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Rice Football Recruiting: CB AJ Stephens commits to Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class picked up a difference-maker on the outside. Corner back AJ Stephens has committed to the Owls.

For the second time in the past month, the 2023 Rice football recruiting class has added a playmaker in the secondary. MacArthur cornerback AJ Stephens has committed to the Owls. Stephens joins fellow Texas High School product Jamarion Clark (South Oak Cliff), who committed to Rice in mid-May as a tandem of cover men for the future.

Stephens, a versatile athlete, was also a star on his basketball team where he excelled on the defensive end of the court along with his shooting prowess. That athleticism and ability to lock down his man translates to the gridiron as well where Stephens says he prides himself on “being able to come down and make tackles and cover the best receiver on the other team.”

Rice was the first program to offer Stephens back in May. Since then, he also picked up an offer from Prairie View A&M before opting to make his pledge to the Owls. Stephens cited the facilities and the staff as driving reasons for his decision. In his eyes, “to also have coaches with NFL experience is amazing because they know how to get me to the next level.”

Stephens elevates the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class up to eight commitments. He and the aforementioned Clark are the only two defensive pledges so far, with the remainder being a quintet of offensive lineman and quarterback Chase Jenkins.

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Rice seeks after players with size and physicality for its defensive scheme. They also need corners who are comfortable on an island. Stephens’ film showcases those characteristics extremely well. He’s excellent in coverage and can lean forward and deliver a blow when he picks up a full head of steam. He’ll fit in well at South Main.

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Rice Baseball: 2022 MLB Owls update – June 8

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The 2022 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon has been out since May 28 when he was placed on the Injured List. Per a report, he took ground balls at third base this week but has not yet progressed to throwing.

Through June 1 Rendon is hitting .242 with 14 extra-base hits, 21 walks and 31 strikeouts. His OPS is .738 and he’s collected 23 RBI.

J.T. Chargois – Tampa Bay Rays

Chargois remains on the 60-day Injured List and won’t be available for the Rays until mid-July at the earliest. He’s made one appearance with the team so far this season.

Through June 1, Chargois has a 0.00 ERA with a 0.000 WHIP. He’s averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Even though it started with his seventh hold of the season, this week wasn’t kind to Duffey. After working a scoreless inning against the Blue Jays on Friday, he gave up three runs to the Jays in two thirds of an inning on Sunday. He then was roughed up for three more runs in one inning against the Yankees on Tuesdays. The six earned runs surrendered this week are as many runs as he gave up in the entire month of May combined.

Through June 1, Duffey has a 6.55 ERA with a 1.500 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge earned his second win of the season this week, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings on Tuesday against the Twins. He faced six batters and allowed just one hit, utilizing an efficient 18 pitches.

Through June 1, Luetge has a 5.14 ERA with a 1.500 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Glenn Otto – Texas Rangers

Otto found the win column for the third consecutive game, earning his fourth victory of the season behind a five-inning, two-run, two-hit performance against the Mariners. He’s dropped his ERA more than two full points since May 14.

Through June 1, Otto has a 4.24 ERA with a 1.364 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Army LB Shepherd Bowling commits to Owls

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Rice Football recruiting has picked up a commitment from a hometown player. Army transfer Shepherd Bowling has committed to the Owls.

Shepherd Bowling is headed back to Texas. Formerly a star linebacker on the 2020 Katy High School state championship team, Bowling committed to Army during the 2021 recruiting cycle. After spending one season at West Point, the hometown product is coming back to Texas as the newest member of the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

As a high school senior, Bowling chose Army over offers from Air Force, several Ivy League programs and a few local FCS schools — Sam Houston, Lamar, and Incarnate Word among others.  After redshirting in his lone season at Army, he comes to Rice with four years of eligibility remaining.

Bowling’s addition comes after the recent defection of one-time Rice commit linebacker Cam Dillon, who elected to enroll at Duke this summer instead of coming to Houston. That left Rice in need of reinforcements at the position. Bowling had entered the Transfer Portal in the weeks prior to Dillon’s decision.

The 2022 Rice football recruiting class has now grown to 37 players, accounting for scholarship and preferred walk-on players. That number is likely to grow in the coming weeks prior to the beginning of the fall semester.

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As for Bowling’s prowess on the field, there’s a lot to like. In high school he primarily lined up outside and made a beeline for the ballcarrier. His film shows a player who is tremendous in pursuit but can still get low and bring his opponent to the ground with a thump. He also showed good awareness in coverage, something that’s always a plus to have given the variety of roles in the Owls’ defensive scheme.

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Southern Miss to represent Conference USA Baseball in Super Regionals

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Conference USA Baseball sent two teams to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Southern Miss has advanced to the Super Regional Round.

Southern Miss

From start to finish, Southern Miss found themselves on a white-knuckled ride through the Hattiesburg Regional. The hosts were challenged right out of the gate, winning a 2-0 game over Army. Southern Miss then took a 6-2 lead into the ninth inning against 2-seed LSU before falling to the Tigers in extras. That sent Southern Miss to the loser’s bracket.

If anyone had the pitching depth to suffer an early loss and make it to a regional file, though, it had would have been Southern Miss. Sure enough, the Golden Eagles took down Kennesaw State 4-3 and won a revenge game against LSU on Sunday 8-4, setting up a winner-take-all finale on Monday.

Southern Miss drew first blood with a leadoff solo home run in the first before LSU broke through with a three-run bottom half of the inning to take the lead. The back and forth would pick up in the seventh inning until Southern Miss delivered the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run in the ninth.

By virtue of their regional victory and the elimination of national seed Miami, Southern Miss will host next week’s Super Regional, the first time doing so in program history. They’ll play a best-of-three series against Ole Miss, who won the Coral Gables Regional. The Rebs and the Eagles split their season series 1-1.

Louisiana Tech

Following their victory in the Conference USA Tournament, Louisiana Tech was awarded the No. 2 seed in the Austin regional. The Bulldogs took down Dallas Baptist in their opening game 12-5 and took host Texas to the wire in their second game. Tied 1-1 after six innings, Texas would pull ahead with a three-run seventh to send Louisiana Tech to an elimination game.

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Louisiana Tech jumped out to a 4-0 lead against 4-seed Air Force on Sunday before both bullpens started to falter and both sides poured on additional runs. Air Force would go on to win 9-7, eliminating Louisiana Tech from the tournament.

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Rice Football Recruiting: WVU OL John Hughes commits to Owls

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Rice Football recruiting continues to hammer the trenches, picking up another offensive line commitment, this time from WVU transfer John Hughes.

For the third time in this cycle, Rice football recruiting has added an offensive lineman from the Transfer Portal. The Owls added JUCO players Weston Kropp in April and Isaiah Gonzalez in May. With the calendar only recently flipping to June, they’ve picked up a commitment from West Virginia transfer John Hughes.

Hughes played in 31 games, making at least seven starts over three seasons in Morgantown. In 2020, He played 365 offensive snaps without giving up a sack and was part of an offensive line unit that ranked No. 28 nationally in total offense and No. 4 in the Big 12 in the fewest sacks allowed. Now as a graduate, he’s headed to South Main.

Also offered by Florida State and Houston coming out of high school, Hughes has experience at both right guard and right tackle. Redshirt freshman Ethan Onianwa manned the right tackle spot throughout spring and the guard duties were shared by Braedon Nutter and Shea Baker.

At this point in his career, he’s played more college football than Nutter and Onianwa and he should get a shot to compete for a meaningful role in fall camp. When he arrives, he’ll join fellow ex-Mountaineer wide receiver Isaiah Esdale who announced his intention to transfer to Rice on National Signing Day.

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The Rice offensive line was run through in the early portions of spring practices before ending on what seemed to be a high note in the spring game. Three transfer additions, as well as five high school commitments, seem to suggest the staff might have had more concern up front than they let on. Still, they’ll have plenty of options to work with come the fall, and that’s definitely a good thing.

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