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Rice Football Recruiting: ’24 WR Owen Carter commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class has its first commitment. Wide receiver Owen Carter has made his pledge to the Owls.

The calendar hasn’t hit the traditional signing day for the 2023 class yet, but the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class has already added its first pledge. Cy Fair wideout Owen Carter has committed to the Owls.

Carter was part of an early wave of offers the Owls issued early last year. He picked up his offer in August, one of just six offers in the 2024 class which Rice extended before its season kicked off in September.

Rice was the first and only FBS program to offer Carter so far, securing his commitment before the beginning of camps and additional recruiting opportunities would have occurred down the line.

“The belief [the Rice staff] had shown in me was unmatched by any other school I had talked to,” Carter told The Roost. “I believe I can make a positive impact on a program on the rise and felt the energy and brotherhood in the locker room was something I wanted to be a part of.”

Although Carter is its first commitment, the 2024 class is still in its very early stages. The Owls have offered around a dozen players thus far and that number will continue to rise following events like the junior day Rice hosted this past weekend. For now, kicking off January with a commitment from a player this staff coveted from the beginning is a positive start.

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There’s a lot to like on tape when it comes to Carter and his skillset. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound pass catcher can turn on the jets when he needs to, but stands out the most for his ability to go up and get the football. Being big is half the battle. Carter displays and ability to use his size and win one-on-one against defenders.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 138 – Rice Football 2023 Recruiting Class Early Signing Roundup

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From JT Daniels to a few ultra-athletic individuals, the 2023 Rice Football Recruiting Class is flush with talent. We recap everything from the Early Signing Period.

The nation was talking about the addition of JT Daniels to the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class, but that was just the tip of the iceberg on the Owls’ highest-ranked signing class in program history. On this week’s edition of The Roost Podcast we dig into the 24 additions, discuss where they fit with the makeup of the Owls’ roster and put a few more items on our wish lists for the Owls to add to the fold before the class is complete.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 138.

Episode Notes

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2023 Rice Football Recruiting Early Signing Period Recap

  • JT Daniels’ journey to Rice, his prospects as a player and what he means for the Owls’ offense as a whole
  • Star power and athletic measurables becoming more and more common in Rice football recruiting classes
  • 10 early enrollees, including four from the high school ranks
  • What positions Rice still needs to target over the next few months

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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Historic Rice football recruiting class to send Owls “soaring to new heights”

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Another top-flight Rice football recruiting class is in the books and like many beforehand, it carries some history-making swagger.

“Today was a great day for the Rice Owls,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said as he opened up his Early Signing Period press conference. “We believe this class will take us soaring to new heights.”

The wording might have changed from year-to-year, but the refrain sure sounded the same. Rice was making waves on the recruiting front, and the best was yet to come.

It took a year or two to get things rolling, but the rhythm of the Rice football recruiting machine continues to amplify. Now, for the third time under head coach Mike Bloomgren, the Owls have made history.

If it feels like this story has been told before, that’s because it has. Under Bloomgren, the 2020 signing class was, at the time, the highest-rated recruiting class in program history. Then, two cycles later, the Owls broke that record with a new best-ever haul with the 2022 class. And now, again, Rice football recruiting has made history.

The rankings will fluctuate some between now and February when the traditional signing day occurs, but as things currently stand, the 2023 class is the No. 80 class in the nation, the highest ranking in school history. When it comes to average recruit rating, the class is second by fractions of a point to the 2022 class, but that could change when newcomers like transfer quarterback JT Daniels are accounted for.

And that’s one other noticeable change as the history-making continues. Daniels, a former high school national player of the year and five-star recruit, has signed with Rice. Daniels is the highest-rated signee in program history. He surpasses four-star commitment quarterback-turned-wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, who was also brought in by Bloomgren and his staff.

More: 2023 Rice Football Recruiting class early signing period live blog

On the high school front, the Owls added linebacker Ty Morris and defensive end Joseph Mutombo in this class. Both are among the 10 highest-rated signees in program history, five of which have been signed by this staff in the past five cycles.

No matter where you look, it’s all coming up Owl. “We were trending on Twitter,” recruiting director Marco Regalado mentioned, specifically addressing the late night announcement that Daniels was heading to South Main. “People were talking about the Rice Owls, and that’s recruiting. That helps.”

It’s going to take more than some social media shout outs to turn positive recruiting momentum into results. Regalado and the Rice staff know that as well as anyone. But it wouldn’t be fair to them not to acknowledge how they raised their level of recruiting as they prepare for a big test next season when they move to the AAC.

“What we recruited in the past to compete in that conference is not going to work in the next one. We saw that every year when we played Houston and how athletic they were across the street,” Bloomgren said. “Now, also playing Houston this year and being able to hit them in the mouth a little bit … gives us a lot of hope that as long as we’re signing the right kids from an athletic standpoint, we can make some noise in that conference.”

The Owls have made just about as much noise as they could on the recruiting front. Up next? The AAC.

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Rice Football Recruiting: TE Ethan Powell signs with Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class picked up an important signing day addition, landing DIII tight end transfer Ethan Powell to their ranks.

The 2023 Rice Football Recruiting class had its high school component wrapped up in the week or so leading up til the Early Signing Period, but there was more work to be done. Next, the Owls raided the transfer portal, picking up several instant impact players including DIII transfer tight end Ethan Powell from Southwestern University.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren praised Powell’s commitment to the game, nothing that DIII players aren’t on scholarships. They have to want to be there. Now Powell’s commitment is paying off.

On the field, Powell is almost as much of a wide receiver as a tight end. He’s a true vertical threat, filling the “F” position in the Rice offense. In the words of offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo, Powell’s addition will allow Rice to “continue to live in 11 personnel” with Powell able to line up outside rather than in-line with that role fitting incumbent starter Jack Bradley better.

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Powell was part of a three-man haul at the position for the Owls, all of which possess different skill sets. While the pass-catching highlights are the ones that tend to make it onto the film for all tight ends, seeing what Powell has already done on the field with the football is particularly encouraging including 879 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 10 games last season.

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Rice Football Recruiting: JT Daniels to transfer to Owls

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Former five-star recruit JT Daniels is the newest member of the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class, starting the early signing period with a bang.

The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class got off to a roaring start on the eve of the Early Signing Period. First reported by Pete Thamel, former five-star quarterback JT Daniels is set to transfer to Rice.

Even before his inclusion in the rankings, the 2023 class was already trending toward the highest rated in program history. Now Daniels — who incidentally will become the highest-rated player to ever play for Rice football since recruiting rankings were introduced in the early 2000s —  will send that rankings score even higher.

Daniels initially committed to USC out of high school and has since had stints at Georgia and West Virginia. He helped the Bulldogs win a national title in his time in Athens and brings 45 career touchdown passes and just shy of 7,000 passing yards. He’s 17-12 as a starter, most recently starting 10 games with the Mountaineers last season.

Rice has taken swings at relatively big quarterback names in the Transfer Portal before under head coach Mike Bloomgren, but this is arguably the biggest windfall the Owls have had at the position yet, based purely on the talent and resume Daniels brings with him to South Main. It’s also worth noting, as Thamel reported, Bloomgren had recruited Daniels before.

Daniels provides Rice with an influx of talent at the most important position on the field, a position Rice has struggled to find consistency at under Bloomgren thus far. If things work out for the best, all parties might have found exactly the pairing they need for a productive future in the American Athletic Conference

There’s more… Stay tuned to our Early Signing Period live blog for live updates on the 2023 class as it unfolds. Who knows, maybe there are some more fireworks coming?

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