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Rice Football Recruiting: Army LB Shepherd Bowling commits to Owls

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Rice Football recruiting has picked up a commitment from a hometown player. Army transfer Shepherd Bowling has committed to the Owls.

Shepherd Bowling is headed back to Texas. Formerly a star linebacker on the 2020 Katy High School state championship team, Bowling committed to Army during the 2021 recruiting cycle. After spending one season at West Point, the hometown product is coming back to Texas as the newest member of the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

As a high school senior, Bowling chose Army over offers from Air Force, several Ivy League programs and a few local FCS schools — Sam Houston, Lamar, and Incarnate Word among others.  After redshirting in his lone season at Army, he comes to Rice with four years of eligibility remaining.

Bowling’s addition comes after the recent defection of one-time Rice commit linebacker Cam Dillon, who elected to enroll at Duke this summer instead of coming to Houston. That left Rice in need of reinforcements at the position. Bowling had entered the Transfer Portal in the weeks prior to Dillon’s decision.

The 2022 Rice football recruiting class has now grown to 37 players, accounting for scholarship and preferred walk-on players. That number is likely to grow in the coming weeks prior to the beginning of the fall semester.

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As for Bowling’s prowess on the field, there’s a lot to like. In high school he primarily lined up outside and made a beeline for the ballcarrier. His film shows a player who is tremendous in pursuit but can still get low and bring his opponent to the ground with a thump. He also showed good awareness in coverage, something that’s always a plus to have given the variety of roles in the Owls’ defensive scheme.

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London to Houston: NFL Academy makes Rice Football Recruiting visit

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More than a dozen players from the NFL Academy, based in the United Kingdom, were on campus Friday to check out Rice football.

The most recent Rice football recruiting visit had some international flair. Visiting Houston from London, England the NFL Academy brought 13 of its players for an unofficial visit on Friday morning, meeting with Rice staff in their first collegiate welcome to the United States which will kick off a busy recruiting weekend for these particular visitors.

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From London, to Houston

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Rice Football Recruiting: WVU OL John Hughes commits to Owls

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Rice Football recruiting continues to hammer the trenches, picking up another offensive line commitment, this time from WVU transfer John Hughes.

For the third time in this cycle, Rice football recruiting has added an offensive lineman from the Transfer Portal. The Owls added JUCO players Weston Kropp in April and Isaiah Gonzalez in May. With the calendar only recently flipping to June, they’ve picked up a commitment from West Virginia transfer John Hughes.

Hughes played in 31 games, making at least seven starts over three seasons in Morgantown. In 2020, He played 365 offensive snaps without giving up a sack and was part of an offensive line unit that ranked No. 28 nationally in total offense and No. 4 in the Big 12 in the fewest sacks allowed. Now as a graduate, he’s headed to South Main.

Also offered by Florida State and Houston coming out of high school, Hughes has experience at both right guard and right tackle. Redshirt freshman Ethan Onianwa manned the right tackle spot throughout spring and the guard duties were shared by Braedon Nutter and Shea Baker.

At this point in his career, he’s played more college football than Nutter and Onianwa and he should get a shot to compete for a meaningful role in fall camp. When he arrives, he’ll join fellow ex-Mountaineer wide receiver Isaiah Esdale who announced his intention to transfer to Rice on National Signing Day.

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The Rice offensive line was run through in the early portions of spring practices before ending on what seemed to be a high note in the spring game. Three transfer additions, as well as five high school commitments, seem to suggest the staff might have had more concern up front than they let on. Still, they’ll have plenty of options to work with come the fall, and that’s definitely a good thing.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Transfer Portal churn, offers and staff changes

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It’s been a whirlwind week on the Rice football recruiting front with new additions tempered by a few departures along the way.

More than two dozen offers were handed out to prospective members of future Rice football recruiting classes in the past week and a half. Those offers resulted in four commitments: former Notre Dame safety Litchfield Ajavon, JUCO offensive lineman Isaiah Gonzalaz, former HBU wide receiver Tyson Thompson and 2023 corner Jamarion Clark.

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This update will touch on those new commits, the wave of new offers and other changes on the recruiting front, including one portal loss and a staff change that will impact the Owls going forward.

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Rice Football Recruiting: WR Tyson Thompson commits to Owls

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Rice Football recruiting has added another pass catcher from the transfer portal, picking up a commitment from former HBU wideout Tyson Thompson.

A busy week for Rice football recruiting has yet to slow down. After adding two transfers and one more commitment from the high school ranks in the past six days, has Rice reached just across town to add another potential impact player for the offense. Former Houston Baptist wide receiver Tyson Thompson has committed to the Owls.

Formerly a member of the 2020 recruiting class, Thompson’s breakthrough season came last fall, his first complete season with the FCS program after HBU played only a partial schedule in his first year with the team. As a redshirt freshman, Thompson led the team in receptions (57) and yards (562) while hauling in two touchdowns.

Following his decision to enter the portal in late April, Thompson chose Rice over Ball State, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Northwestern State and others. A Houston native, Thompson said it had “always been a dream to play for Rice football.” After spending two seasons across town, he’ll have three years of eligibility with which to fulfill those dreams.

Thompson joins what will be an almost completely revamped recruiting corps for the Owls, built primarily from the Transfer Portal. He’ll join Bradley Rozner (JUCO transfer), Luke McCaffrey (Nebraska transfer), Sam Crawford (Tulsa transfer), Isaiah Esdale (West Virginia transfer), and Tre Patterson (New Mexico transfer) on the field next fall.

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Adding players that can stretch the field has been an emphasis of this coaching staff since they arrived at South Main. Thompson showcases that breakaway speed on the first play of his highlight tape, taking a shallow crossing route 50-yards to the house. He’s also a talented return man and could contribute on special teams right away.

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