re: Arkansas Football 2023 Recruiting Thread **WR Dazmin James Commits**

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Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove linebacker Everett Roussaw has de-committed from the Arkansas Razorbacks. Roussaw, 6-2, 225, reopened his recruitment with an announcement via Twitter at approximately 2 p.m. central on Tuesday afternoon.

"I would like to start by thanking the University of Arkansas, and its staff for blessing me and my family with a great opportunity. I really appreciate Coach Smith and Coach Pittman for recruiting me. After prayer, talking to my family/loved ones and lots of consideration, I will be decommitting from the University of Arkansas! This is a huge decision and the most important thing is I find the best place for me. Although I am decommitting Arkansas is still one of the schools I will be considering."

Roussaw originally committed to the Razorbacks on January 23 when he turned down offers from Louisville, Mississippi State, Missouri, UCF, Virginia Tech, and Charlotte. He was recruited to Fayetteville by Arkansas linebackers coach Michael Scherer and running backs coach Jimmy Smith, who served as Cedar Grove’s head coach prior to entering the college coaching ranks.

The Razorbacks added a new linebacker commitment over the weekend in Alex Sanford of Oxford (Miss.) and are still very much in the mix for another in Brad Spence of Houston (Texas) Klein Forest. Arkansas still has one linebacker committed in Carson Dean of Carrollton (Texas) Hebron.

According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Roussaw is a three-star recruit, the No. 77 linebacker in the nation and the No. 95 overall prospect in the state of Georgia for the Class of 2023. 247Sports has him as the nation’s No. 109 linebacker target and the No. 110 player in the Peach State.

Roussaw's decommitment drops Arkansas' team ranking to No. 8 in the nation and No. 2 in the SEC for the Class of 2023. The Razorbacks are expected to sign at least 25 new additions in the 2023 cycle with a chance to go over, as there is no maximum for new signees in 2023.

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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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Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove linebacker Everett Roussaw committed to Arkansas late in January. The 6-foot-2, 231-pound rising senior committed to the Razorbacks over Mississippi State and other schools.

After being committed for five months, the three-star has decided to re-open his recruitment.

“I would like to start by thanking the University of Arkansas, and it’s staff for blessing me and my family with a great opportunity,” Roussaw said in a Twitter post.

“I really appreciate coach Smith and coach Pittman for recruiting me. After prayer, talking to my family/loved ones and lots of consideration. I will be decommitting from the University of Arkansas! This is a huge decision and the most important thing is I find the best place for me. Although I am decommitting Arkansas is still one of the schools I will be considering.”

Roussaw has only visited Arkansas since he committed to the Razorbacks. Schools that never stopped recruiting him are Connecticut, Louisville, and Mississippi State. He plans to start over, re-evaluate his options, and start to take visits in the fall.

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