Seemingly in the blink of an eye, St. Laurence’s Sean Rice saw his recruiting take off.
Rice, a linebacker heading into his senior year, quickly went from mid-major prospect to being highly sought after by Power Four programs. The process ended with Rice choosing to stay home as he recently committed to Illinois.
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“It’s really cool I’m going to play for my home state,” Rice said. “I’m really happy about it. I know I have a lot of people in Aurora, where I’m from, and in my new home in Burbank supporting me.
“Hopefully, now it will be the same thing when I go down to Champaign and I can find a lot of new supporters and people I can call family.”
Rice, who is rated as a three-star recruit by 247 Sports, chose the Illini from among 14 offers, including Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, Georgia Tech and Kansas State.
He switched from defensive end to linebacker last fall and had a breakthrough season for the Vikings, piling up 138 tackles and five interceptions.
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That certainly caught the attention of college coaches.
“It was a big shift,” Rice said. “I had gone on visits as a D-end to MAC schools and it was a crazy flip in the interest that they show you from when I was a D-end that they didn’t really pay attention to and then I was like the main linebacker that they were paying attention to.
“This fall, winter and spring has all been kind of a whirlwind for me with recruiting but I’ve enjoyed it every step of the way.”
St. Laurence coach Patrick Swanson believes Illinois is the perfect spot for Rice.
“It’s an awesome fit,” Swanson said. “I was lucky enough to go on the visit with him in the spring. I think he couldn’t be walking into a better situation with the new defense they’re starting with this year.”
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Rice cited the relationships he built with Illinois outside linebackers coach Archie McDaniel and head coach Bret Bielema as key in his decision.
“The coaching was a big piece for me,” he said. “I had a really strong connection with coach ‘Arch’ and I felt good about coach ‘B’ as well. The consistent word about (Bielema) is that his door is always open and he’s always there for his players.
“I feel very good about my future teammates, too.”
Rice started to feel he could have a big future in football after a 37-21 win over Evanston last fall in Week 2.
“The switch kind of slipped for me Week 2,” he said. “I had a really big game against Evanston. I went up to coach Swanson’s office to go through film and he told me, ‘You’re a Big Ten-level linebacker. Things are going to happen, your dreams are going to come to reality. It’s going to happen soon. You just have to stay patient, keep your head down and keep working.’”
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Rice definitely did that, earning respect from his teammates and coaches in the process.
“Sean played basketball as a sophomore and still came to the weight room with us every day,” Swanson said. “It was the same thing his junior year. You saw the seniors start to lean on him more because his voice started to carry more weight.
“This year, we’ve expressed to him, ‘You are the leader now. We go as you go.’ He’s grabbed guys and brought them up to his level.”
Rice has decided to give up basketball now as he plans to graduate early. But he’s also taken plenty away from his experience on the court that he thinks will help him this fall.
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“They used me as the bruiser in basketball,” he said. “There was never a game where I wasn’t in the post banging with other guys. That’s carried over to football.
“I’m not afraid to put my head down and run into somebody.”
