Week two of summer visits start tomorrow for Pitt and one of the more impressive players on and off the field the Panthers are targeting will travel to Pittsburgh.
Class of 2019 offensive tackle Walter Rouse (6-6, 280) from Sidwell Friends High School in Silver Springs, Maryland will make his first trip to Pitt football facilities.
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Rouse is currently rated as a three-star recruit but has a star-studded offer sheet that includes Duke, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Stanford, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest.
The Pitt coaches have been recruiting Rouse for a while now and were one of the first schools to offer him, which is one of the big reasons Rouse wants to investigate Pitt further.
“They were one of the first schools to recognize my talents and believing in me,” Rouse said. “They didn’t offer me after I already had 25-plus offers. They offered early and believed in me. Coach Powell told me early that he really liked the way I play, see like a great kid and I really enjoy speaking to him. Since then, I’ve talked with Coach Narduzzi and Coach Borbely and I believe it’s time to get up there, see the facilities and see Coach Borbely face-to-face.”
Rouse is one of the recruits that puts a lot of stock into when a school offered him.
“Early on, some schools said they weren’t sure about you, you seem pretty raw athlete,” he said. “However, schools like Pitt, Virginia and Duke said, ‘We see the potential in this guy and see how good this guy can be’ and went ahead and offered me early.”
While talking with Rouse, it’s not hard to recognize what an intelligent, well-spoken kid he is and because of that, it’s not surprising to hear his college decision will come down to more than just football.
“Academics is very important to me and I would like to major in pre-med in college and Pittsburgh has some of the best hospitals in the country,” he said. “I was in Pittsburgh last year for a basketball tournament and I loved the city and get up there again and see the hospitals.
“Football hasn’t been a huge deal to me for all my life, I actually didn’t started playing until ninth grade. For me, I’d say that I want to go to a school for the academics and football is going to be a bonus for me. I love learning and knowledge is important to me. I want to be a doctor and help people because I there’s nothing better than that. That’s why academics are so important to me. Football is going to end one day and you’re going to need that base of where you went to college and what your degree is in. Academics and football are equal to me because you can’t do one without the other.”
Rouse said that other schools he’d like to make a visit to are Virginia, Duke, Northwestern, Notre Dame and North Carolina.