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Rice Basketball Recruiting: G Kellen Amos commits to Owls

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The first Rice basketball recruiting addition of the new coaching staff is in. CCSU guard Kellen Amos has committed to the Owls.

Newly named Rice basketball head coach Rob Lanier has assembled his staff and hit the recruiting trail in earnest. The first commitment of his tenure comes in the form of Houston native Kellen Amos, who kicks off this new Rice basketball recruiting cycle with a bang, joining the Owls after spending the last two seasons at Central Connecticut State University.

Amos played his high school ball at Saint John College Prep in Houston before signing with Binghamton. He played two seasons there before transferring to CCSU where he stepped into a larger role with the Blue Devils. Amos started 63 games over the last two seasons, averaging 13.0 points per game and making 109 combined three-pointers.

With his help, CCSU secured the regular season title in the Northeast Conference. He was rewarded for his efforts with an all-NEC third-team selection this past season. In addition to Emory Lanier, head coach Rob Lanier’s son, Amos has also been joined by Villanova transfer Trey Patterson, slowly building up the Owls’ roster for the 2024-2025 season.

More: Rice Basketball Roster Tracker

Amos’ time at CCSU is filled with highlight-reel plays. He’s a capable scorer at multiple levels, adding a fearlessness at the rim to his ability to hit the deep shot, too. He’s also a threat on the defensive end of the court, protecting the rim with his 6-foot-7 frame and finding ways to turn defense into offense, like this.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Georgia transfer OL Chad Lindberg commits to Owls

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The first big Rice football recruiting pickup of the post-spring Transfer Portal cycle is in. Former Georgia offensive lineman Chad Lindberg has committed to the Owls.

An offensive line coach at heart, head coach Mike Bloomgren would be hard-pressed to ever say he has enough offensive linemen. Days removed from a spring game that featured a productive, but injury-plagued front line, reinforcements are coming. Former Georgia offensive lineman Chad Lindberg has committed to the Owls, the latest victory for the Rice football recruiting department.

A former four-star recruit from League City, Texas, Lindberg was a hot commodity in the 2020 recruiting cycle, ultimately choosing Georgia over Texas. After redshirting with the Bulldogs in 2020, he appeared in 22 games over the next three seasons, operating primarily as a backup and special teams member. Because of the frequency of how often Georgia steamrolled its opponents, though, Lindberg saw a fair amount of action.

Lindberg also marks the second straight season Rice has landed an offensive line transfer from the Power 5 ranks. Nebraska transfer Brant Branks started all 13 games for the Owls at left guard last season. He had been slated to transition to right tackle this spring and played well, but Lindberg’s addition might cause further shuffling on the Owls’ front five.

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Lindberg is a tackle by trade but should have the flexibility to kick inside if that’s how Rice opts to find their best five at the position. More than anything else, this move solidifies the Owls’ depth at the position, giving them at least two starting caliber options at every position, something this staff has been dreaming about since they arrived at South Main and a luxury among the Group of 5 ranks. Lindberg has two years of eligibility remaining.

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Rice Football 2024 Spring Notebook 8: Defensive Takeaways

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A veteran Rice football defense showcased plenty of up-and-coming talent. Here’s what we learned from that side of the ball during spring practices.

The offense won the first scrimmage, but it was the Rice football defense that stood tall in the spring game, stonewalling the Owls’ best offensive weapons when pitting best against best. What did we learn about the defensive side of the ball and which players positioned themselves the best for the upcoming fall season?

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Personnel evolution

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Rice Football Recruiting: RB D’Andre Hardeman commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class has doubled in size, adding its second commitment in the form of North Shore running back D’Andre Hardeman.

A highly attended spring game has paid its first dividend. Days removed from dozens of high school players descending on South Main, the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class has added another piece. North Shore running back D’Andre Hardeman has committed to the Owls.

When he arrives at Rice, Hardeman will join up with teammate and current Rice signee Lavonte Johnson, who signed with the Owls on National Signing Day. Both players were offered on the same day in late January. Now both will suit up for the Blue and Gray. There’s also the notable link between Rice linebackers coach Jon Kay, who came to Rice last season after a successful coaching career at North Shore.

Hardeman, the son of former Texas A&M running back Tiki Hardeman, was by no means flying under the radar since then. The Owls were one of almost a dozen offers he received. He eventually picked Rice over offers from UTSA, UTEP, Arkansas State, UTEP and others.

The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class now consists of Hardeman and Madison Prep (LA) athlete Semaj Pierre, who was the first to pledge to the Owls in this cycle, doing so back in the summer of 2023.

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The 5-foot-8, 180-pound runner put up video game numbers on one of the best teams in the state of Texas, tallying 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns last season alone and the film matches the boxscore. He’s an explosive runner with great vision, showcasing the patience to make the right cut and quickly climbing to the second level. He’ll be set to flourish in the Owls’ offensive scheme.

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Rice Baseball edges UAB for first-ever AAC series win

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Rice Baseball narrowly missed a series sweep, settling for two wins over the weekend against UAB, their first-ever AAC series victory.

FRIDAY | Rice 4 – UAB 2

The Rice bats wasted no time on Friday night, staking staff ace Parker Smith to an early lead. RBI singles from Treyton Rank and Pierce Gallo put the Owls in front 2-0 in the first. Rank drove in another run when he was hit by a pitch in the second inning.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball tops TAMU-CC in midweek action

Leading 3-0, Smith cruised through six innings. He briefly ran into trouble in the fourth, allowing the Blazers to score twice, but was otherwise unscathed. Jacob Devenney added an insurance run on an RBI double in the sixth. Tom Vincent took over in the seventh and bridged 1.1 innings to closer Davion Hickson, who earned the save.

SATURDAY | Rice 4 – UAB 3 (15 inn.)

JD McCracken delivered a quality start in Game 2, his lone blemish coming via an unearned run when a defensive error allowed the Blazers to get on the board in the third inning. McCracken avoided having a loss tacked on his ledger when Devenny delivered a sac fly in the eighth inning to tie the game. That would be the last run for quite a while as the game entered extra innings and stayed deadlocked at 1-1 until the twelfth.

UAB went in front with two runs in the top of the inning and it might have been more had the potential third run not been tagged out at the plate. That proved to be significant soon after as Rice tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a single and a sac fly. Level at 3-3, Eric Correa provided the final dramatics, delivering a walk-off double to right field to clinch the series.

SUNDAY | UAB 4 – Rice 3

The two sides traded runs in the early innings, completing the third inning tied at one and the fourth inning tied at three before UAB went out in front in the fifth, 4-2. Rice starter Tucker Alch was lifted for the tandem of Garrett Stratton and Mauricio Rodriguez, who combined to throw five scoreless innings, giving the offense a chance to claw back.

Rice got one run in the eight on a two-out, RBI single from Ben Dukes. They then had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the ninth, but squandered a leadoff triple from Jack Riedel, failing to get him home. With the running run 90-feet away, the Owls fell by one run.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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1. It’s Time for a Devenny/Dukes Dialogue

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ON DECK | at USF (Fri-Sun)

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