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February 9, 2007 > Sports > Football announces 22 new recruits

Football announces 22 new recruits

By Nathan Bledsoe | Thresher Editorial Staff

The football team announced the addition of 22 new recruits for the 2007 season on Wednesday in the R-Room at Rice Stadium. Head coach David Bailiff, who had only three weeks to put together this year’s recruiting class, kept 12 commitments of players recruited by former head coach Todd Graham.

Of the 22 new commits, 6 are from the Houston area, and all of those were late additions by Bailiff. He said the Houston area will become one of his focal points in future recruiting classes.

“[That’s] the thing that excites me the most,” he said. “We’re going to make the Houston area a top priority and I think we’ve shown that in our first three weeks here.”

The most notable talents in the class are offensive and defensive linemen. The Owls should be set at the offensive tackle position for a while with the addition of Kody Emmert, who comes from a highly successful program at Liberty Hills, Tex. and Davon Primus, a 6-3, 315-pounder from Humble, Tex. Defensively, tackle Brian Stacey, the Region 16-5-A player of the year last year at Klein Forest High School in Houston, should help shore up the middle.

Another player of note is linebacker Tanner Shuck, who comes to Rice after weighing offers from several other schools, including Stanford University and the University of Tulsa. Shuck, who is 5’11” tall and weighs 225 pounds, maintained an unweighted 4.0 GPA at Jenks High School in Tulsa. Shuck lettered for four years at Jenks, was the Oklahoma 6-A defensive player of the year and a consensus All-State selection after helping Jenks to the Oklahoma state championship as a senior.

On offense, running back Tyler Smith and receiver Michael Fuda should become major contributors. Smith, the younger brother of senior Quinton Smith, attended Rice’s football camp last summer and had the best 40-yard dash time of anyone in attendance. As a senior, Smith rushed for 1,435 yards and scored 25 touchdowns en-route to all-District 14-5-A honors. “We have some good speed in this class: Tyler Smith — he’s fast,” Bailiff said. “In high school he was a running back, but he could be a running back, maybe slot [receiver] or a corner. He’s incredible just because of his speed.”

Fuda is one of the Owls’ most intriguing recruits. He attends Katy High School, where he earned first-team All-State football honors as a junior following a 62-catch, 1,399-yard campaign. Katy started an underclassman quarterback Fuda’s senior season and emphasized the run, hurting his stats. However, he still managed to catch 44 balls for 738 yards and also returned punts.

Fuda also plays baseball at Katy, and he has received more accolades for his skills on the diamond than for his skills on the gridiron. As a junior, Fuda was a 5-A first-team all-state selection, and Louisville tabbed him as a second-team preseason All-American second baseman. Fuda plans to play both football and baseball for the Owls.

Fuda is one of two Rice commits on the Houston Chronicle Area Top-100 list. He is joined by defensive end Cheta Ozougwu, who attended Alief Taylor, Tex. Ozougwu is listed as a linebacker in the Top-100, but because of his 6’3”, 229-pound size and potential to add weight, he comes to Rice to play defensive end. Ozougwu made an impression on Bailiff with his upbeat attitude and his relentless work ethic, along with his eagerness to attend Rice.

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