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Rice University Athletics
Owls Sign 24 in Early Signing Period
12/21/2022 4:17:00 PM | Football
10 additions to join team in January
HOUSTON- Dunlevie Family Head Football Coach Mike Bloomgren announced on Wednesday the signing of his largest class during the early signing period as the Owls added 24 to their roster, 10 of whom will enroll in January and participate in Spring Football.
"We believe this class will take us soaring to new heights," Bloomgren said. "It's the highest-ranked class in Rice history. It includes two of the top four prospects we've signed since we've been here as a staff (Ty Morris and Joseph Mutombo) and it has (our) highest-rated recruit in the rating era, JT Daniels. I think our recruiting staff has done a great job identifying, recruiting, and now signing this class. We've got a lot of guys in this class we think could be immediate impact guys. That always excites us when there are guys that can challenge for positions and make you better from an athletic standpoint. All the great things that are happening in our program helped us attract these talented young men and their families and our football team got stronger today because of these recruits."
Rice's largest December signing class prior to this year was 18 in 2020. The Owls signed 17 in both 2018 and 2019, 11 in 2021, and six in 2017 which came 13 days after Bloomgren was named Rice's 19th head coach.
The class of 24 includes five graduate transfers, headlined by quarterback JT Daniels, who will begin classes in January, in addition to 18 high school seniors, four of whom will enroll in January (Jamarion Clark, Peyton Farmer, Chase Jenkins, and Landon Ransom-Goelz) and one junior college transfer (Jordan Campbell)
Four of the six transfers (Brant Banks, Jordan Campbell, Coleman Coco, and Matt Hall) have two years of eligibility remaining.
The 24 players represent seven states with 16 from Texas, two from both Pennsylvania and Tennessee, and one each from California, Missouri, New Jersey, and Ohio. Seven of the 18 high school recruits are Houston-area products as is Nebraska transfer Brant Banks, who prepped at Westbury Christian before signing with the Huskers.
By position, the Owls added six offensive linemen, four defensive linemen, three tight ends and three wide receivers, a pair of quarterbacks, linebackers and cornerbacks, and one running back and safety.
"We believe this class will take us soaring to new heights," Bloomgren said. "It's the highest-ranked class in Rice history. It includes two of the top four prospects we've signed since we've been here as a staff (Ty Morris and Joseph Mutombo) and it has (our) highest-rated recruit in the rating era, JT Daniels. I think our recruiting staff has done a great job identifying, recruiting, and now signing this class. We've got a lot of guys in this class we think could be immediate impact guys. That always excites us when there are guys that can challenge for positions and make you better from an athletic standpoint. All the great things that are happening in our program helped us attract these talented young men and their families and our football team got stronger today because of these recruits."
Rice's largest December signing class prior to this year was 18 in 2020. The Owls signed 17 in both 2018 and 2019, 11 in 2021, and six in 2017 which came 13 days after Bloomgren was named Rice's 19th head coach.
The class of 24 includes five graduate transfers, headlined by quarterback JT Daniels, who will begin classes in January, in addition to 18 high school seniors, four of whom will enroll in January (Jamarion Clark, Peyton Farmer, Chase Jenkins, and Landon Ransom-Goelz) and one junior college transfer (Jordan Campbell)
Four of the six transfers (Brant Banks, Jordan Campbell, Coleman Coco, and Matt Hall) have two years of eligibility remaining.
The 24 players represent seven states with 16 from Texas, two from both Pennsylvania and Tennessee, and one each from California, Missouri, New Jersey, and Ohio. Seven of the 18 high school recruits are Houston-area products as is Nebraska transfer Brant Banks, who prepped at Westbury Christian before signing with the Huskers.
By position, the Owls added six offensive linemen, four defensive linemen, three tight ends and three wide receivers, a pair of quarterbacks, linebackers and cornerbacks, and one running back and safety.
2023 RICE OWLS FOOTBALL EARLY SIGNEES
| NAME | POS | HT | WT | HOMETOWN (SCHOOL) |
| Daelen Alexander | RB | 5-9 | 200 | Pflugerville, TX (Weiss) |
| Brant Banks | OL | 6-7 | 300 | Houston, TX (Nebraska) |
| Beau Barton | LB | 6-3 | 200 | Van, TX (Van) |
| Nate Bledsoe | OL | 6-4 | 285 | Collierville, TN (Briarcrest Christian) |
| Jordan Campbell | RUSH | 6-3 | 240 | Middlesex, NJ (Nassau CC) |
| Christopher Clark | DL | 6-2 | 250 | Houston, TX (Furr) |
| Jamarion Clark | CB | 6-0 | 180 | Temple, TX (Dallas South Oak Cliff) |
| Coleman Coco | DE | 6-5 | 265 | Pittsburgh, PA (Colgate) |
| JT Daniels | QB | 6-2 | 226 | Irvine, CA (West Virginia) |
| Drayden Dickmann | WR | 5-11 | 170 | Georgetown, TX (Georgetown) |
| James Falk | TE | 6-6 | 235 | Springfield, PA (The Haverford School) |
| Peyton Farmer | OL | 6-6 | 270 | Fresno, TX (Ridge Point) |
| Phillip Gallegos | OL | 6-6 | 300 | Von Ormy, TX (Somerset) |
| Matt Hall | TE | 6-3 | 225 | Columbia, MO (Truman State) |
| Chase Jenkins | QB | 6-0 | 185 | Katy, TX (Alief Taylor) |
| Ty Anthony Morris | LB | 6-2 | 195 | Houston, TX (Dekaney) |
| Joseph Mutombo | DL | 6-5 | 215 | Fort Worth, TX (Keller Central) |
| Luke Needham | OL | 6-5 | 300 | Germantown, TN (Houston) |
| Ashton Ojiaku | SAF | 6-0 | 195 | Houston, TX (Foster) |
| Ethan Powell | TE | 6-5 | 215 | Mason, TX (Southwestern) |
| Landon Ransom-Goelz | WR | 6-0 | 170 | Trophy Club, TX (Byron Nelson) |
| AJ Stephens | DB | 5-11 | 175 | Spring, TX (Aldine MacArthur) |
| Patrick Valent | OL | 6-4 | 290 | Warren, OH (John F Kennedy Catholic) |
| Justin Williams Jr. | WR | 6-3 | 180 | Cypress, TX (Aldine MacArthur) |
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