Owls Welcome 17 Players in the Class of 2017

Rice head football coach David Bailiff announced Wednesday the names of 17 high school seniors who have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Owls for the 2017 season.

"Signing Day is always a day to celebrate and today we are fired up to have this amazing group of men in the Rice Football family," Bailiff said. "Thirteen of them made the decision last summer to make a commitment to us and they stood firm in their belief that Rice was the best place to further their careers. I can't wait to see them on campus this summer and begin their careers as Rice Owls."

The 2017 class features 15 players who honed their talents in Texas high schools, with seven coming from the 5A ranks, six from the 6A level and one each from 4A and the TAPPS classification.

The Owls also added their ninth recruit from Canada in Bailiff's 11 years at Rice in lineman Gregor MacKellar and kicker Will Harrison from Westfield, Indiana who helped lead his school to its first state championship. Harrison was one of 11 signees who reached postseason play in their senior seasons.

The class breakdown reveals four offensive linemen, three wide receivers, linebackers and defensive backs and one quarterback, defensive lineman, kicker and tight end.

Eight of the players are products of the Houston area and six were featured in Dave Campbell's Texas Football's Top 300 at the start of the year.

Rice opens the 2017 season in historic fashion when the Owls play on an international stage for the first time in history when they face Stanford in the second Sydney Cup in Sydney, Australia on August 26.