Xavier Ether, 6'1" safety out of Tampa.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/17798759/Xavier-Ether
https://x.com/XavierEther1

Another one - Seth Brown Jr, 6'2" Safety out of Georgia. Had offers from Navy, Northern Illinois and some Ivies.

Looks like we had an official visit weekend for high schoolers. Will be nice to see some of these kids develop and contribute over the years

And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

(01-26-2026 03:29 PM)GiveAHoot94 Wrote:  And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

95% of the film I saw on him showed him lined up at wide receiver but he appeared to have excellent hands and would just flat run away from people once he had the ball. Appears to have potential at multiple positions.

Another DB out of Florida - Rymen Mosley

(01-26-2026 11:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 03:29 PM)GiveAHoot94 Wrote:  And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

95% of the film I saw on him showed him lined up at wide receiver but he appeared to have excellent hands and would just flat run away from people once he had the ball. Appears to have potential at multiple positions.

Sounds like a replacement for Drayden Dickman.

The football staff got an addition today in the announcement of Eli Rasheed from Iowa State as the new DL coach. That sounds like a tremendous move, and a surprising one to boot. Rasheed was with Matt Campbell for 17 years at Toledo and Iowa State, and did a great job with that unit. For some reason, he didn’t go to Penn State (a month ago, the assumption was he would join Campbell, but I think they hired the former UCLA defensive coordinator instead?).

In any case, Rasheed is 53 so he’s got some years left to coach. And Rice should consider itself lucky to get him.

Dont understand why we are recently recruiting these lower rated players from high school. I thought for sure we could bring in minimum 3 star recruits unless they will be walk ons.

(01-28-2026 05:35 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 11:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 03:29 PM)GiveAHoot94 Wrote:  And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

95% of the film I saw on him showed him lined up at wide receiver but he appeared to have excellent hands and would just flat run away from people once he had the ball. Appears to have potential at multiple positions.

Sounds like a replacement for Drayden Dickman.

(01-29-2026 08:34 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  Dont understand why we are recently recruiting these lower rated players from high school. I thought for sure we could bring in minimum 3 star recruits unless they will be walk ons.

(01-28-2026 05:35 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 11:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 03:29 PM)GiveAHoot94 Wrote:  And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

95% of the film I saw on him showed him lined up at wide receiver but he appeared to have excellent hands and would just flat run away from people once he had the ball. Appears to have potential at multiple positions.

Sounds like a replacement for Drayden Dickman.

Depth...Special Teams...Development...oh, and Depth.

(01-29-2026 08:34 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  Dont understand why we are recently recruiting these lower rated players from high school. I thought for sure we could bring in minimum 3 star recruits unless they will be walk ons.

(01-28-2026 05:35 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 11:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 03:29 PM)GiveAHoot94 Wrote:  And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

95% of the film I saw on him showed him lined up at wide receiver but he appeared to have excellent hands and would just flat run away from people once he had the ball. Appears to have potential at multiple positions.

Sounds like a replacement for Drayden Dickman.

Nick Saben doesn't think much about star ratings:
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/news/c...en-harris/

(01-30-2026 07:33 AM)ArmChairOwl Wrote:  

(01-29-2026 08:34 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  Dont understand why we are recently recruiting these lower rated players from high school. I thought for sure we could bring in minimum 3 star recruits unless they will be walk ons.

(01-28-2026 05:35 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 11:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 03:29 PM)GiveAHoot94 Wrote:  And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

95% of the film I saw on him showed him lined up at wide receiver but he appeared to have excellent hands and would just flat run away from people once he had the ball. Appears to have potential at multiple positions.

Sounds like a replacement for Drayden Dickman.

Nick Saben doesn't think much about star ratings:
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/news/c...en-harris/

I don't, either. At best they are a rough estimate of how well a young player will play. And that goes for every rating system, at all times. Take the NFL draft. You would think by then it would obvious who can play. But apparently they cannot. Tony Mandarich, anybody? Ryan Leaf? Andre Ware?

OTOH, there are all the (literally) unsung players who develop into top players. Brock Purdy, for example.

The UNT QB this year is an example of being underrated.

Dean Connors is another. Zero D1 offers out of HS.

50 or so years ago, there was some All-Pro NBA player who had never been a starter at any level from Middle school through college.

Abell sees something in this kid that makes him think he will be a plus to the Rice Owls in some way. That's what Abell was hired to do. To see those things. Maybe we are lucky to be able to get him precisely due to the lack of stars.

Good hands, good speed. What's not to like? Sounds like a slot guy to me and go to guy on third and long.

Glad to have him. Don't care if he can carry his stars in one hand, as long as he runs away from tacklers into the end zone.

(01-29-2026 08:34 PM)Texasowl Wrote:  Dont understand why we are recently recruiting these lower rated players from high school. I thought for sure we could bring in minimum 3 star recruits unless they will be walk ons.

(01-28-2026 05:35 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 11:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(01-26-2026 03:29 PM)GiveAHoot94 Wrote:  And another - Justin Powell, 6'1" 210lb RB out of Georgia. Looks like we may have been his only FBS offer.

Seems like the staff is filling out some depth going into the Spring / Fall.

Welcome to South Main, Justin!

95% of the film I saw on him showed him lined up at wide receiver but he appeared to have excellent hands and would just flat run away from people once he had the ball. Appears to have potential at multiple positions.

Sounds like a replacement for Drayden Dickman.

Thought the same thing, since we were on a roll with rated HS and transfer recruits. But I'm guessing at this point there's not a lot to pick from, especially with Rice's academic standards. Mendoza is the latest example of hidden gems. So after getting the bulk of the class in, Abell has to take some shots. I think it's going to be part of the formula, especially on offense where an unheralded athlete can be a 3-star+ equivalent in Abell's system.

Today was another signing day officially in football. I’m assuming our recent HS commits were all signing their NLI. I do know Jordan Mitchell (DB out of Ridge Point in Missouri City) made it official today. None of the recruiting services have mentioned him but I said he would sign way back in the summer. Anyway, he can play. Good length and blankets the receivers at the high school level at least. He was hurt the second half of the season for Ridge Point and didn’t play in the playoffs.

8 new high school players added, some names are new and might be PWO as I believe the roster is above 105 now.

https://riceowls.com/news/2026/2/4/footb...ting-class

According to Rivals, we have (along with UNC) the #1 rated place kicking prospect in the 2026 class...

https://x.com/BarstoolRiceOwl/status/201...5657804070

Wow! Thats crazy. Hope NIL does'nt ruin his career and academics and attends a football factory.

(02-05-2026 08:39 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  According to Rivals, we have (along with UNC) the #1 rated place kicking prospect in the 2026 class...

https://x.com/BarstoolRiceOwl/status/201...5657804070

Still signing kids (or at least getting commitments). We just got a commitment from a DE (or perhaps a TE) from Frisco Reedy HS

(02-10-2026 05:39 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Still signing kids (or at least getting commitments). We just got a commitment from a DE (or perhaps a TE) from Frisco Reedy HS

DE has been called a position of need. Chibby and Mutombo have experience and should have career years but we'll count on true freshmen to compete and give us a pass rush.

Per 247, there are 3 DE's in our top 5 highest rated 20206 signees, all with multiple P5 offers. Reminds me of last year's RB class, when two of our highest rated recruits were Hardemon and Byars, both contributed. Need the same or more in 2026 at DE.

These are impressive numbers:
- DE JD Singletary. 18 offers including multiple from P5 schools.
- DE Seth Carlke. 29 offers! Multiple P5's.
- DL/DE Cristopher Knowls. 22 offers, 11 are P5 offers.

Looks like Abell can recruit.