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Rice Football Recruiting: Former Husker OL Brant Banks commits to Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting has added a Big Ten transfer in the trenches. Former Nebraska offensive lineman Brant Banks has committed to the Owls.

Rice Football recruiting classes have always stressed talent up front, making the addition of at least one veteran offensive lineman a must for the 2023 class. Rice has filled that need with a productive transfer from Nebraska. Houston native Brant Banks has announced he’s coming home and has committed to the Owls.

Banks played his high school ball at Westbury Christian where he played both ways before heading north to the Big Red. He originally chose Nebraska over offers from around the country. He turned down Baylor, Boston College, Cal, Houston, Pitt and Missouri.

After redshirting in 2019, Banks became a key special teams player and offensive line contributor from that point onward. Banks started the 2021 season opener against Illinois and saw extensive action in several other contests.

In addition to his prowess on the football field, Banks actually suited up for the Nebraska men’s basketball team prior to the Big Ten Tournament following the 2019 season. He played three minutes in the Huskers’ first round game against Indiana. A big man that can move is always a plus and Banks’ brief appearance on the hardwood gives evidence he can do just that.

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Banks has some high school film available if you want to dig that far back, but the reality is the 6-foot-7, 300-pounder has only grown bigger and stronger since those clips were taken. He’s a Big Ten-caliber blocker who can move people around. That’s a big plus for a Rice offensive line that needs reinforcements. Here’s a clip from the Huskers’ spring media sessions before the season.

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Rice Football Recruiting: TE Matt Hall commits to Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class is making key additions from the Transfer Portal including Truman State’s Matt Hall who has committed to the Owls.

A veteran tight end seemed an obvious candidate for the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class, given how important the position is to the Owls’ offense. With the Early Signing Period just days away, Rice has their man. Truman State grad transfer Matt Hall has committed to the Owls.

Hall comes to Rice after a standout career at Truman State, a Division II program in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. In three seasons, Hall caught 86 passes for 962 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 11.2 yards per catch and mixed in a few explosive plays, too.

For Hall, Rice was near the top of his list from the start. “There were three things I was looking for,” Hall told The Roost. “A place with great culture, a place that has great academics, and a place that would challenge me on and off the field to be a better player, student, and man. Rice checked every one of those boxes.”

Rice tried to engineer a similar addition at this time last year, landing a commitment from Cal transfer tight end Gavin Reinwald. Unfortunately, Reinwald never saw the field at Rice following a preseason injury. A healthy Hall should ease the burden from starter Jack Bradley and provide the Rice offense with another vertical threat.

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What Rice football saw in Hall becomes pretty clear from a brief glance at his film or a look at his boxscore. He’s fluid in space, can get downfield and make a play after the catch. He’s an aggressive blocker that can fill multiple roles within the Rice offense. He’s going to provide instant production to a position that needed another trustworthy option.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Official Visit weekend hits high note

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Rice football recruiting season is in full swing. With 20 official visits on campus over the weekend, there’s a lot going on.

Things have been somewhat quiet on the Rice football recruiting front over the end of the regular season. A few offers have gone out, but the Owls were waiting with anticipation for the Transfer Portal to open and calendars to free up for official visits. Both coincided this past week and fireworks ensued at South Main.

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In the boat

First and foremost, there have been four new members of the 2023 Rice football recruiting class who have announced commitments this past week. Safety Jabaria Ellison was first, soon followed by fellow high school commit Ashton Ojiaku and then the Owls’ first pair of transfer portal additions, both along the defensive line.

JUCO product Jordan Campbell and Colgate transfer Coleman Coco are on board. And that might not be the last of the noise. The labors of this weekend are expected to produce more fruit before the Early Signing Period begins next Wednesday. There are at least two additional commitments forthcoming.

What’s next?

Because of the fluid number of scholarships amid transfers in and out, nailing down an exact number of scholarships is challenging at this stage of the game, particularly with so few announced departures at this point — more on that in a minute — propping that number upward.

For the time being, it’s safe to say the Owls’ primary strategy is going as planned. Rice loaded up on high school targets in the spring and summer, selectively adding in a few key pieces here and there where they were able to flip targets from elsewhere (Dalean Alexander from Air Force, Justin Williams from Louisiana).

Next up, the portal. Look toward last year as a blueprint for what Rice wants to do in the portal. Add depth at key positions with a deep rotation (defensive line, offensive line, wide receiver) and cherry-pick potential starters at positions of need. Last year that looked like Chris Conti at linebacker, Gavin Reinwald at tight end, a few specailists and a slew of wideouts.

Given the fluctuations at the quarterback position, it might behoove the Owls to look at the growing market of signal callers to see if there’s a fit. It’s worth noting Rice has had its best production at the position under Bloomgren from transfers (Mike Collins, Tom Stewart, TJ McMahon). That said, the staff is really high on current high school commit Chase Jenkins, so adding a transfer there isn’t necessarily a must.

Transfer Portal tango

There’s one interesting twist Rice is experiencing with the portal this season that they haven’t in years past, namely where it falls on the calendar and what the team is doing this December. The prime portal season now overlaps bowl season for the Owls, setting up an interesting situation for potential outgoing players.

To that end, Rice has only seen three players announce they would be entering the portal thus far with the potential for other departures once the Owls’ postseason is done. That would logistically leave them with time to find a new home before the early signing period ends, or afterward if they don’t latch on anywhere initially.

Right now, linebackers Aidan Siano and Garrett Braden have announced their intentions to transfer as well as safety Treshawn Chamberlain. The twist? All three were at practice this week and preparing for the Owls’ bowl game against Southern Miss. Like he has all season, Chamberlain is slated to start and there doesn’t appear to be any changes to the depth chart despite his publicly announced intentions.

Whether this becomes the norm going forward might depend on several factors. The bowl game occurring before the early signing period is certainly an unusual quirk based in large part because the signing period is later this year than in prior seasons. Still, it remains uncharted territory. For now, they’re all set to play and then move on.

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Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO DE Jordan Campbell commits to Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class keeps stockpiling pass rushers, this time earning a commitment from JUCO defensive end Jordan Campbell.

Hours after another transfer portal pass rusher made his announcement, the 2023 Rice football recruiting class doubled up on big men in the trenches. JUCO defensive end Jordan Campbell has committed to the Owls.

Campbell is the first JUCO addition the Owls have added in this recruiting cycle but they’ll hope he’s part of a what’s become a long-standing tradition of success in the JUCO ranks. The Owls plucked tight end Boden Groen and running back Dean Connors from the JUCO ranks last season. Before them, linebackers Desmyn Baker and Blazer Alldredge found success, too. As well as wideout Bradley Rozner.

One success becomes a nice story. Several become a trend. Could Campbell be next? He picked Rice over offers from Fordham and Delaware State, both of which came earlier in the year. Rice was evidently intrigued by what they saw and decided to scoop him up, adding to a growing arsenal of pass rushers already in the fold in the 2023 class.

Campbell announced his pledge shortly after fellow transfer Coleman Coco, from Colgate, announced his commitment. They join high school commits Chris Clark and Joseph Mutombo in the defensive trenches in this growing class.

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Whether it’s inside, outside or right through a block, Campbell can win in a variety of different ways. That’s got to be something that stood out to Rice evaluators when looking over his JUCO highlight. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end could fit in a few places on the ever-shifting Rice defensive line, but having the get-to-the-quarterback ability is a prerequisite for all of them.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Colgate DL Coleman Coco commits to Owls

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The Transfer Portal has delivered a potential difference-maker in the trenches. Colgate defensive lineman Coleman Coco is the latest commitment to the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class.

The past several months have been focused on building a strong base of high school talent. Now with the Transfer Portal officially opened to collegiate players, the 2023 Rice Football Recruiting class has added its first veteran player. Colgate defensive lineman Coleman Coco has committed to the Owls.

“I was open to deciding wherever felt like home,” Coco told The Roost. “From the start of Rice recruiting me I knew deep down that they were the best fit.”

Coco burst onto the scene in 2018 as a sophomore. He started seven games that year and led all Patriot League defensive linemen with 46 tackles. After playing a two-game schedule because of COVID-19 in 2020/2021, Coco reemerged with 40 tackles in 11 games in 2022. He brings 12 career sacks with him to South Main.

This is the second time Rice has landed a transfer from Colgate in recent years, signing offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford in 2020.

Coco was the third defensive lineman in the class at the time of his commitment, which began with a run of offensive linemen last fall. Chris Clark was the first member of the 2023 Rice football recruiting class in the trenches. He committed to the Owls this past summer. One month later, he was joined by defensive end Joseph Mutombo.

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Coco’s natural position is on the edge, but he’s fairly versatile for a man of his size (6-foot-3, 240 pounds). Perhaps his most exciting trait, though, is his drive. From the first snap on his highlights it’s evident he plays through the whistle and finishes with power.

Part of what drew Coco to this defense was its depth and his ability to be a potential game-changing piece on the outside. “I feel like the defense is one that I can make a ton of plays in and also give my teammates a lot of opportunities,” he said. “I will excel at dominating the line of scrimmage and making big time game changing plays.”

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