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Rice Football Recruiting 2021: Owls extend new wave of offers

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The first new batch of summer offers for the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class was handed out on Wednesday evening. Here’s a bit more info on the newest names to know.

The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class but most of its base this spring. Eight of the Owls’ nine current commitments came between March 8 and April 30. The only summer commitment to date came from quarterback Shawqi Itraish. Rice as offered two players since April: Chandler AZ wide receiver Jalen Richmond and Park City UT lineman Coco Lukrich.

Rice made their most expansive swathe of offers of the summer on Wednesday evening. They offered five players. Here’s a bit more on each of the new names and how they might fit in the 2021 class.

All of these names have been added to the offer tracker.

RB Evan Jackson – Woodland, GA

A quick look at Jackson’s highlights shows you how dynamic an athlete he is. A high school quarterback with plenty of speed, he projects as a running back at the next level. Rice would be open to playing him at corner, too. Frankly, he’s you’d want to get on the field. His quickness and intelligence helped earn him a track offer from Stanford.

WR Troy Lewis – Matoaca, VA

Rice has emphasized speed in recent recruiting classes, particularly with the younger wave of receiving options. Troy Lewis is built differently. He’s 6-foot-3 and plays big. Someone is going to have fill the gap left by Christian McStravick and Brad Rozner and players with good hands and great height are few and far between.

CB Ore Adeyo – Mansfield, TX

Adeyo could probably play a few positions in the secondary, but he’s already and impressive corner. Rice needs guys that can play on an island and win one-on-one battles. He moves well and plays with an edge, perfect attributes for someone who has to make his own way on the edge.

Saf Joshua Williams – Linden, AL

Joshua Williams is more of a true safety but has some flexibility to play all of the spots in the Rice defense. That flexibility is a trait the Owls have coveted on the recruiting trail. He’s a four-sport athlete.

Saf Walker Warncke – Needville, TX

High school teammate of current Rice commit Blake Boenisch, Warncke has some position flexibility. Wherever he lines up, he’s going to run through people and does not shy away from contact. He’s one of two Texas offers in the Owls made tonight (Adeyi).

Saf Marcus Williams – Hoover, AL

A highschool linebacker, Williams would probably fall into a Viper role at Rice — think Treshawn Chamberlain. He’s athletic with good vision when the ball is in the air. And he can lower his shoulder and deliver the big hit.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 38 – UTEP Football Preview with Adrian Broaddus

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The Roost Podcast welcomes Adrian Broaddus who covers UTEP Football for ESPN 600 El Paso and shares a big announcement concerning the site.

Rice Football opponent previews continue this week as we enter the summer months in earnest. After covering reigning Conference USA Champ UAB last week with AL.com’s Evan Dudley, we moved to the opposite end of the conference standings. This week’s guest is Adrian Broaddus who covers UTEP football for ESPN 600 El Paso.

From what the fans are saying to reasons to have hope in Dana Dimel and the Miners, we covered it all. We also drew some interesting parallels between the rebuilds at Rice and at UTEP. Prior to diving into the Miners, Matthew announces the launch of The Roost’s Patreon page. Then he and Carter discuss the latest in COVID-19 and college athletics.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to our chat with Adrian Broaddus on Episode 38.

Episode 38 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Thanks to all of you who have followed the show on Twitter and left a review on iTunes. It’s quick, but it makes a difference. Make sure you follow Adrian Broaddus on Twitter and let him know you enjoyed having him on the pod.
  • Subscribe on Patreon — If you enjoy the site and want to be a part of what we’re building at The Roost, please consider supporting us on Patreon. All who join the Starting Lineup tier or higher by July 1 receive a free copy of the 2020 Rice Football Preview.
  • COVID-19 updates — Houston brought athletes back to campus without testing everyone and promptly shut down their voluntary workouts. What ramifications could that have across the country?
  • Adrian Broaddus joins the show — Adrian shares his insight on UTEP football under the direction of Dana Dimel and what to expect from the Miners in 2020, including:
    • What success looks like for UTEP football in 2020
    • Potential breakout stars for the Miners this season
    • Whether or not Dimel will complete his five-year contract
    • The second edition of the Lightning Round

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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Rice Athletics: Owls have no plans to cut sports

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Athletic departments across the country are trimming back. Rice Athletics has no plans to cut sports and will keep its 14 teams intact.

Rice Athletics does not intend to cut any of its sponsored athletic teams. In fact, dropping a sport was never on the table at Rice. “It’s just not been part of our calculus at all,” Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard said.

The rationale for the ease of that decision hinges on how college athletics are currently structured. Rice fields 14 varsity sports, the minimum required by the NCAA to retain D1 status.

Dropping a sport to save money in the current environment would require Rice to get a waiver, which likely would be temporary. The ramifications of that decision are currently on display at Central Michigan.

CMU went below the required six men’s sports when it opted to drop the it’s men’s track and field this spring. To prevent the loss of their D1 status, they applied for a waiver which was granted in early June. Athletic Director Michael Alford noted that the waiver applied to the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years. If Central Michigan intends to maintain it’s D1 status beyond that, they’ll have to add another men’s sport or get another waiver.

Rice wasn’t interested in playing that game. Given the infrastructure and athletes already in place on campus, cutting back on a program for such a brief period of time might create more problems than it solves. Central Michigan may very well decide to reinstate its men’s track program in two years.

That said, the cancelation of the NCAA Tournament put universities across the nation in a tough spot. Many depend on revenue distributions from that marquee spring event. Losing that check put budgets everywhere under the microscope.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

That might have been enough to spur change on its own, but the dark cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to loom over the upcoming academic calendar. It quickly became clear that more changes were on the way.

Here’s a brief list of D1 programs that have been eliminated during the past four months:

  • Old Dominion: Wrestling
  • Central Michigan: Men’s track and field
  • Cincinnati: Men’s soccer
  • FIU: Men’s track and field (reported, not announced yet by school)
  • Akron: Men’s cross country, men’s golf and women’s tennis
  • Furman: Baseball and men’s lacrosse
  • Wisconsin Green-Bay: Men’s and women’s tennis
  • East Carolina: Men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s swimming and diving
  • App State: Men’s soccer, men’s tennis and men’s track and field
  • Wright State: Softball, men’s and women’s tennis
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Rice Athletics: Bubble inflation some good news on South Main

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Rice Athletics has its bubble. After more than a year of waiting, the Waltrip Indoor Training center has been inflated and will soon be ready for use.

Originally announced last summer, the Waltrip Indoor Training Center is nearing completion. For the first time, the bubble, as it is more often referred to, began being inflated on Friday morning. It’s expected to be permanently inflated in the coming weeks.

The inflation process capped off an extended construction period that was delayed by electrical issues a year ago and a pandemic this spring.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

The structure is named after Robert L. Waltrip. The lead gift giver, Waltrip was recruited to Rice under head coach Jess Neely in 1953. The center stands adjacent to Historic Rice Stadium in the attached parking lot. In his original statement so many months ago, Waltrip voiced his excitement for the project:

“I am grateful to be in the position to support this facility, which will have such a positive impact for student-athletes and the entire Rice community,” Waltrip said. “My connection to Rice began when I was young and my father would take me to football games at the old Rice Field. That connection stayed with me through my college years and into my adulthood. This is my hometown school and I will always be proud to be a Rice Owl.”

The inflatable indoor facility is yet another infrastructure addition for Rice Athletics in recent history. The Brian Patterson center was the most recent new construction, completed in the Fall of 2016. That, combined with the bubble, will help keep Rice in the arms race that is modern college athletics recruiting.

Further renovations to the stadium itself were under consideration prior to the financial impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in recent months. There is no set timetable for those changes at this time. When the time is right, they will be at the forefront for consideration.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2021 QB Shawqi Itraish commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has its quarterback. Bradenton, Florida signal caller Shawqi Itraish has committed to the Owls.

After several months of searching, the 2021 Rice football recruiting class has landed its quarterback. Shawqi Itraish from Bradenton, Florida has committed to Rice. Itraish is a pro-style quarterback who does most of his damage in the pocket. That’s a different mold than JoVoni Johnson, the Owls’ most recent high school signee at the position.

Rice did not sign a high school quarterback in the 2020 class, opting instead for two transfers. They added Mike Collins from TCU and TJ McMahon from the junior college ranks. That made finding the right high school passer a crucial component of the 2021 class.

The Owls were choosy with their offers, only handing out five despite the importance of the position. Three of those came on the cusp of the recruiting dead period set off my the COVID-19 restrictions, including Itraish’s. Landing a commitment from him during a pandemic is a credit to the Owls’ staff. Itraish chose Rice over offers from Appalachian State, UConn and Buffalo, among others.

More: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting commitment tracker

The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class now has nine commitments, including Itraish. All nine are rated as three-star recruits by 247 Sport. Itraish and offensive lineman Faaenuu Pepe, the Owls’ first commitment of the class, are their only two out-of-state commits at this time.

Itraish stands 6-foot-3 and weighs just under 200 pounds. There’s a lot to like about Itraish on the field. He throws with anticipation and is a quick processor. He checks a ton of boxes on the mental side of the position and plays with toughness. He’s not afraid to take a hit and finds ways to get the ball where it needs to be under pressure.

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