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LB Roussaw reopens recruitment

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Linebacker Everett Roussaw has decided to back off his pledge to Arkansas and reopen his recruitment, he announced Tuesday.

The Cedar Grove High product from Ellenwood, Ga., originally committed to the Razorbacks on Jan. 23, so the commitment lasted a little more than five months.

Despite the announcement, Roussaw said Arkansas was still among the schools he’s looking at.

“This is a huge decision and the most important thing is I find the best place for me,” Roussaw wrote on Twitter. “Although I am decommitting, Arkansas is still one of the schools I will be considering.”

Roussaw is the second player to de-commit from the Razorbacks in the 2023 class, with wide receiver Anthony Evans III being the first to do so in April.

Interestingly, the decision comes just a couple of weeks after what he described as an “amazing” official visit.

“Arkansas really laid it out,” Roussaw said. “They gave me some good hosts and I’m just very blessed to be in the opportunity, to be able to get this experience with my family. It was just different. They laid it out better than I could have expected.”

Unlike Evans, who was being pursued by the likes of Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Nebraska and was bumped up to a four-star recruit, Roussaw does not seem to have a lot of other Power Five options.

Tweeting his decision shortly before 6 a.m. CT the day after attending Junior Day in Fayetteville, Roussaw chose the Razorbacks over Louisville, Mississippi State, Missouri and Virginia Tech.

Since committing, Roussaw has continued to tweet out his offers, but they’ve been from the likes of Indiana, Duke, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, UAB, UConn and several HBCUs at the FCS level — Grambling State, Florida A&M, North Carolina A&T and Alabama State.

At the time, Arkansas had only eight commitments and only three were on the defensive side of the ball, with Roussaw being the lone linebacker. The Razorbacks have since landed 5.8 four-star Carson Dean and 5.7 three-star Alex Sanford.

With a 5.5 rating from Rivals, Roussaw was tied for the lowest-rated recruit in Arkansas’ 2023 class. Recent defensive tackle commits Ian Geffrard and Stephen Johnson are also 5.5 three-stars.

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