Griffin Rousseau’s aspirations of playing Division I football began in seventh grade when he started working out with his older brother, Gabe Rousseau, who currently plays Division II football at Minnesota State University.
The younger ‘s goal quickly turned into an expectation once he “caught the eye” of college coaches as a 6-foot-6, 280-pound freshman on the Stoughton high school football team.
That summer Rousseau visited the University of Wisconsin and began an early recruiting process with several Power 5 schools.
“I was very blessed to have my recruiting start very young,” Rousseau said. “I believed this is what I had to do with the size I was given.”
The offensive lineman’s recruiting interest only grew throughout the years and peaked on June 2, 2023, at the Lindenwood football camp.
People are also reading…
Over the last few years, Stoughton coach Jason Becker has taken players to the mega-camp in Missouri to gain exposure from programs “who don’t tend to recruit in our area,” he said.
At the camp’s conclusion, Rousseau met with University of Illinois offensive line coach Bart Miller and head coach Bret Bielema, who said Rousseau was the best player at the camp.
Rousseau said the Illini coaches liked how he generates power, closes space quickly and has the build to play anywhere on the offensive line.
“For a coach to finally show they believed in my abilities to play football at the Division I level on a full scholarship was truly incredible,” Rousseau said.
The Fighting Illini were one of several Power 5 schools to offer Rousseau last summer, including Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Rutgers, Iowa State and Wisconsin.
On Monday, Rousseau announced his commitment to play football at Illinois as a member of the 2025 recruiting class after taking another visit to the Champaign campus two days earlier.
There he attended the Illinois men’s basketball team’s game against Indiana alongside future teammates Carson Boyd and Michael McDonough.
Boyd is a three-star quarterback recruit from St. Louis, Missouri, while McDonough is a three-star offensive lineman from Indiana, according to 247sports.com.
“It really just came down to Illinois recruiting better than anybody else and making me feel like the priority,” Rousseau said. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was little to play in the Big Ten, and growing up Wisconsin was the dream choice, but I’m happy Illinois found me.”
Rousseau becomes the most recent Stoughton offensive lineman to receive a Division I scholarship.
That run of recruiting success began in 2020 with Jack Nelson, who’s currently a junior at Wisconsin. Nelson’s younger brother Barrett followed suit, committing to the Badgers in 2022.
Rousseau said it’s cool to join an exclusive group of people, while Becker noted the commitments show that Stoughton football produces great athletes.
“It’s exciting because our younger guys are seeing that you can be from Stoughton and achieve your hopes and dreams of playing at the highest level of college football,” Becker said.