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Rice Football Recruiting: RB Rhys Phillips commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class took off over the weekend including running back Rhys Phillips, the newest of the Owls’ commits.

It’s been a very busy weekend at South Main, following a flurry of social media buzz the fifth new addition to the 2024 Rice football recruiting class in as many days has made his announcement. Versatile halfback Rhys Phillips has committed to the Owls.

Phillips chose Rice over North Texas, Louisiana Monroe, Army, Air Force and others. The familiar theme of the Owls trumping the Mean Green on the recruiting front continues to echo through the productive week at South Main.

As for where Phillips fits on the field, that might have more wiggle room. Listed in many recruiting services as a tight end, Phillips will be an H-back at the next level, playing running back in college. That’s something Phillips looks forward to when he arrives on campus.

“I take massive pride in my ability to play anywhere or be put in any position on the field,” he told The Roost. “I’ll play hand-down tight end, H-back, full back, slot, and outside receiver.”

As it stands, he’s the second back in the 2024 class, announcing his pledge just days after Westfield’s Taji Atkins. Phillips’ addition brings the 2024 class to eight total commits.

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The first thing that jumps out from Phillips’ film is the variety of different spots he lines up on the field. He filled so many different roles at the high school level so it doesn’t take much projection to find places he can make a difference at the next level.

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Rice Football Recruiting: OL Lane Jeffcoat commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class took off over the weekend including offensive lineman Lane Jeffcoat, the newest of the Owls’ commits.

The camp circuit came to South Main this past weekend and the 2024 Rice football recruiting class benefited from the influx of talent onto campus. The string of commitments began on Sunday and has continued to march onward every day since. The latest addition made his announcement on Tuesday: offensive lineman Lane Jeffcoat has committed to the Owls.

Jeffcoat picked Rice over offers from North Texas, Tulsa, Arkansas State and others. That’s yet another head-to-head recruiting win over the Mean Green this week and more victories over fellow AAC programs

Jeffcoat is the second offensive lineman in the class so far, making his pledge the day after fellow member of the trenches Luke Miller. In a class that is likely to have only a few slots for offensive linemen, the tandem on Miller and Jeffcoat makes for an extremely strong start.

He’s the seventh member of the class to date, although several other commitments have been hinted at by Owls’ recruiting director Marco Regalado on social media. That number is likely to grow quickly. Rice has already added four new members to the 2024 recruiting class this week.

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Standing 6-foot-9 and tipping the scales at 295 pounds, Jeffcoat certainly looks the part of a collegiate offensive lineman. His high school tape is filled with highlights of him outmuscling the competition. He’s not limited to raw power, though. He moves his feet well and drives would-be tacklers off the ball. The potential to combine those physical tools with technical skill makes his ceiling extremely high.

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Rice Football Recruiting: OL Luke Miller commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class took off over the weekend including offensive lineman Luke Miller, the newest of the Owls’ commits.

The camp circuit came to South Main this past weekend and the 2024 Rice football recruiting class benefited from the influx of talent onto campus. One such visitor was offensive lineman Luke Miller, who enjoyed his time so much that he decided it was time to make his pledge official. Miller has committed to the Owls.

Miller chose the Owls over offers from Sam Houston, several military academies and a handful of Ivy League institutions. The Owls’ own academics played into his decision to commit to Rice. “The welcoming people and the amazing coaching staff were a huge factor,” Miller told The Roost, “but also the world-class education is something to never pass up on.”

Following a 2023 class that had five offensive line commitments before June at this point last year, Miller represents the first important investment in what is likely to be a smaller haul in the trenches this time around. That’s certainly understandable, especially when the first building block of that next class begins with a player like Miller.

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Miller’s tape is a lot of fun to watch, regardless of how much you appreciate good blocking. He’s just so dynamic. From the moment the ball is snapped he’s moving, plowing into his assigned man with intensity and quickness that’s disarming and impressive.

Above all, though, Miller stressed how thankful he is to be in this position. “I’m just super excited for this opportunity. I’m absolutely in love with this program,” he told The Roost. 

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Rice Football Recruiting: QB Drew Devillier commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class took off over the weekend including quarterback Drew Devillier, the newest of the Owls’ commits.

The camp circuit came to South Main this past weekend and the 2024 Rice football recruiting class benefited from the influx of talent onto campus. One key recruit wasn’t able to make it to camp, but didn’t miss out on the excitement. Quarterback Drew Devillier has committed to the Owls.

Devillier picked Rice over offers from Pitt, North Texas and others. His offer list was on the shorter side in part because as of a week previous, Devillier was committed to TCU to play baseball. He decommitted on June 12, announcing his intention to pursue a future in both baseball and football. Rice stepped up to the plate and won his services. Devillier plans to pursue both sports at Rice.

Devillier credited his relationship with offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo as crucial to his decision to pledge his future to the Owls, that and his comfort level with the offensive scheme.

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The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Devillier has a cannon for an arm and can really sling the football, but it’s ability to create off-schedule that jumps out most on his film. Devillier told The Roost “[I] feel like I have the ability to make any throw on the field. I think I improvise on broken plays pretty well also.” That certainly shines through on tape.

Devillier is a threat with the football that can make defenses pay when they cheat too far to either extreme, either in coverage or at the line of scrimmage. He’s a big get for the Owls, who have secured their quarterback of the future in the early weeks of the summer as the 2024 class really starts to grow in earnest.

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Rice Football Recruiting: RB Taji Atkins commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class took off over the weekend with eight new additions. The first, running back Taji Atkins, has committed to the Owls.

The camp circuit came to South Main this past weekend and the 2024 Rice football recruiting class benefited from the influx of talent onto campus. Hundreds of campers came through and a host of them left with offers. Eight made their verbal pledges to the program. Running back Taji Atkins was the first to go public, leading the charge on this weekend’s recruiting boom.

Atkins had racked up a fairly lengthy offer list before the Westfield product made his pledge to the hometown team. He picked Rice over offers from Tulsa, North Texas, Texas State, Sam Houston, San Diego State, Navy, Utah State and others. Beating out multiple AAC peers and a few instate, FBS opponents is a positive mark for the Owls when it comes to Atkins’ recruitment.

On the field, the 5-foot-9, 180-pound Atkins can do so many different things with the ball in his hands. He’s the kind of playmaker you get on campus as quickly as you can with the knowledge that he’ll find himself a place in the offense to make a difference soon enough.

As it stands, Atkins is the fourth member of the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class which will balloon past 10 members once all of this weekend’s commitments are announced. He’s the first running back in the fold and only the second high school running back the Owls’ have received a commitment from in the past four classes dating back through the 2021 class.

Update: Atkins decommitted from Rice in October but relationships with the Rice football recruiting staff remained in place. He hadn’t soured on the Owls, rather he wanted to test the waters elsewhere. Fortunately for all parties, Atkins has come full circle and repledged to Rice in mid-January.

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Atkins is an offensive weapon, a human highlight reel. Every recruit has some splash plays they put on the front of their film, Atkins’ homerun plays seemed to play forever. He has speed but there are flashes of power and patience in his game too. And the vision he runs with helps amplify those traits as he moves. He’s a ton of fun to watch and will be an incredibly useful piece in the Owls’ offense.

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