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Rice Football Recruiting: WR Jordan Clark commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting picked up another offensive weapon. Wide receiver Jordan Clark has committed to the Owls.

Following a run of Transfer Portal additions in the winter, the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class has hit the high school ranks in earnest this weekend with National Signing Day fast approaching. The Owls picked up three new pledges in the span of two days, including a new playmaker on offense. Wide receiver Jordan Clark has committed to the Owls.

Clark’s decision to come to South Main stemmed from what he described as an impactful official visit. “At most official visits, the head coach is the last coach you meet,” Clark told The Roost. “However, Coach Abell was the first coach I met on the official visit, so my first impression of Rice football came from him. From the introduction to the farewell, his message was consistent.”

Rice beat out offers from Air Force, Navy and FCS powerhouse Montana State, among others to land Clark’s pledge. He will be the third scholarship receiver from the high school ranks in the class, a new wave of young talent poised to impact the field for the Owls in the years ahead.

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The skill set revealed on film fits the Owls’ new offense well. “They really love to get their playmakers the ball in space,” Clark said. “And with my abilities, that’s where I thrive the most, yards after catch!” Explosive plays are going to play a significant role in making Abell’s offense effective. Clark has the talent to provide those in droves.

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Rice Football Recruiting Profile: S Max Lofy signs with Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class added a pair of veteran defensive backs to its roster including former Wisconsin safety Max Lofy.

There was no public social media announcement, just a name posted on a spring roster. Fanfare or not, the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class needed some veteran players in the defensive backfield and picked up an important addition in time for spring ball. Former Wisconsin safety Max Lofy signed with the Owls and enrolled in classes this January.

Lofy joins the Owls after spending five seasons with the Badgers. He redshirted in 2020, his first year on campus then grew into a larger role in each of the subsequent two seasons, playing in 20 games and maxing one start with an interception against Washington State in that latter season. He missed the entire 2023 season with an injury, but returned to the field in 2024.

That offseason, head coach Luke Fickell called Lofy the player on the Wisconsin roster who “has made the biggest leap,” adding, “I don’t think there’s another guy in our program that I have as much respect for.”

Lofy plated in nine games with three starts and tallied a career-high 178 snaps on defense while allowing just five completions on 14 targets.

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At Wisconsin, Lofy was recruited under a previous staff before earning his way back onto the field under Fickell. That determination in perseverance suggests he’ll be more than up for the challenge of earning his way onto the field at Rice.

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Rice Football Recruiting: DE Ejike Adele commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class keeps adding talent. Ivy League defensive player of the year Ejike Adele has committed to the Owls.

The pipeline connecting Rice football recruiting and the Ivy Leagues continues to push talented football players from the Northeast to South Main. A year removed from landing standing Dartmouth defensive end Charlie Looes, Rice has picked up a commitment from his former teammate. Defensive end and reigning Ivy League defensive player of the year Ejike Adele has committed to the Owls.

“I had heard great things about the team and the program from my former teammate Charlie Looes,” Adele told The Roost. “I was already familiar with Coach Abell and his staff since they recruited me out of high school when they were at Davidson. I could sense a lot of excitement about the program on my visit and it felt like they were developing a family atmosphere that I want to be a part of.”

Looes was a runner-up for the Bushnell Cup, given annually to the Ivy League’s best defensive player. Adele took home the award last year, finishing in the top 25 in the nation in tackles for a loss (12.0) while leading Dartmouth in sacks (6.0) and racking up 54 tackles, second on the team.

To this point, the 2025 Rice football recruiting class has filled out quite nicely including 10 transfer additions, eight of which have already enrolled. Adele will finish up his degree this spring and join the team in the summer alongside fellow Ivy League addition Sean Sullivan from Yale.

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Adele’s versatility makes him a particularly exciting addition in the defensive trenches. As his film showcases, he can line up all over the front, something that has proven particularly valuable to the Owls in recent years.

“I liked that the scheme allows guys to be versatile and line up in different spots depending on the situation,” Adele said of the Owls’ scheme. “That’s one thing I enjoyed being able to do at Dartmouth which also allowed me to be successful as a player there.”

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Rice Football Recruiting: QB Patrick Crayton Jr. commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football Recruiting class has its QB1. Hebron High School quarterback Patrick Crayton Jr. has committed to the Owls.

In search of a quarterback for the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class since he arrived, new head coach Scott Abell finally has his man. Dual-threat Hebron High School quarterback Patrick Crayon Jr. has committed to the Owls.

Crayton fills a void in a 2025 class full of playmakers, but without a signal-caller following a December defection following the coaching change. An under-the-radar playmaker, Crayton had a handful of junior college and lower division offers, keeping him on the market this late in the calendar. Rice swooped in with an offer on January 13. He committed just hours later.

“Getting to know [Coach Abell] and the staff, had great conversations, just discussing my future,” Crayton told The Roost. “Rice felt like a great place to develop and be a great football player.”

After retaining the bulk of the class that had already committed, Abell was choosy with his next handful of high school offers. Crayton is just the second non-transfer commitment to the 2025 class since Abell arrived, the other being offensive lineman Justin Michaelis who committed in mid-December.

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Crayton’s film is electric and easy to connect to what the Owls want to do on offense with his skill set. He has a big arm with great touch downfield and is a dynamic runner with the ball in his hands. That ability to create, “to make plays out of nothing and be able to extend plays [on the ground], is something Crayton says he prides himself in as a player. The tape backs it up.

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Rice Football Recruiting: OL Cole Morgan commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football Recruiting class is getting more help in the trenches. Michigan offensive line transfer Cole Morgan has committed to the Owls.

The run on talent in the trenches continues for the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class. On the same day they picked up a pledge from defensive enforcer Dillan Botts from Mary Hardin-Baylor, the Owls added a big man on the other side of the line, too. Michigan transfer offensive lineman Cole Morgan has committed to the Owls.

Following two years spent at Michigan, Morgan quickly garnered interest from a host of Group of 5 programs when he entered the Transfer Portal earlier this winter. He picked up offers from Toledo, FAU, Central Michigan, New Mexico and Utah State, among others before Rice entered the picture in early January. Less than two weeks later, Morgan was South Main bound.

With Morgan on board, the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class is 20 players deep and counting. That includes seven incoming additions from the Transfer Portal, four of which have come on board in the last week: Morgan and the aforementioned Botts as well as UTSA kicker Chase Allen and Yale offensive lineman Sean Sullivan.

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Morgan projects as an interior player at Rice, his primary position while at Michigan. There’s not much in the way of game film for Morgan, but the available highlights from practice paint a picture of a sturdy, 6-foot-4, 285-pound blocker who can move, making him a nice pickup for the Rice offense. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

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