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Rice '99 official commitment list,
including player info, Hatfield
felt need for speed Owls get full complement (February 3--) Rice University today picked up its full complement of available football scholarships, as fifteen Texan, one Arkansan and one Oklahoman schoolboy stars signed 1999 letters of intent with Rice, Coach Ken Hatfield announced. "We had only 17 scholarships to give, and that's what we gave," Coach Hatfield said. "The reason we had such a low number is because, at Rice, everybody stays and graduates. I think we wound up fulfilling our goal." Coach Hatfield strongly emphasized depth on defense. "We really went heavily on the defensive side, as we did last year," he said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. "We signed eleven players on defense--five defensive linemen. We thinks it's important to have depth and competition, and control of the line of scrimmage. We think that's vital, so we ended up with five defensive linemen, a couple of linebackers, and two or three good defensive backs who can run."
Three new names showed up on the official list announced by Hatfield Wednesday afternoon, not listed as verbal commits prior to signing day. First was Jason Benjamin, a DB from Mesquite, TX, North Mesquite (5-7, 155, 4.41). Jason was a Dallas all-city defensive back in '98. Next came Brandon Green, a highly sought-after DE from Vanderbilt Industrial (6-3, 220, 4.62). Brandon led the Cobras to a four-year record of 41-5 and three district titles. He was first-team Class 3A all-state at tight end after winning first-team honors as a junior defensive lineman in '97. And last but not least there was Jonathan Chism (6-3, 245, 4.7), a former teammate of Owls standout Dan Dawson at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, High. Jonathan was a 1998 all-state selection at defensive end. Missing from the list was James Shelton, a speedster RB from Toomsuba, Mississippi, who was rumored to have problems qualifying academically. "We never had him in the fold, in any case," Coach Hatfield said. That means the only running back signed by the Owls was Schertz Clemens DB/RB Donnie Pinkerton, who was coveted initially by Rice assistant coach Barney Farrar as a defensive back. But now he'll get first shot at the running back position --although Coach Hatfield pointed out the backfield cupboard is not exactly bare, via the redshirt route. "From last year's class, Vincent Hawkins and Sean White are about as fast and hard to bring down as they get. At least that's what my defensive coaches tell me." Owls recruit 3 QBs--and all will play, somewhere, Coach says
Perhaps Coach Hatfield ought to start wearing a banker's grey suit with a thin necktie and grey fedora on the sideline next fall-- happily for Owl fans of a certain vintage, he's beginning to sound so much like Jess Neely, he might as well dress the part. "So that's the kind of a guy we want at quarterback, guys who are tough, who are great leaders; guys who can both run and throw. We know that, with the competition they've been playing in, all those three guys WILL end up on first team, somewhere. That's why we're excited about having them," Coach Neely, er, Hatfield, told the press. "It's pretty unusual--we've got two wrestling champions this year--Ben Stephens, out of Arlington Bowie, who was 30 and 0 as a heavyweight wrestler this year; made all-state; and also Ross Lassley from Mustang, Oklahoma, who made the Coach's All-America wrestling team. He and Ben will room together--I don't know which College, but their dorm room ought to get interesting." All seventeen recruits are projected to redshirt their freshman year--though nothing is ever certain, in that regard. "We don't count on any of them playing (as true freshmen). At the same time, we tell them, 'Prepare to play.' Once you get to the point where we are--and I've just looked on our roster--next year we have 14 seniors, and I think only six were redshirts; about eight had to play for us as freshman, four years ago. And with the group the followed them, it drops down to only three guys who did not redshirt in our junior class. So we're at the point with next year's group, that pretty much we can redshirt the majority of the players coming in." "But there are guys who would be ready to play, though--Donnie Pinkerton, who has outstanding speed, and he can play either offense or defense. The whole idea is that we want to have good depth and good competition, and we'll play whomever we need to, to have a dominant defensive team and a dominant defensive line." No shortage of All-American (if not Top-100) kids The 17 recruits were labeled by the Houston Chronicle as "possibly the best of Hatfield's tenure at Rice." If one peruses the thumbnail sketches of each recruit, one finds the usual run of academic and leadership awards and accolades. "We have several guys who went to Boys' State--we have the Governer of Arkansas Boys' State, Jonathan Chism, from Pine Bluff, Arkansas." Jonathan won a Presidential Achievement Award for Academic Excellence ain addition to garnering Boys' State accolates--as did a certain politican we all know from Arkansas. So Rice may have its own Man from Hope. In any event, "we have a pretty good variety of leadership and ability," Coach Hatfield said. Commenting on the fact that only two out of 17 recruits were from out-of-state, Hatfield said, "We're always going to cover Texas first. We feel that, the closer a young man is to home, the better off we are with him, where his family and friends can come and watch him play as much as possible. We think that's a decided advantage. Also, it's just great coaches and great players around here. We've been at Rice for four or five years now--seven coaches just yesterday got their five-year Rice service pins from Dr.(Rice president Malcom) Gillis. So we know the coaches and they know us and the program; we pretty much get recommended to us the players who we know will have a chance at success here. We have places like Mustang, Oklahoma; we've got Duncanville and North Mesquite--we've got three players from each of those places. What really recruits well for us is players going back home for us." This year's crew includes schoolboys from city and country, large high schools and small. "We don't look to the size of the high school one way or the other--you get a variety of things from both small schools and large schools. We look for an athlete and a leader, wherever he is. We don't just highlight the 5A schools. Just look at a couple of the quarterbacks we recruited." "One guy was a 2A quarterback, Kyle Herm, who holds the Texas 2A state record for touchdown passes with 81. That's pretty big, I don't care what division you play in." "Then you've got Jeremy Hurd, from Duncanville, who won the Division II 5A state championship. The Herm boy (Kyle) is about 5-9 and can dunk a basketball, really tough--also made second team all-state as a defensive back. He's a great punt returner; I think he's had over 18 touchdowns on returns. So you get a variety of things from both the small schools and large schools that we recruit." Owls left some good ones on the table Owl fans shouldn't fret about the ones that got away, Hatfield said. "There are always disappointments when a player doesn't sign, but in the end, now with the small number of scholarships, that just opens up the opportunity to sign somebody else you want. When you're down to 17, there's just more players out there than you've got scholarships for. A lot of times you get frustrated because there are several other players you'd have like to have had, who'd have qualified and been great leaders--but we just didn't have scholarships for them." "We have a meeting Sunday with Division 1A heach coaches, and in all our meetings, I've always voiced the opinion that there should be NO total scholarship limit--there should just be an annual limit of, say, 20 scholarships per year. The realistic thing is that everybody ought to have a shot every year at, like, 20 players. Then, that encourages you to keep your kids and graduate them. And those who do a good job caring about them, will benefit first of all, because they'll keep them in school. If you keep them in school, that way, you can have up to 100 players on scholarship (five years' worth), but with normal attrition--some guys get hurt, those things just happen--it will keep the total numbers down to about 85 or 90, anyway, at the worst. But what it would do, it would reward those schools that do care about whether their student athletes graduate--and they'll wind up with more fifth-year players. So it would reward those people who were doing a good job, both as students, and as athletes." When press members commented on the fact that this year's list included no Houston Chronicle Top-100 list members, Hatfield pointed out that several of the new Owls did make other state Top-100 or area lists, including Danny Cestero, Jeremy Hurd and Donnie Pinkerton. "The biggest thing that happens on that, as you well know, you go back and look at your Top 100 list from five years ago. What happened to them?" he asked. " How many of them are great players? Statistically, it doesn't work out that way--injuries, personal problems, competition, academics, you name it. Look at the NFL, the other day when they were introducing all those championship players, where were they from? Kent State, Sonoma State, Savannah State, Long Beach State-- all those, they weren't on anybody's Top 100 list, I guarantee. And yet, they're winning the Super Bowl." "The thing we know, as the NFL does, is that a guy doesn't reach his peak until he's 26 years old. And until that time, each player is somewhere in a growth pattern. Sometimes were are able to see that in an athlete--sometimes we can't. An interesting story, in town, today, is Scottie Pippin. Coming out of high school, he wasn't on any Top 100 list or top-anykind of list, because he didn't even play freshman basketball, he was the team manager. And later he developed." Realistically, though, the group lacks a great deal of size, and it's short on accolades from the professional prognosticators. "We just know that if you get the right type of kid--who can run, who has good character, who'll stay in the weight room and continue to improve--that after he's been with us for two years, he ought to be good enough to win a championship with the last three." "And that's why, when you look at all these guys, the great thing we try to do is get speed. If we can get somebody that has enough speed to be dominant in SOME position-- maybe not what he's playing now-- then we know eventually they'll get the strength to do what we need them to." "I mean, Jeremy Hurd, he does almost a 25-foot long jump. That's big. Brandon Boyd, here in town, runs a 37.2 300-intermediate hurdles. He was captain of an AAU track team that went over to Europe last summer. That's fast. We ended up getting some speed at all the positions. Robert Holmes, Danny Cestero have big size for inside linebackers, but they can run, too." Bobby Burton's National Recruiting Advisor
list of prospects considering Rice..... QB Hurd looks like
perfect fit for Owls Rice 1999 official
commitment list Jason Benjamin, DB, Mesquite, TX, North Mesquite (5-7, 155, 4.41) Coach Hatfield: "Jason is a defensive back out of North Mesquite; he runs a 4.4; great cover corner. Arkansas recruited him, a lot of folks recruited him. He is tough, a good running back and a good defensive back; that's what we like about him: he has played both. The third player we've gotten from North Mesquite, and we think he's going to be a great player." Brandon Boyd, DB, The Woodlands, TX (6-0, 164, 4.4) Coach Hatfield: "From out here at the Woodlands; runs a legitimate 4.4; last year was the captain of the AAU track team that went to Europe. He runs a 37-flat 300 intermediate (hurdles), and one of the top three speed men in the state. But he can fly. He also turned down visits to Arkansas; they came in and wanted to offer him, but he came here, and we're really excited about Brandon, with his great speed." Danny Cestero, LB, Pasadena, TX, Dobie (6-3, 220, 4.7) Coach Hatfield: "From here in town, Dobie High School. Danny is 6-3, 220; is a tough, thick linebacker, and he is going to be a good one. He's named to Max Emfinger's Top 100 list too, but Danny is a tough young man. I told his mama--she's in advertising--that she's in charge of a special Rice promotional game--and she said she'll get 40,000 out here one night, and we'll have a big hoedown. So y'all be ready for that. And she can do it, too." Jonathan Chism, DE, Pine Bluff, Arkansas (6-3, 245, 4.7) Coach Hatfield: "A 6-3, 245 defensive end from Pine Bluff High School, in Arkansas. This young man benches around 410 pounds, and he can run. He was at Boys State last year; he was elected Governer of Boys State. His mother just graduated college a year ago herself, the same day her daughter graduated from Harvard, and then mother went into schoolteaching. The family has put four kids through college--this is the fifth one coning. An outstanding young man and he is strong, and we're really happy to get him." Paxton Corder, OL-DL, Richardson, TX, Berkner (6-3, 255, 4.8) Coach Hatfield: "Six-three; he's about 265 right now; played defensive end and tight end both. He's really big into power lifting, on the power lifting team. Not sure whether he'll be playing inside or outside--he's strong; he's just a powerful guy. You see what all he's done--baseball, soccer, track and power lifting-- somebody who's good enough to play all those things in school. And he's going to be getting bigger and bigger. Chris DeMunbrun, DL, Houston, TX, St. Thomas (6-4, 252, 5.0) Coach Hatfield: "Looks like Lurch, from the Addams Family; he's about as big a guy as you might see. He's about 6-5; has a black belt in karate. So you don't say anything bad to him. But he has lettered in football, basketball and baseball--again, another young man from St. Thomas, where we have three players from that team. Chris will do a great job for us; he's a really fine young man. Another defensive guy we wanted, who'll be strong enough to play inside but bat some balls down, too." Brandon Green, DE, Vanderbilt, TX, Industrial (6-3, 220, 4.62) Coach Hatfield: "He was the first guy to commit to us this year. Barney (Farrar) did a great job with him-- he and his dad and mom came to several of our "Get Acquainted with Rice" days last summer; so he knew a lot about us. He played on a team that was 41-5; he made all-state as a tight end and defensive end; also a baseball, basketball, track, power lifting athlete-- into everything. A dynamic Christian, he's just a real competitor, and we really like Brandon." Travis Hale, P, Duncanville, TX (6-4, 205, 5.0) Coach Hatfield: "He kicked the winning field goal in the 5A state championship game; he also punts and is just as good a punter, with as good a leg extension as we've ever seen. A good soccer player and a real competitor, he does a great job allowing you to down some balls inside the 10 yard line, and also he kicks off into the end zone. So he pretty much has done all of it. To have another one of (Duncanville Coach) Bob Alpert's guys is really good. We're excited about getting Travis. We think he'll give us a real plus in the kicking game." Kyle Herm, QB, Stanton, TX (5-10, 175, 4.49) Coach Hatfield: "He had enough things to fill three of these info sheets; we had to condense it down. He's done everything: number one in his class, basketball player, baseball, he's done it all. Player of the Year-- everything-- out in West Texas, a real competitor, and we're really excited about Kyle. He came to visit us last summer, and also came out during the season; saw a ball game with his mom and dad." Robert Holmes, DE/LB, Humble, TX (6-2, 210, 4.5) Coach Hatfield: "Maybe as good a player as there is in the whole Houston area this year. Robert was a defensive end, but he's also an inside linebacker extraordinaire. He runs 4.5, at 6-2, about 220 pounds, and he can play. Played out here at Humble, and you know the level of competition they have. Also he and his sister were both Homecoming King and Queen, at the same time. So you know, he's gotta be likeable, too. Actually, he's as personable a young man as you ever want to see. But he will hit you, and he can run. He and Coach Rizzo will have a good time, speaking Italiano together." Jeremy Hurd, QB, Duncanville, TX (5-10, 178, 4.5) Coach Hatfield: "His dad told us from day one, 'He's comiing to Rice.' First time we asked him he said, 'Coach, I'm 99-point-99 percent sure.' I said, 'Well we need to get that other tenth in there somewhere, because we need you here' --and then he continued to take visits all over the country. Finally, when it got down to it, his dad squeezed out that last one-tenth of one percent, some way, and he ended up coming. An excellent student, too, National Merit; he is really a good student and great leader. We're excited about him" Ross Lassley, DL, Mustang, Oklahoma (6-3, 250, 4.7) Coach Hatfield: "Ross is the state heavyweight wrestling champ in Oklahoma; OU wanted him number one; they tried to get him to come on a full wrestling scholarship. He's 6-3, 250 pounds, and quick. The third player we've gotten from Mustang; you remember Russell Streeter was the first one, and he played through his injuries with great courage. Then Jason Blackwell, who just graduated and finished; I couldn't have been more excited to see what his mom and dad said about Rice in a letter they just wrote to us. So Ross is the third-- Coach Mike Levitz has been great for us at Mustang; he has gone the extra mile and has really been a plus, in speaking on our behalf. Ross, and Ben Stephens, the heavyweight wrestling champ of Texas, wrestled each other earlier in the year--and Ross beat him. So now we're going to room them together-- they can tussle each other all night now. There may not be any walls left in that dorm! But anyway, that College is in trouble! But they do want to room together, which is going to be good." Julius Mitchell III, LB, S. Grand Prairie, TX (6-2,
190, 4.5) Coach Hatfield: "Julius is really a fast, 4.5 outside linebacker. He can fly. Great kid, as personable as you'd ever want to see, and he's going to be so important because the guy he's rooming with (John White) is a little bit on the sloppy side; they're best of friends and we're going to room them together. And Julius will be in charge of getting that room together." Donnie Pinkerton, RB, Schertz, TX, Clemens. (5-8,165, 4.38) Coach Hatfield: "Donald has done a great job; he's run a 4.38; he's run a 10.39 hundred meters, and he's got that kind of speed that takes your breath away. He averaged 9.1 yards per carry, 45 touchdowns, over 3,000 yards, so he is fast, and he's going to help us, and we will probably use him this year as a running back. He's played defensive back; Hardee McCrary really wanted him as a defensive back for Texas; we think he can play both, but we think he's got a better chance to help us right now with some speed at running back." Ben Stephens, OG, Arlington, TX, Bowie (6-3, 275, 5.3) Coach Hatfield: "Ben is the heavyweight champion wrestler of Texas. He's done a tremendous job; played baseball; is a good catcher--probably another love that he has is baseball, he and Ross Lassley both. They'll be rooming together. But he is a really fine offensive center, or guard, and that's what we like about him-- he could play either position." Jeff Vanover, QB, Diboll, TX (6-0, 195, 4.6) Coach Hatfield: At 6-0, 195, he's a linebacker and a great competitor. His dad is the coach at Diboll and he's had an outstanding career under him. We had him in our football camp last summer; we like the way he competed then. And we offered him, we said, 'you're going to be good enough; just have decent year and get the recommendation of your head coach, and we'll take you.' So anyway, he did. It helped that his mama lived in the same house as his head coach; that made a difference." John White, DB, S. Grand Prairie, TX (5-11, 170, 4.5) Coach Hatfield: "A defensive back from South Grand Prairie, an excellent program; he made all- state. He can really fly; he reminds you a lot of (Owl upperelassman) Greg Gatlin. If you saw one, you'd think you were seeing twins. He's really outstanding, an excellent player-- but the messiest room I've ever seen. But Julius Mitchell and John have been friends forever, and we told John, 'John, Coach Kidd's going to inspect your College every week.' It won't matter, because we won't be able to find anything, I'm telling you. Head coaches only get one visit, but when I went up to see him, we'd sit there and talk and I'd say, 'Show me your room.' I've learned this a long time ago-- I like to see how a guy lives and what he looks at every night, what's on his walls. So I said, 'Come on, John, I'll see your room.' So we walked upstairs, I walked into this room and it was nice. I was really expecting the worst. And who comes bouncing up the stairs but his sister. She says, 'this is MY room.' And then we opened the door; we saw his room--I mean a total disaster! We shut the door and left, right then. But anyway, they will have a lot of fun, and as long as John knows where everything is, he's ok. And he's a fine football player." SMU TCU Tulsa San Jose State Fresno State Hawaii UTEP Non-Conference '99 opponents: Texas University of Houston Michigan Navy
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Coach Hatfield expressed satisfaction with his quarterback haul.
"On offense, we ended up with three quarterbacks, starting with Jeremy Hurd, out of
Duncanville, who won the state championship there. We have Kyle Herm, out of Stanton, who
ended up 2A player of the year--they won the state championship his junior year. And then
there's Jeff Vanover up in Diboll, who we had in our football camp--and he made all-state
first team as a linebacker."