Pitt FB Recruiting
Offensive Tackle Walter Rouse Impressed By Visit to Pitt
One of the biggest battles in recruiting is trying to get high level players to make a visit to your campus.
Most coaches believe if they’re able to accomplish that, they’ll be able to impress players with their facilities, campus, etc.
A perfect example of that is what happened today with blue-chip Maryland offensive tackle Walter Rouse.
Rouse and his mother spent the day at Pitt and he now has a completely different view of the school.
“Going into today, I didn’t really have high expectations for the visit. I just wanted to come, have a good time, talk with the coaches. However, my mom and I were pleasantly surprised and had an amazing time especially with Coach Narduzzi and Coach Borbely,” said Rouse. “They just went over the moon for us and that meant a lot to my mom and I and we took that to heart. It was really a special day being there.”
Courtesy of Walter Rouse
What impressed Rouse the most about his day at Pitt?
“Their academic life-skills program. I wasn’t expecting to hear about that. Actually, I didn’t even know that had that. It’s an amazing program where they talk to kids about life after football and how they can help you. I thought that was very important and it really impressed me that they have that,” said Rouse.
As far as the football side, Rouse really enjoyed his time with Narduzzi and has a new perspective on the Pitt Panther football program.
“They knew that I already had a lot of offers from some high-level programs and something I appreciated from them was they didn’t try to make Pitt more than it was. They were honest and showed me Pitt; nothing more, nothing less. They didn’t lie to me about Pitt football. They told me, Pitt is a very good football program with great academics. In terms of football, I think they are on par with some of the top schools in the ACC,” said Rouse.
“I really loved talking with Coach Narduzzi. One of the things I things I took away from our conversation is the passion he has for his players, he really loves them and his passion for the game. My mother actually loved our conversation more than I did.”
Courtesy of Walter Rouse
Rouse currently holds offers from programs such as Notre Dame, Stanford, Penn State, Northwestern, Duke, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. I asked Rouse if he saw and heard enough today to come back for another visit and to legitimately consider Pitt?
“I definitely saw a lot more than I was expecting to. I’m definitely considering them as one of the schools I want to come back and revisit,” said Rouse. “I’ll be honest, there were other schools higher than Pitt before I made this visit but I’m so glad I decided to make this trip. Pitt passed some schools and are right with some other schools I was considering. I’m going to have to go back and think about things.”
