It’s not often that Arkansas reaches into the state of Michigan to land a football recruit, but it did this past Sunday and that could open the door to getting more from his talent-rich state.
Detroit Belleville four-star defensive back Myles Rowser (6-1, 185), ranked as high as the 86th-best overall talent nationally by Rivals in the 2022 recruiting class, chose the Razorbacks over some 35 other choices.
Arkansas joined Alabama, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, West Virginia and Cincinnati among others in hoping to land Rowser.
Rowser’s 247Sports composite ranking is 131st nationally with the Rivals (81), 247 (173) and ESPN (181) averaged together.
He is the highest-rated prospect of the eight Arkansas 2022 pledges, a class ranked 13th nationally and fourth in the SEC by 247Sports.
Belleville head coach Jermaine Crowell is happy that Rowser, a former Michigan commit, will be playing for Razorback head coach Sam Pittman.
“I am a Coach Pittman guy,” Crowell said. “He almost had two other Belleville players when he was at Georgia and as soon as he became a head coach, I became a fan. I trust him and I think it is going to be a great relationship between Belleville and Arkansas as long as Coach Pittman is there.”
That’s no small deal as Belleville has been loaded with talent in recent years including Alabama defensive tackle signee Damon Payne, Penn State linebacker signee Jamari Buddin, Michigan State signees Davonte Dobbs and Julian Barnett.
There’s also been former Georgia quarterback Dwan Mathis, Kentucky defensive back commit Jeremiah Caldwell, Purdue wide receiver signee Deion Burks and record-setting, unsigned senior quarterback Christian Dhue-Reid.
“I don’t know if they are looking at some of our other younger kids and bringing them to the SEC or not, but we are available to do that,” Crowell said. “My kids will go anywhere. We travel around the country all throughout the year and now that Coach Pittman is at Arkansas, it will be a yearly stop. We’ll be down there as soon you can visit campuses again. We’ll be getting to know each other and visiting quite frequently.”
That will likely begin when Rowser, who pledged to the Razorbacks without having seen the campus, arrives in Fayetteville for his official visit on June 4-6.
“He is a great kid and a super competitor,” Crowell said. “He loves to work. His brother (Andre Selden, Jr.) was a (high school) All-American and plays for Michigan. He’s just a great kid and a great player.”
Crowell, whose teams are 44-4 in the last four years, feels one of the Rowser’s big strengths is his versatility.
“He can play any position back there in the secondary and has played every position,” Crowell said. “He has played free safety, strong safety, nickel, corner and excelled at all of those places on the field. So he is a DB. You can’s just say he is a cornerback or a safety. He has a high IQ and is a great talent.”
Rowser had 61 tackles, 3 tackles for lost yardage, 2 forced fumbles, 3 interceptions, 1 sack and 10 pass breakups as a junior.
The Tigers won their first 10 games before losing to West Bloomfield 35-34 in two overtimes in a Division I state playoff semifinal.
Belleville went for a two-point conversion and the win in the second overtime because his team had both a PAT and what would have been a game-winning field goal blocked with five seconds left in regulation.
“We have been fortunate to have a great deal of talent at Belleville,” Crowell said. “We got shut down several times throughout the year because of the coronavirus, but the kids persevered, the coaches persevered, our sports staff persevered and we were able to get through it.”