Central Catholic’s Justin Rice following brother to Fresno State

It didn’t take long for Central Catholic High-Modesto’s Justin Rice to make a commitment.

The senior running back pledged his commitment to Fresno State on Aug. 22.

Rice is the brother of Bulldogs freshman tight end Jared Rice.

“I had a pretty good feel for Fresno and the coaching staff because I went with Jared on his official visit,” he said. “I had set a timetable to commit before the season and in the last month I took unofficials to San Jose and UNLV. I kept trying to see if those schools had more to offer me than Fresno. Although they are both good schools and I really liked their coaching staffs, I just felt like Fresno was a better fit for me.”

If Rice keeps his commitment, the brothers will be the first siblings to play together in Fresno State history.

“We are shooting for a couple Mountain West championships together,” said the 6-foot-2, 215-pound running back/wide receiver. “But right now, Jared has three rings and I have two, so the pressure is on me to win one this year or I will never hear the end of it from Jared.”

Rice in 2013 was brought up to the Central Catholic varsity team for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs as a sophomore and last season earned a state title, helping the Raiders defeat St. Margaret’s-San Juan Capistrano 31-19 in the Division IV title game.

He also will be helping out his parents’ travel plans now that they’ll have two D-I football players in the family.

“My dad is pretty happy we are at the same place,” Rice said.

“You know, we (Jared and I) keep in contact a lot so I think it will be just like every other time we were back on the same team. Probably just pick it up without skipping a beat.”

Other commitments

▪ Running back Darrian Hammonds: The Seguin High-Arlington (Texas) senior committed on Aug. 17. He’s 6 feet and 220 pounds. Last season he rushed for a team-best 1,244 yards and 13 touchdowns and was named all-district.

▪ Safety Patrick Peek: Aledo High (Texas) senior committed to Fresno State on Aug. 3. Last season, Peek finished with 119 tackles and two interceptions, and earned second-team all state honors.

▪ Fullback Saevion Johnson: The Dawson High-Pearland senior committed to the Bulldogs in July. Johnson and Dawson finished 9-5 last season and the 6-foot, 190-pound Pearland native was named all-district.

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Central Catholic’s Justin Rice following brother to Fresno State."