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Rice Football Recruiting: Raising the talent profile at South Main

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Rice football has significantly raised their recruiting profile under coach Mike Bloomgren and the best days are still ahead for the Owls.

Much has changed for Rice football since Mike Bloomgren arrived at South Main in the winter of 2017. Beyond practice structures and pregame routines, raising the overall level of talent has been a noticeable improvement.

As demonstrated by the addition of some of the Owls’ biggest recruits in nearly a decade — Blaze Alldredge, Jake Bailey, Tre’shone Devones, Plae Wyatt, Brady Feeney, Braeden Nutter, Khalan Griffin, etc. — playmakers are flocking to Rice with renewed vigor.

It doesn’t just feel like Rice is getting more talented. The recruiting rankings bear out that reality. Take a look at the Owls’ CUSA recruiting finish and the number of three-star recruits signed in the last four seasons leading up to Bloomgren’s first class (2018).

2014 – 7th (in CUSA) – 5 (three-stars)
2015 – 8th – 8
2016 – 14th – 2
2017 – 12th – 3

That’s an average of the No. 10 class in CUSA with four 3-star recruits per cycle. Now let’s look at those numbers alongside Bloomgren’s classes, including the already impressive 2020 haul which ranks first in Conference USA.

2018 – 12th – 9
2019 – 12th – 11
2020 – 1st – 5

That’s an average of the No. 8 class in CUSA with eight 3-star recruits per cycle. If Rice maintains their current pace, they’ll finish with closer to 15 3-star (or better) players in 2020. With that projection factored in, Bloomgren’s first three classes would net an average of 12 3-star recruits in each class that’s TRIPLE the level of talent walking through the doors of the Patterson center compared to the last complete set of recruiting cycles.

Getting talent to campus won’t be worth much if the team doesn’t win. The coaching staff has turned 2-star recruits like Cole Garcia, Clay Servin and Wiley Green into important starting-caliber players. If Rice continues to hit on a few lesser-known recruits each cycle as the ceiling of each class grows, the results will follow.

So if it’s felt like things were different at South Main, that’s because they are.

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Rice Baseball: Owls no-hit in season-ending loss to Southern Miss

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Rice baseball saw their season end in no-hit fashion, tallying one base runner in their knock out loss to Southern Miss in the Conference USA Baseball Tournament.

In their final game of the 2019 season, Rice was no-hit by Southern Miss, falling in Biloxi 6-0. Matt Bragga’s crew knew making it to the Conference USA Baseball Tournament Championship Game from the loser’s bracket was going to be difficult. Bouncing back from an early loss requires depth, toughness and more luck than many teams and coaches would like to admit. To their credit, the Owls fought.

Rice knocked out Louisiana Tech and then took down Marshall, setting up a Saturday morning rematch with Southern Miss. Rice would need two wins over Southern Miss to keep their season alive, but it soon became apparent Rice would first need to focus on getting two hits.

Southern Miss starting pitcher Gabe Shepard was phenomenal. He missed bats and kept Rice off balance with a dynamic fastball. He mowed down the first 15 Rice batters who came to the plate before Justin Collins drew a leadoff walk in the sixth. Shepard held the no-hitter through seven and a third innings before being relieved by Cody Carroll who closed out the eighth. Hunter Stanley shut things down in the ninth, securing the no-no bid.

Shepard struck out 12 and walked one, affording Rice batters little opportunity to generate any scoring opportunities. As Shepard rolled through the order time and time again, the Southern Miss offense gradually pulled away.

The Rice bullpen held tough for a while but was unable to withstand a cavalcade of Southern Miss extra-base hits. The Golden Eagles hit three home runs, all solo shots. They’d add three more scores scattered across the duration of the contest. A 6-0 lead after seven proved overwhelming as Southern Miss breezed through the final two innings to clinch a spot in the conference championship game as Rice saw their season come to a close.

Final Record | 26-33

That’s all folks. There will be plenty to unpack from the Rice baseball 2019 season in the coming days. Rice was projected to finish top four in the conference in the preseason and that’s exactly where they ended.

This was a hot-and-cold baseball team which had some incredible highs and felt the lowest of lows. The Owls will bring back a lot of bullets in 2020 and the future remains bright. 2019 didn’t end how this team would have liked, but coach Matt Bragga’s work is only beginning.

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Rice Baseball: Owls edge Marshall to advance in CUSA Tournament

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Rice baseball knew it would be a hard task to fight through the losers bracket, but the Owls are still punching, knocking off Marshall to keep their season alive.

Facing elimination from the Conference USA Baseball Tournament for the second day in a row, Rice topped Marshall to keep their season alive. The win over Marshall on Friday followed a 4-3 win over Louisiana Tech on Thursday, the first save for the Rice bullpen in a week’s time after repeated bullpen failures.

Little separated these teams the first time around with Marshall winning on walk-off hits in three consecutive games. The Owls would take a 1-3 finish against the Thunder Herd if that one win kept their season alive. They got their wish, beating Marshall 6-3.

As opposed to their previous CUSA Tournament games, there was no early start for Rice against Marshall. The Owls were blanked in the top of the first inning and fell behind on a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first.

With Kel Bordwine on the mound (instead of Jackson Parthasarathy who threw 1.2 innings against Lousiana Tech), Rice rallied. Doubles from Aaron Beaulaurier and Bradley Gneiting allowed Rice to tie the game 1-1 in the third. Pitches later, a misfire on a throw down to second let Gneiting scamper home for the go-ahead run.

Bordwine put together a strong outing, allowing three runs in 4.1 innings. Kendal Jefferies picked up where he left off finishing things off with 4.2 strong innings with no runs charged to his account.

Marshall would threaten on multiple occasions,  but Cade Edwards delivered much needed breathing room with a 2-RBI single in the eighth to extend the score to 6-3. The bullpen held on, once again, and Rice stayed alive.

Up Next | Southern Miss, Saturday – 9:00 AM

Tomorrow will test the resiliency of the Rice pitching staff. It’s going to take a Herculean effort from someone to come out of the loser’s bracket and reach the Conference USA Baseball Tournament Championship Game. Rice will have to beat Southern Miss twice to survive and advance. A second “if necessary” game would follow at 4:00 PM.

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Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO cornerback Miles Mccord commits to Owls

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The 2019 Rice football recruiting class added another JUCO product to their secondary, augmenting the existing class with cornerback Miles Mccord.

The secondary was a problem area for Rice during the 2018 season. The safety play showed improvement with the additions of Prudy Calderon and consistent play of George Nyakwol. The 2019 class provided important reinforcement in the form of Hunter Henry, Kirk Lockhart and JUCO transfer Naeem Smith.

The corner position was more up in the air. That spurred additional attention after the bulk of the 2019 class has signed. Rice signed one true corner, Josh Landrum, in the first pass at the 2019 class. They added another with the addition of Duncanville’s Tre’shon Devones.

Even with those signings, there’s still room for more competition at the position. JUCO transfer Miles Mccord has jumped into the mix, committing to Rice after spending the 2018 season at Golden West College.

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Mccord appeared in eight games for Gold West College. The Rustlers rotated a lot of bodies in the defensive backfield while Mccord was there, keeping him fresh for the Owls in 2019. Even with somewhat limited playing time, McCord stood out with his top-end speed and ability to play the run and the pass well from the split out corner position. He’s an instinctive tackler with some burst and looks to possess the requisite speed to keep in stride with some of the faster receiving corps Rice will face.

Getting faster was a must at the corner position after their struggles with the deep ball in 2018. Way too many receivers got behind the defense. Mccord adds that speed and a raw, 6-foot, 161-pound frame with time to develop the rest of his game alongside a rebuilt secondary which suddenly features a host of options. He’ll be thrown into the mix immediately.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2019 Cornerback Tre’shon Devones commits to Owls

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The 2019 Rice Football recruiting class added one more finishing touch with the commitment of Duncanville cornerback Tre’shon Devones.

The vast majority of schools around the nation have long since moved past their 2019 recruiting classes. Rice is working tirelessly to ensure they have the best talent available to them in every capacity possible. The 2019 class was poised to be special, but it got even better with one last addition from the high school ranks.

The Owls have tucked another high-ceiling, game-changing defensive prospect into their 2019 recruiting class. Teammate of Rice signee De’Braylon Carroll at Texas high school powerhouse, Duncanville, Tre’shon Devones has made his pledge to Rice.

A 3-star cornerback recruit, Devones committed to Air Force in February but chose not to sign a Letter of Intent on National Signing Day. That left him the latitude to sign with another school, should he choose to do so.

After weighing his options, Devones has opted to do just that. He picked Rice over Air Force, as well as offers from Baylor, Iowa State, Syracuse and Washington State. His addition immediately bolsters a position of great need.

Rice Football, Rice Football RecruitingDevones is the second-highest rated commitment in the 2019 class, trailing only standout California WR/DB Jake Bailey. Were he a member of the 2020 class, which ranks No. 1 among all CUSA schools, he’d be the highest rated recruit to commit thus far. When those inside the walls at South Main talk about raising the level of talent in the program, players like Devones are who they’re talking about.

The 6-foot, 165 pound defensive back plays with aggression. He’s going to attack the ball in the air and isn’t afraid to come up from the secondary to make a play. Devones is athletic and good with his hands, making opposing quarterbacks pay for their misfires with his fast break.

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