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Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 Early Signing Day Live Blog

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The majority of the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class will become signees during the early signing period. Follow all the action here.

We’ll have all the latest news and notes from the Early Signing Period updated throughout the day. The 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class won’t be finished for another several weeks, but the Owls hope to secure the majority of their commits today.

10:26 a.m.

That’s a wrap. No additional players are expected to sign with the Owls today. Fullback Brian Hibbard and defensive lineman Jamal Marshall were the only commitments to not sign today. I still have full confidence both with sign with the Owls come February.

9:05 a.m.

The west coast is represented. Cerritos quarterback TJ McMahon is in.

7:41 a.m.

Next up, a pair of dynamic playmakers on both sides of the ball. Wideout Andrew Mason and defensive end Cole Latos are Rice Owls!

7:33 a.m.

JUCO offensive lineman Adam Sheriff is the next to jump on board.

7:26 a.m.

Not slowing down any time soon. Braedon Nutter, Trey Phillippi, Sean Fresch, Plae Wyatt and Kobie Campbell are in!

7:13 a.m.

Nate Kamper is in. This guy has flown under the radar a bit since committing in April, but he might be the best pass-catching option at tight end as soon as he steps on campus. Some time in the weight room with Hans Straub could turn him into a massive weapon for the Rice offense.

7:02 a.m.

The floodgates are opening in central time. Geron Hargon and Khalan Griffin are the first two members to turn their letters of intent in to South Main.

6:50 a.m.

For the third straight year, Rice will sign a grad transfer quarterback. Former TCU signal-caller Mike Collins is the first of that trio that comes to South Main with starting experience at the Power 5 level. Rice will have plenty of options to choose from in the QB room this upcoming fall.

6:48 a.m.

A grad transfer from Colgate, Jovaun Woolford is in.

6:33 a.m.

The last of the East Coast commits is official. Mike Leone is a Rice Owl!

6:05 a.m.

The East Coast contingent kicks us off this morning. Jordan Dunbar (New York) and Jalen Reeves (Florida) are the first official members of the class. Reeves is one of the most prominent additions we expect today — had offers from LSU, Boston College, NC State, Pitt, Syracuse and others.

6:00 a.m. CST – Wednesday

Fire up the fax machines. The first signatures should be coming in soon. Players can send in their letters of intent at 7:00 a.m. local time, meaning those on the East Coast are in the clear. Times will vary depending on signing day ceremonies and availability, but expect to see several letters of intent come in early this morning.

Tuesday night

Most of the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class has been nailed down prior to the start of the Early Signing Period. The most recent list is available here. We have signing day ceremony schedules for the following commits (all times CST):

  • Khalan Griffin and Sean Fresch – 10:30 a.m.
  • Jalen Reeves – 11:00 a.m.
  • Kobie Campbell – 11:45 a.m.
  • Plae Wyatt – 2:45 p.m.

Rice has the No. 4 class entering Wednesday morning. If the Owls can maintain there position, they’ll match the highest-rated class in program history (since rankings were first aggregated around 2003). That particularly impressive for a program that’s finished 11th or worse in the last four seasons.

Make sure to stay tuned on Twitter and follow our live blog here during the day for updates. Get the latest list of the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting commits by clicking the tracker below.Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting

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Rice Football Recruiting: TCU Transfer QB Michael Collins commits to Owls

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The 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class has another quarterback. A week after landing JUCO passer TJ McMahon, the Owls picked up a commitment from former TCU signal caller Michael Collins.

The quarterback position has been the weak link on offense during the Mike Bloomgren era. Rice has relied on a pair of grad transfers and a flurry of freshmen to get the job done. The results, so far, have been too often insufficient. For that reason, Rice isn’t taking any chances at the position going forward, adding two quarterbacks in the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class.

The staff quickly identified Wyatt Begeal as a top priority among the 2021 class. Begeal has been a clear target for a while now. The 2020 class has only recently come into focus. In the weeks leading up to the Early Signing Period, Rice has received commitments from Cerritos College quarterback TJ McMahon and now former TCU quarterback Michael Collins.

Collins won three state championship in Connecticut while in high school prior to enrolling at Penn. After playing sparingly in three games, he transferred to TCU where he joined a crowded quarterback room in 2017. Collins played in 10 games over the past two seasons, throwing for 1,108 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. He made the move to Texas with the intention of playing FBS football. He’ll get another shot at fulfilling that dream at South Main.

Rice Football Recruiting

Collins is a pro-style passer with good vision and a pretty solid arm. He adds an experienced component to a quarterback room which features no other upperclassmen with meaningful field experience at the FBS level. He’s exactly the kind of guy you take a shot on for one year, hoping he can pull together his good moments into one final victorious campaign.

Taking multiple quarterbacks in one class is unusual, but the timing might just make sense for Rice this year. McMahon has three years of eligibility remaining. Collins has one. Former starter Wiley Green has three and redshirt freshmen JoVoni Johnson has four. The collective talent in the quarterback room has improved since Bloomgren arrived. Now they’ve got to find someone and stick with them.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 Early Signing Period Expectations

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The Owls will sign their first members of the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class this week during the Early Signing Period. Here’s what to expect.

The Early Signing Period starts tomorrow, marking the first signing opportunity for the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class. The Owls started this process months ago, with safety Plae Wyatt the first to commit in February. Since then 17 additional players have jumped on board #FlightSchool20. You can view the full commitment list with player profiles here.

In the past week, Rice has picked up three commitments from transfers. Quarterback TJ McMahon and offensive lineman Adam Sheriff have chosen the Owls from the JUCO ranks. Offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford will come to South Main as a graduate transfer from Colgate.

Rice Football Recruiting

How we got here

As it currently stands, the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class is the fifth highest-rated class in Conference USA, per 247 Sports. That’s one spot shy of the Owls’ No. 4 class in 2007, the highest-rated class in program history since 247 began compiling rankings in the early 2000s.

Credit is due to the entire Rice staff, who have proven themselves to be astute evaluators of talent. Every current commit is rated three-stars by 247, but nine of them were unrated players at the time of their commitments.

Rice didn’t cherrypick from a list of established recruits, they found the talent themselves and let the rating services catch up. Rice football recruiting director Alex Brown, who was hired in April, has done an incredible job setting the stage and pulling the strings for what promises to be a tremendous crop of players.

What to expect this week

As of now, there aren’t any players currently commitment that have indicated they won’t sign this week, that includes former TCU quarterback Michael Collins, the most recent commitment prior to the Early Signing Period. Otherwise, the Owls will continue to pursue their remaining targets into the spring. The 18 already in the fold should make it official during the Early Signing Period.

Many are having signing day ceremonies at their schools. Khalan Griffin and Sean Fresch will sign at 10:30 a.m. Plae Wyatt will sign at 2:45 p.m. Others will send their letters in throughout the day. Make sure to follow us on Twitter and follow our live blog during the day for updates.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 Offensive Tackle Mike Leone commits to Owls

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The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class has flipped a talented offensive lineman from the Northeast. Mike Leone has committed to the Owls.

More than a dozen members of the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class were under the radar prospects on the national stage. Most rating services hadn’t evaluated them yet. There was not list for the Owls to go off, instead they identified talent and got it to South Main.

Then there are guys like Hun School offensive lineman Mike Leone. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound offensive lineman is from New Jersey, about three hours away from Maryland, an ACC school that has been after Leone for a while. Not only did Leone pick the Owls over the Terps, he opted to fly down to Houston the weekend before the Early Signing Period rather than visit Maryland.

Rice Football Recruiting

Leone has bought into Mike Bloomgren’s proven track record of development in the trenches. The successes of young players like Clay Servin, Isaac Klarkowski and Cole Garcia juxtaposed with several successful transfers makes it a pretty easy sell to incoming recruits on the line.

Prior to making the flip, Leone had been committed to Yale. He maintained that commitment since July, even after Maryland offered him in October. Now he’s set to be a Rice Owl and is a rather prominent figure in a 2020 haul loaded with talent.

He and Jovaun Woolford, a grad transfer who also made his commitment this week, give Rice plenty of options at the tackle spot for 2020 and beyond. Rice is building an arsenal of high-caliber offensive lineman, setting themselves up for sustained success up front for years to come. Leone could be one of the best.

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Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO Offensive lineman Adam Sheriff commits to Owls

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The offensive line contingent of the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class is getting bigger and better. JUCO tackle Adam Sheriff has committed to the Owls.

You can never have too many offensive linemen. That creed is truer few places than South Main. After watching true freshman walk on center Isaac Klarkowski finish out last season, the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class will not lack a sizable collection of trench-defending athletes. Even though they already have some talented prospects in the fold, the Owls continue to prioritize the position.

Rice nabbed grad transfer Jovaun Woolford from Colgate last week but didn’t ease up. 6-foot-4, 280-pound offensive tackle Adam Sheriff, a transfer from Butler Community College, was among their top targets at the position. Sheriff was on campus the final weekend before the Early Signing Period and saw all he needed to make his decision. Now he’s the latest member of an impressive haul in the trenches.Rice Football Recruiting

Sheriff had drawn interest from North Texas and Arkansas State, ultimately opting for the Owls. The addition is a nice head-to-head victory over a C-USA peer and a talented Arkansas State team that had posted a winning record in sixth consecutive seasons under head coach Blake Anderson.

 

Quarterback and offensive line were the biggest gaps the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class needed to address. With Sheriff on board, the Owls have gone a long way to filling those holes. Rice could still opt to bring in another piece to man the front lines, especially with the potential loss of Uzoma Osuji to the transfer portal.

No matter how the rest of the pieces come together, Sheriff has the potential to be a mainstay on the Rice offensive line for several years. Rice has done well with their offensive line recruits. Sheriff looks to be the next in a great line of enforcers up front.

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