive lineman Clay Mitchell in the fold thus far.
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Turn on the tape and get ready for a show. Smalls can chuck it deep, make plays on the move and, of course, use his legs to make defenders look silly. He’s the ideal quarterback to run this offense. To get him on board this early is huge for the Owls and will enable them to build around their potential QB1 of the future.
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