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2024 Rice Football Recruiting Class pickup up steam before NSD

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As National Signing Day nears, the 2024 Rice Football Recruiting class (and the 2025 class) keeps getting better and better. Here’s the latest.

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Big moves since the Early Signing Period

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Grab Bag: What’s going on around Rice Athletics? Jan 2024 Q&A

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Rather than drill down on one topic, subscribers had a variety of questions this month touching all areas of Rice Athletics. We hit on them all.

A lot is going on around Rice Athletics right as the new year begins. This mailbag touches on a host of topics ranging from Scott Pera’s coaching tenure and basketball facilities, football recruiting, baseball and more.

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Q: Did Rice really just land the best recruit in program history? How? What?

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Rice Football Recruiting: DB Lavonte Johnson commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class picked up a massive late cycle get, adding DB Lavonte Johnson, the highest-rated commit in program history.

One of the higher-rated unsigned players following the early signing period, North Shore defensive back Lavonte Johnson has his fair share of opportunities to play at the next level. With time ticking down before National Signing Day, Johnson has made his decision and become the latest member of the 2024 Rice Football Recruiting class.

Johnson picks Rice after receiving offers from a host of notable programs including Ole Miss, Houston, Nebraska, Purdue, Texas Tech, Arizona State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and SMU. He was also offered by fellow AAC programs Tulane, North Texas and UTSA.

Recruiting services agreed with his lengthy offer list, grading him out as a high three-star prospect. As things currently stand, Johnson would become the highest-rated signee in program history when he puts pen to paper in February. That distinction currently belongs to Jeremy Eddington (2010). Gabe Taylor (2020) is the highest-rated signee under head coach Mike Bloomgren so far, third all-time.

Johnson played his senior season at North Shore High School, the longtime home of current Rice linebackers coach Jon Kay, however, he spent his first three seasons at CE King High School and wouldn’t have played for Kay. This isn’t merely Kay landing a former player of his, this is Rice continuing to elevate their talent level with an impressive recruiting win.

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The tape matches the ratings. Johnson is quick out of his breaks and arrives ready to deliver a heavy blow. At 6-foot-2, 180 pounds he has the size to match up with just about any pass catcher. It remains to be seen where he’ll land in the Owls’ defensive scheme which emphasizes versatility, but his natural athleticism and abilities to cover one-on-one downfield will suit him wherever he lines up

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Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO LB Blaise Tita commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class picked up another transfer this week. JUCO linebacker Blaise Tita has committed to the Owls.

The first junior college transfer in the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class is officially in the fold. A local product who played his high school ball just down the road at Alief Taylor High School, Killgore Junior College linebacker Blaise Tita has committed to the Owls.

Tita spent the 2022 season with Lamar, initially playing sparingly before finishing the season with 19 tackles in his final three games. From there he transferred to the JUCO level, looking for a bounce back. When he reentered the portal this offseason he had received offers North Alabama, Southeastern, Mississippi Valley State and Abilene Christian. Then Rice swooped in and sealed the deal.

“It’s truly a blessing,” Tita told The Roost. “I can’t wait to make the most of it.”

Tita is the first commitment since the early signing period when Rice formally announced 13 additions to their program. He’s the second linebacker in the class and should pair well with incoming freshman Kaleb Blanton. Tita has at least two seasons of eligibility remaining, with the potential for a third.

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Tita is always ready to deliver a big hit. A quick look at his play from his stint at Lamar makes that abundantly clear. And unlike a perfectly cut up highschool highlight reel, Tita’s season’s worth of action at Lamar lays his play out in the open. He’s aggressive and instinctive and appears to have some range. Rice football definitely knows what it wants from an outside linebacker at this point. Tita fits the bill.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 171 – Rice Football Season Review and Signing Day

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It’s time to put a bow on the 2023 Rice Football Season as we recap the bowl game loss, break down signing day and more.

There are bad quarterback days, and then there’s the sort of disastrous day Rice football experienced in the First Responders Bowl against Texas State. The end result stung and there’s a lot to unpack. Where does Rice go from here? And how do we make sense of that game? Also, some closing thoughts on the season as a whole and a look at the Owls recent signing class.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 171.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite. So is the brand new Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

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Rice Football End of Season Review

  • What went wrong for the Owls in the bowl game?
  • Can we write off the anomalously bad quarterback play and what needs to be fixed?
  • Did the defense quietly post its most impressive outing of the season?
  • The most encouraging moments from the season
  • Reasons to be concerned moving forward
  • Highlights from the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class and more

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.ri

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