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Rice Football Recruiting: RB LJ Johnson commits to Owls

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The first Rice football recruiting addition of the spring portal window comes from just north of town. SMU running back LJ Johnson has committed to the Owls.

From the moment the spring Transfer Portal window opened, the buzz surrounding Rice football recruiting a veteran running back for the Owls’ run-heavy scheme was everywhere. The Owls brought in several backs, eventually landing on an in-state transfer. Former Texas A&M and SMU running back LJ Johnson has committed to the Owls.

A four-star recruit out of Cy Fair High School in Cypress, TX, Johnson committed to Texas A&M over Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Ohio State and the full gamut of big names in the sport. He was used sparingly in two seasons with the Aggies before transferring to SMU where he played a larger role in two seasons with the Mustangs.

Johnson ran for 879 yards on 182 carries, averaging 4.8 yards per carry over 24 games. He scored nine touchdowns. While Rice and SMU shared the AAC together, he carried the ball 15 times for 73 yards in one game at Rice Stadium against the Owls, also racking up three receptions for 26 yards through the air.

This addition gives the Owls a rather stout running back room, which returns the versatile Quinton Jackson, exciting redshirt freshman Taji Atkins with Daelen Alexander, and a pair of exciting freshmen in the fold. A veteran with big-game experience, Johnson balances out a younger room that has less tread on the tires. At 5-foot-10 and 219 pounds, he’s also the stockiest back on the roster.

Premium: Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Johnson has been a complimentary piece and performed well, but when given the chance to shine, he’s showcased some impressive athletic traits. He has a decisive first step like seen on the highlight below and has proven himself durable. In a brief stint as the workhorse for SMU in 2023, Johnson carried the ball 56 times for 294 yards, scoring twice in a three-game stint against Rice, North Texas and Memphis.

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: F Eternity Eguagie commits to Owls

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A dynamic JUCO hooper is joining the 2025 Rice basketball recruiting class. Forward Eternity Eguagie has committed to the Owls.

Since he arrived at South Main, head coach Rob Lanier has made it abundantly clear he’ll look everywhere for talented playmakers to add to his roster. The most recent addition to the 2025 Rice Basketball recruiting class. By way of a Kansas junior college, Canadian native Eternity Eguagie has committed to the Owls.

Eguagie picked Rice over offers from UMass, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Austin Peay and others, bringing his dynamic scoring abilities to Texas after one year at the junior college ranks. He started all 31 games for Colby Community College, averaging 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, pacing his team in most every category while averaging more than 30 minutes per game.

As for why Eguagie picked the Owls, “Rice just felt like home,” he told The Roost. “The coaching staff made me feel valued and I could really see myself growing both as a player and as a person in that environment.”

Rice has had success acquiring talent from outside the D1 level, most recently finding Jacob Dar from Emory and Henry a season ago. The reality, though, was that many of the Owls’ transfer portal additions a year ago came from outside the sport’s marquee brands. The same can be said of this current class.

The 2025 Rice Basketball recruiting class also includes players from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (center Stephen Giwa), Prairie View A&M (guard Nick Anderson) as well as Mount St. Mary’s (guard Dallas Hobbs).

More: Rice Basketball 2025 Roster Tracker

Eguagie’s athleticism is intoxicating on film. He was a force at the rim against his JUCO peers, but even if some of that is limited by the step-up in competition, the 6-foot-6 forward possesses enough quickness and versatility that suggests he’ll be able to find additional ways to contribute. He’s a reliable three-point shooter, too.

“Rice fans can expect someone who is going to give their absolute all every time I step on the court,” he said. “As well as a dedicated and hardworking player who is always striving to improve.”

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Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 7: Offensive Takeaways

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The new-look Rice football offense was installed this spring and we learned a lot about what this side of the ball will look like under head coach Scott Abell.

It was mostly encouraging news regarding the Rice football offense as head coach Scott Abell and his staff started installation this spring. In his words, they got “probably 60 percent” of the way toward where they need to be while he’d been hoping for the group to get to 75 percent by the end of the spring.

More: Rice Football Spring Game Takeaways

“The meat and potatoes are in,” he teased, reinforcing the team had gotten the bones of the offense installed. With those pieces in place, it’s time to step back and make an assessment of how this side of the ball is doing and what we learned from it during the spring.

Off to the races

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: G Nick Anderson commits to Owls

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Another Transfer Portal addition to the Rice basketball recruiting class has been announced. Prairie View A&M guard Nick Anderson committed to the Owls.

Days after the Transfer Portal has opened the 2025 Rice Basketball recruiting class has grown by two. Following the commitment of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi center Stephen Giwa on Thursday, the Owls have picked up another pledge. Prairie View A&M guard Nick Anderson has committed to the Owls.

“They made me feel the most wanted, and made sure I knew they would have my back whether things are good or bad,” Anderson told The Roost in regards to his early impressions of Rice and the Owls’ staff. “It just felt like family as soon as I walked through the doors.”

To get to South Main, Anderson has worked his way up from the DIII level, beginning his collegiate basketball career at St. Thomas in 2022, scoring 8 points with four rebounds against Rice in 2023 on his way to averaging 16.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game during that sophomore season. From there, Anderson made the leap to D1 and did not miss a beat.

In his lone season at Prairie View, Anderson averaged 18.9 points per game before suffering an injury that ended his season. At the time his season ended in late December, following an 18-point, 10-rebound performance against Rice, Anderson was the leading scorer in the WAC who already had big games against DePaul, Mississippi State and UCLA on his resume.

Anderson is the type of explosive scorer the Owls needed desperately last season and in terms of how transfers are graded, he’s one of the more proven commodities that have headed to South Main in recent years.

More: Rice Basketball 2025 Roster Tracker

“I feel like I score the ball at a high level without having to force it and ruin the flow of the offense,” Anderson said.

The highlights are enticing and seem to back up Anderson’s assertions. He isn’t afraid to put the ball down and go, moving with an aggressive intensity in the paint. He’s also a capable three-point threat, making him a versatile scorer from all three levels and a big get for Rice basketball from the portal.

“I like to have fun on the court, so I may have some goofy reactions,” he joked. “lol “But winning is the most important thing so I’m here to help Rice win some games.”

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Rice Baseball takes two of three at Memphis

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Rice Baseball took two of three against Memphis, wining a second-straight AAC series and improving their overall record to 11-4 in games at Memphis all-time

THURSDAY | Rice 10, Memphis 5

Rice baseball struck first with a two-run first, setting up Tucker Alch with breathing room in the series opener. He’d allow Memphis to level the score in the first inning and make his way through several uneventful innings after that as the Rice bats continued to produce. Leading 6-2 in the fifth, Alch ran into trouble and was replaced by Davion Hickson, making a second consecutive relief appearance.

More: 59 Minutes — David Pierce Challenges Rice baseball to grow

Hickson got out of the jam with just one run allowed and made quick work of Memphis until the Tigers loaded the bases in the eighth with no outs. Austin Eppley would come on in relief, notching a strikeout and double-play to get extinguish the threat. The Owls added three insurance runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

FRIDAY | Rice 9, Memphis 5

Memphis made JD McCracken battle through 5.2 grueling innings on the road. The Owls’ starter surrendered eight hits and five runs, but got through 26 batters with only two extra base hits against him and giving his own hitters a chance to keep pace. The Rice batters did one better, matching Memphis score for score and eventually taking the lead outright in the fifth.

The first two runs for Memphis came via a single and an error in the second. An error allowed Rice to even the score in the next half inning. Memphis scored one in the third. Rice got it back on a sac fly from Blaine Brown in the next frame. Memphis got another in the fourth. Then Rice broke through with two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth, spotting McCracken a 6-5 lead when he left the mound.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball posts emphatic series win over USF

Jack Ben-Shoshan came on in relief and retired the next seven batters he faced, allowing the first hit against him in the ninth, but Rice had scored three more insurance runs at that point, giving plenty of cushion as Ben-Shoshan worked through traffic to post another scoreless frame, earning the save.

SATURDAY | Memphis 13, Rice 2

For the second consecutive series, Rice baseball turned to Jackson Blank in the final game. This time around, Blank ran into some trouble early in his outing. Leading 1-0 by way of a Landon West sac fly, Blank allowed two hits, a walk and a run in the second before being forced from the game with a home run and two more singles in the third.

Garett Stratton held the line for a while, but ran into trouble in the fifth, forcing David Pierce to reach deeper into his bullpen. Then the dam broke. Rice pitchers allowed nine runs in the next three innings as the offense watched quietly. The game was ended by run rule in the seventh with Memphis leading 13-2.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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