The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class keeps getting better and better thanks to the addition of Killeen, Texas tight end Nate Kamper.
A year ago the dream of playing D1 college football wasn’t on Nate Kamper’s radar. Maybe he had thought about it from time to time, but the Killeen, Texas product wasn’t on anyone’s radar before his junior season. When Rice saw the film he rocketed up their boards quickly. He’s been a priority in the 2020 class from the start. Now he’s a Rice Owl.
Kamper stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 200 pounds. He’s a pass catching threat up the middle who can create mismatches with any combination of linebackers and safeties tasked with guarding him one on one. He’s a bit leaner than the other tight ends on the roster right now, but given some time in the weight room with Hans Straub and he’ll be even more physically imposing. That should scare other CUSA squads.
Head coach Mike Bloomgren has stressed speed and size in his quest to instill Intellectual Brutality at Rice. Kamper checks both of those boxes at a position of significance for an offensive like Bloomgren wants to run.
While the other three recruits in the 2020 class had already turned some heads on somewhat of a larger scale, Kamper could be the “diamond in the rough” type player other coaches kick themselves for missing later on. The fourth commit in a growing 2020 class, Kamper turned down offers from SMU and UTSA to play at South Main.
Kamper said the level of care head coach Mike Bloomgren and his staff had for the program was evident. Like several other recruits before him, the vision for Rice football was easy to understand and easy to get behind. Those close to Kamper had indicated he wanted this process wrapped up before his senior year began in the fall. Well, it’s April, and Rice has another top target in the fold.
