(03-31-2021 06:34 AM)nightowl24 Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 12:22 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 01:35 PM)nightowl24 Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 12:50 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 09:26 AM)mrbig Wrote:  It really shouldn't matter. If he is the son of a Rice alum (male or female), particularly an alum who was a student-athlete at Rice, Rice would be nuts to not at least go through the recruiting process. Even if they ultimately do not make an offer, you know the kid grew up hearing about Rice and has probably been to some events on campus and likely has some positive connections and connotations. More of a leg up then calling Joe Blow at the next school over who is the same talent level but has no Rice connection.

Couldn't possibly agree more.

We offer scholarships to ALL SORTS of kids that we probably don't think we will get. That's not just smart, but its stupid NOT to. If every kid we offer accepts our offer, we need to raise the bar. It's not exactly the same, but if the quality of a University is even remotely determined by those they reject, why wouldn't that also be true for athletics? Have your name in the conversation, even if you end up getting dropped. It makes recruits ask 'what's going on over there'.

Hint... Great players often have 'friends' (or in this case, siblings) that are also great players, sometimes under-recruited. If you get one, you might get them both.

Jarrett Dillard's brother saw lots of playing time at Rice. While he wasn't the player Jarrett was, he was STILL one of our best RBs.

Here is how I see it...
If the child (or niece or nephew or cousin) of a Rice grad is getting multiple p5 offers, WE should almost always be offering as well. Hell, if the kids neighbor is a RIce grad, I'd be recruiting him/her. Put the offer on the list... ask for an early commit. Seriously, do we think UT or any top p5 program would 'back off' on a kid they really wanted just because he were a child of a Rice alum who gave an early commitment?? They might LOVE it because that MIGHT clear the deck of the chaff. Do we expect to get that kid?? Of course not... but we're going to get more p5 recruits from that pool than we will from any other... AND we're going to get infinitely more of them than those we DON'T offer.

If the kid and his family qualifies for significant or even full financial aid, I can see asking them to be a PWO (so as not to tie up a scholarship offer if the person perhaps didn't really want to attend). Heck, I might even suggest that myself (as a former walk-on, if my kids were athletic).... or yes... ask them as a courtesy to keep us on the list, even if they knew already they would accept at UT. As them for the courtesy of having our hat on the table when they video their decision.

If the kid is more of a 'maybe', then again, PWO (or scholarship if it is available) makes a lot of sense. Recruit him and at least 'have the talk'.

The fact that some of our best players of the past 20-30 years have kids who are being recruited as D-1 athletes and we aren't even calling them is APPALLING.

AT LEAST have the courtesy of telling the parents, we would LOVE to have your child, but we just don't think he's a fit for our system... or we don't have a schollie available.... but we'd love to have a 'family member' on the team and would love to help connect them to see if they qualify for other aid. LEVERAGE RIce's endowment for a qualified student and alumni family.

THIS is where athletics IMO fails. It values the coach(es) and what THEIR vision is rather than the University. The (qualifying, or at least very close/subjective) child of an alum is the way you create legacies and the sort of endowments that lead to people leaving family fortunes to a University... to endow buildings or ballparks... or scholarships.

What does it say that we're asking our athletic alumni to endow athletic scholarships to give funds and opportunities to (qualified) kids, but we don't have any funds nor opportunity to offer their (qualified) children?? That is just RIDICULOUS.

In the case of these two specific kids, there is NO DOUBT that they are AT LEAST as good as half the guys on our current roster (meaning by an objective analysis, they are qualified) .... and IMO, would both likely be absolute STARS (more subjective).

you have pretty much embodied my thinking here. which is why i say rice is insane right now. simply put i know for a fact that my son is at worst as good as every wr on the roster right now. they don't feel he is worth recruiting at this point but you call me to give MY money for YOU to fund SOMEONE ELSES scholarship....lolol. yeah sorry but no. now if my kid wasn't very good at sports then my stance would be vastly different, but as is right now either one of my boys would be able to help this team. again not upset but loyalty matters....you want mine but you do not display none....doesn't work for me....at all.

Rice thought enough of you to give you a full scholarship and play you immediately as a true freshman. That's all that really matters. I would hope that that would be enough to get you to continue giving to and supporting the university. Try not to take it personal that these coaches aren't giving your son the attention that he deserve. They're from California and they recruit nationally now. Rice gave you a great education and college experience. Keep that in the forefront. Like you said, in the end, it's no skin off your back.

1. Rice didn't give me NOTHING. I EARNED it. I CHOSE rice, rice didn't choose me. Rice didn't think enough of me to play me early, I was GOOD ENOUGH to play early...I PROVED and EARNED that distinction. I could've went to any school west of the Mississippi River. I had offers to almost all of them. So you can miss me with the I should just be grateful that rice allowed me to step foot on their campus.

2. I've stated it already I'm not upset with this staff as a parent. I let it be known that my malcontent comes from being an alumni, so again this isn't personal. This is about terrible recruiting practices which is leading to us getting pounded week in and week out.

3. I could careless where they're from. Currently my son is being recruited by several out of state P5s and a small group of out of state G5s. As i stated before my son right now as a jr is as good as anyone they have on roster. So for you to elude that because their pool is bigger now(which is very false cause while I was there we had people as far west as cali and far east as fla.. so you have no point) my son isn't good enough is highly false. If that wasn't the point and it's he was lost in the shuffle. Again that is a problem because alumni's outstanding kids should be at the forefront of recruiting because you have a better chance of getting them.

4. As I stated because I graduated from there doesn't mean I'm giving them my money. I could've went anywhere in Texas and surrounding states, I was the commodity not the other way around and when you and others that think like you get that you'll actually see more involvement from athletic alumni. I'm not giving my money to fund someone else's education when I know my son is just as good as what they have and what they are recruiting. Sorry but no. As I stated you and them want me to be loyal to the school.... where is the loyalty to me? Trust me I gave up more going there than rice did by letting me go there. And I helped rice as much as rice helped me.

You are correct its no skin off my back if they don't recruit him... but it's money out of my pocket. That money will go to something that is more in line with my family.

My post wasn't written to offend you. Rice thought enough of you to give you a scholarship, in return for your athletic ability. That should mean something. No one made you choose Rice. You did that. There must have been something special about Rice when you played that still endures today.

The University of Texas was a victim of it's own legacy recruiting practices in the 70's and 80's. They found themselves being forced to sign the kids of former players, some of them panned out, but most of them didn't. It became especially burdensome as the football scholarship limits came into place. Texas could no longer risk offering a scholarship to a legacy who didn't have the talent to help the program. I'm not saying that this is the case with your son, but rather just using this as an example of how the practice can get nasty. Once you sign one, other alumni will expect the same for their children.

As far as Rice's recruiting efforts of today are concerned, it's reeping talent that we haven't seen since Fred Goldsmith was coach. For the past two years we have signed classes that rank toward the top of CUSA, and in the top 80 nationally. Rice Football isn't losing because it has no talent. It's losing because it has a coach that's unwilling to break from his offensive philosophy.