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Rice Basketball Recruiting: Owls sign 2020 guard Noah Hutchins

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It’s been a challenging time to recruit, but Rice basketball hasn’t slowed down. The Owls signed guard Noah Hutchins during the national slowdown.

Rice basketball went all over the country to find the players right for life at South Main. During the winter they signed Mylyjael Poteat from North Carolina and Cameron Sheffield from Georgia. One of their next additions came from New York by way of IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL.

Known for it’s dominance on the football field, IMG fields a potent basketball squad as well. Guard Noah Hutchins led the way for their postgraduate group last season. As he’d hoped, his first out of state jump allowed him to showcase his abilities. After receiving some buzz in high school, Hutchins wanted another shot to show the nation what he was capable of doing.

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He caught the Owls’ eyes, making good on the bet he’d place on himself. Now he has a scholarship to play D1 Basketball at an elite academic institution. That leap is not lost of Hutchins, who is eager to get onto the court soon. The chance to make an instant impact, combined with the atmosphere of the program, the surroundings in Houston and the academics were enough to sway his decision.

His visit during winter break and subsequent conversations helped foster a relationship with the staff that was essential to that choice. Hutchins felt like family, saying it was evident Rice “cared about me as a person and not just a basketball player on their team.”

When he does get on the court, he aims to win. Hutchins won a state championship in high school and left as the Western New York High School Player of the Year before heading to IMG. He’s used to winning. “It’s all going to be different from here on out, in a good way,” he said. Rice fans would welcome a few more wins in 2020 and beyond.

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BREAKING: Christian Covington signs with Denver Broncos

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Former Rice football defensive lineman Christian Covington has a new NFL home, signing with the Denver Broncos in the days following the NFL Draft.

Christian Covington is on the move. Initially drafted by the Houston Texans after a standout Rice football career, Covington played four seasons in Houston. He tallied 7.5 sacks and 39 tackles, playing in the trenches alongside JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney.

From there, he signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys in 2019. He appeared in all 16 games with Dallas last year, setting career highs in tackles (20) and starts (six).

In mid-April, Covington joined The Roost Podcast and briefly discussed his free agency and future plans. He mentioned the current global climate was impacting how he and his agent went about normal business, but hoped to have a solution worked out soon.


Less than a week after the NFL Draft was finished, teams had answers to their depth chart questions and Covington had his next NFL home. Per Adam Caplan, Covington is joining the Broncos on a 1-year, $1.75 million contract with $625,000 guaranteed. Originally from Canada, this will be his first football season outside of Texas since coming to Rice in 2011.

Denver is a popular destination for former Owls in the NFL. Covington’s former college teammate corner Bryce Callahan is also with the team as is offensive lineman Calvin Anderson. Jordan Taylor, also a teammate of Covington’s, was with the Broncos through the 2018 season, just missing a reunion.

Find the latest updates on all former Rice football players in the NFL on our NFL Owls Tracker. The list has been updated to include the next wave of pro Owls. Three players from the 2019 squad have signed as undrafted free agents following the 2020 NFL Draft: Myles Adams (Carolina), Justin Gooseberry (Falcons) and Nick Leverett (Buccaneers).

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Rice Basketball Recruiting: Owls sign guard Jake Lieppert from JUCO ranks

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JUCO guard Jake Lieppert has committed to Rice Basketball. The sharpshooting guard will give the Owls a scoring threat from deep next season.

Rice basketball has restocked the cupboard on the fly this spring. After losing several key pieces to graduation and the Transfer Portal, the Owls signed a host of important additions. Jake Lieppert, a guard from Pima Community College in Arizona, was one of five players announced by the program in recent weeks.

The Owls’ new addition dominated his peers at the junior college level. He capped off his first collegiate season as the ACCAC Freshman of the Year.

Lieppert averaged 23.7 points per game and led the nation with 125 made three pointers. Had he done it at Rice, his 41.7 percent three-point field goal percentage would have been the best on the team, edging Quincy Olivari’s 38.0 mark from distance. Bottom line: Lieppert can shoot.

At his best, Lieppert is a scorer with incredible range. None of the Owls’ returning players took more than 100 threes last season. Of those who took more than 60, roughly two attempts per game only Olivari shot better than 27.0 percent.

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The obvious role in combination with all that Rice has to offer helped ease Lieppert ‘s decision. Restrictions put in place alongside the coronavirus outbreak prevented him from taking any kind of visit to South Main during his recruitment process. Instead, he built and grew a relationship with head coach Scott Pera and the staff virtually.

Despite the unusual circumstances, Lieppert said Rice offered two important things: “high-level basketball and academics”. In person meetings or not, that wasn’t something he was going to pass up.

Lieppert will be eligible to play immediately. As long as he can bring his sharpshooting ability from Arizona to Texas, he should be a key component in the Owls’ rotation next season and beyond.

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Rice Football: Undrafted free agent signings after 2020 NFL Draft

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The NFL Draft has come to a close and a new crop of Rice football pro hopefuls have signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents.

Every college football player hopes to one day be an NFL Draft selection, but that’s not how every pro career begins. Conference USA had 10 players chosen. Alex Highsmith, an edge rusher from Charlotte was the first C-USA player taken. He came off the board in the third round.

Rice did not have any players chosen in the 2020 NFL Draft. This year’s crop of Rice football NFL hopefuls will attempt to make their marks as undrafted free agents. We’ll keep you updated as announcements come out. So far, these former Rice football players have signed with teams:

Nick Leverett, a starter for Rice on the offensive line last season after transferring from NC Central, has signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Leverett started all season for the Owls.

Myles Adams, the lone senior starter for the Rice football defense this past season, is heading to the Carolina Panthers. Adams had 42 tackles last season and one sack.

Justin Gooseberry, a one-year starter on the offensive line after transfering from Ouachita Baptist, has signed with the Atlanta Falcons.

Other notable signings

Former Auburn punter Arryn Siposs signed with the Detroit Lions. He’ll join Matt Wille and former Rice punter Jack Fox in a competition for the Lions’ punting job next season.

Rice Football recent NFL Draft history

The Owls’ streak of drafts without a selection has now stretched to five. Christian Covington, selected by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, was the last Owl chosen.

Covington’s selection marked the end of a nice run of selections for Rice. From 2009 to 2015 Rice had eight players chosen: Jarret Dillard (2009), James Casey (2009), Cheta Ozougwu (2011), Scott Solomon (2012), Vance McDonald (2013), Luke Wilson (2013), Phillip Gaines (2014), Christian Covington (2015). McDonald was the highest selection, going No. 55 overall to the San Francisco 49ers.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 30 – Anthony Rendon and baseball’s delayed season

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Former Rice baseball third baseman and reigning World Series Champion Anthony Rendon joins The Roost Podcast. We talk baseball’s postponed season and more.

The Roost’s extended offseason series continued this week with a superstar guest. Houston native, Rice baseball great and reigning World Series Champion Anthony Rendon joined the show. He recapped what life has been life for him over the last several months, from winning the World Series to what he’s doing to help those impacted by the coronavirus in Houston and California.

Rendon is the latest in a fantastic run of Rice-related guests. If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out our conversations with Christian Covington, JP Heath, Erica Ogwumike and more.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, Give a listen to Episode 30.


Episode 30 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Your support means more than you know. If you like the show, please take a minute to rate and subscribe. Your voices help spread the show. Like the guests we’ve had on? Give them a shout on social media and say thanks! And while you’re at it, give the show a follow.
  • Anthony Rendon joins the show — With no season to speak of, Anthony Rendon took some time out of his schedule to join the podcast. We covered a lot of ground, hitting on a few of these topics:
    • What’s it like moving across the country during a pandemic?
    • The World Series (sorry, Houston Astros fans)
    • Why he signed with the Angels
    • What he’s doing to help those impacted by the coronavirus in Houston
    • How far he can throw a tee shirt inside Tudor Fieldhouse
    • His thoughts on an abbreviated or modified 2020 MLB season

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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