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Rice Football Recruiting: OL Justin Michaelis commits to Owls

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Scott Abell’s first new high school addition to the 2025 Rice Football Recruiting class is in. Offensive lineman Justin Michaelis has committed to the Owls.

The first objective for Scott Abell was to retain as many existing commitments to the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class as possible. With that objective largely met and a dozen players signed in December, he and his staff were able to turn their attention to potential new additions, landing their first from the high school ranks this week. Offensive lineman Justin Michaelis has committed to the Owls.

The connection between Michaelis and Rice is rather straightforward. His father, Derek Michaelis, played baseball for Rice from 1998-2000 before going on to reach AAA within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

Further still, Justin was offered by Abell at Davidson before subsequently being reoffered by Abell when he took the job at South Main. After letting the dust settle on most of the coaching staff, Michaelis then quickly opted to follow Abell to Rice where he became the fourth new member of the class.

The marriage of family ties and Abell’s scheme made it an easy decision. “I like how run-heavy they were,” Michaelis told The Roost. “They don’t just have the offensive line sit back and pass block. They instead use them to attack the defense and block and that’s what I like to do.”

The previous trio of new faces all hailed from the transfer portal. In the weeks between Abell’s hiring and Christmas the Owls signed JUCO defensive backs Jerrick Harper and Jo Chavez as well as former Cincinnati wide receiver Aaron Turner.

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Clearly the staff liked what they saw on film when they offered Michaelis the first time and those traits pop immediately upon further examination. Despite being a relatively large human being (6-foot-4, 290 pounds), Michaelis has quick feet and moves well.

“I feel that my lower body and explosiveness is my strength,” he said. “I am very hard and powerful off the ball and can down block or get to the second level very well.”

He’s well suited for this offense and has experience playing with his hand in the dirt and up as more of a tradition h-back or fullback role.

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Rice Football Recruiting: SAF Jo Chavez commits to Owls

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The Transfer Portal continues to be good to the 2025 Rice Football Recruiting class. JUCO safety Jo Chavez has committed to the Owls.

Christmas came a bit early for the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class. Roughly an hour after an announcement that wide receiver Aaron Turner would be transferring to Rice the Owls added another new face. JUCO safety Jo Chavez has committed to the Owls.

Following a freshman standout season at Saddleback College, Chavez entered the Transfer Portal where picked up offers from Rice, Eastern Illinois and Eastern Washington. Chavez didn’t waste any time once Rice entered the picture, committing four days after his offer from the Owls.

Chavez will have three seasons of eligibility remaining when he arrives on campus at South Main where he’ll look to contribute quickly to a defensive back room that turns over many of its starters from a season ago. He’ll be joined by fellow JUCO defensive back Jerrick Harper, the first transfer addition for Scott Abell and company, who committed to Rice the week prior.

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Standing 6-foot-1 and checking in at 195 pounds on the scale, Chavez is as physical as they come in the secondary with good hands, too. The lanky defensive back has good vision and explodes to the ball, fearless at the point of attack both aspects that jump out on his film. He promises to make his fair share of big plays when he suits up for the Blue and Grey.

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Rice Football Recruiting: WR Aaron Turner commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class just landed its first offensive addition from the Transfer Portal. Cincinnati transfer WR Aaron Turner has committed to the Owls.

The new offensive scheme was always going to require some new pieces, several of which were destined to come from the Transfer Portal. The first new addition by Scott Abell and his staff on that side of the ball is official in. Former Cincinnati wide receiver Aaron Turner has committed to the Owls.

Rice will be Turner’s third stop as a college player following a pair of two-year stints, first at UConn and then to Cincinnati. Turner was the Huskies’ leading receiver as a true sophomore in 2022 before moving on to the Big 12 where he was limited to 16 receptions over the past two seasons. He’s also seen frequent use as a runner, carrying the ball 26 times across his collegiate career.

Turner is one of three transfer commits the Owls have received this month joining a pair of JUCO defensive backs, Jerrick Harper and Jo Chavez. That trio will work to complement a strong high school class which largely stayed intact during the coaching transition.

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The 5-foot-9, 175-pound athlete wins with speed and elusiveness. A high school running back, Turner has been utilized in a variety of ways at each of his stops since. That sort of versatility jumps out on his film and undoubtably is what made him so appealing to the Owls.

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Rice Football Recruiting: CB Jerrick Harper commits to Owls

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The first transfer portal addition in the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class is in the fold. JUCO CB Jerrick Harper has committed to the Owls.

JUCO corner Jerrick Harper is the first transfer addition of the 2025 Rice Football Recruiting class and the first non-high school signee of the Scott Abell era. Abell made it clear his focus when he arrived was keeping the high school class intact. Once he achieved that, signing a dozen players during the early signing period, he moved to the portal where he landed this pledge from Harper.

In Harper, Rice is getting a prototypical outside corner (6-foot, 185-pounds) who should be able to step in and fill a hole on the roster left by departing Sean Fresch, who completed his final season of eligibility this past fall. Harper didn’t seen daunted by the high standard left by those before him.

“I loved the defense because I can play a lot of man coverage,” he told The Roost. “Guys on the back end can play fast and fly around.”

Harper had reported offers from Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Alcorn State, Eastern Michigan and Louisiana Tech, among others. He has multiple seasons of eligibility remaining after spending the past two years at Trinity Valley where he averaged just under one pass break up per game.

Quality cover corners with the necessary skillset and athleticism to play on an island on the outside aren’t in abundance in the Transfer Portal. That Harper is the type of player who can do that speaks highly of him and the Owls recruiting efforts to land him even before finalizing their coaching staff. Harper cited corners coach Jeremy Modkins as a reason for his decision.

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Harper’s film is a fun watch. He does a good job staying aware of where the ball is an positioning himself to have the right leverage in coverage. Some of the JUCO quarterbacks leave a lot to be desired when it comes to accuracy, but you can still see Harper’s good hands and quick feet setting him up for success.

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2024 Rice Football Winter Transfer Portal Tracker

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The 2024 Rice Football season is over and the Transfer Portal is officially open. Here’s the latest on who’s coming and going from South Main.

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