All 50 states, ranked by number of elite recruits

[ChicoHog]

Almost 50% of the 4 and 5 star players over the last 5 years come from 4 states. 

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2016/6/28/12040586/rankings-state-stars-florida-texas-california

[factchecker]

In relation to this topic

There are no 5-star 2017 college football recruits in this 2.2-million-square-mile area



http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2017/1/20/14328730/2017-best-college-football-recruits-rankings-map

[PorkSoda]

Almost 50% of the 4 and 5 star players over the last 5 years come from 4 states. 

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2016/6/28/12040586/rankings-state-stars-florida-texas-california

we are in the top 25 of that list

_{(accounting for 0.9% of the top talent)}

[factchecker]

The major problem is that we play in a conference that recruits in these talent hotbeds.

[Potosihog]

The major problem is that we play in a conference that recruits in these talent hotbeds.

True, we are in the top 25 but unlike Wisc and Neb we play in the SEC West

[DLUXHOG]

Texas..... is right in our backyard.........

[NotSoFastMyFriend]

Texas..... is right in our backyard.........

Ours, Oklahoma's and Louisiana's backyards, to be fair. Then you have to deal with all of those pesky Texas schools. Super easy to recruit there now compared to our SWC days though.

[LSUFan]

We grow 'em big and fast, usually chain them up in a basement and feed them gun powder. Set 'em free at 20 to go play college.

Of which, we lookin' at at Nick Saban 2003 level defense in '17.

[presidenthog]

We grow 'em big and fast, usually chain them up in a basement and feed them gun powder. Set 'em free at 20 to go play college.

Of which, we lookin' at at Nick Saban 2003 level defense in '17.

I'll tell you like I told my lsu fan co worker. I don't expect to beat lsu next year unless they are undefeated and then lose to bama and play us.

In 2018 that team should be loaded enough for us to play you close no matter the circumstances.

[nwahogfan1]

No doubt we would love to sign 3+ kids a year who are 4 or 5 star but until that happens we need to do a better job of finding and signing those 2/3 star kids who become 4\5 star NFL prospects in 4 years.  This is his we get to 10 wins.   We must do a better job of evaluating than our competition then coach them up.

[LSUFan]

I'll tell you like I told my lsu fan co worker. I don't expect to beat lsu next year unless they are undefeated and then lose to bama and play us.

In 2018 that team should be loaded enough for us to play you close no matter the circumstances.

I ain't gonna argue with you there. LSU is gonna have a lot of guys leaving for the NFL after next year.

[colbs]

No doubt we would love to sign 3+ kids a year who are 4 or 5 star but until that happens we need to do a better job of finding and signing those 2/3 star kids who become 4\5 star NFL prospects in 4 years.  This is his we get to 10 wins.   We must do a better job of evaluating than our competition then coach them up.

Pretty much every year Arkansas signs 3+ 4 or 5*.  There are three 4* committed per 247 and seven 4* committed per ESPN so far this year.

[shshark00]

we are in the top 25 of that list

_{(accounting for 0.9% of the top talent)}

Only Missouri and Kentucky have produced less from the SEC. Our recruiting issues are much more than just not being able to recruit Texas or Louisiana or Florida better. Our high schools needs to produce more talent. No reason we can't produce talent on the same level as Virginia or New Jersey or others that are higher than us.

[Boss Hog in the Arkansas]

Being top 25 on this list is just like being top 25 in recruiting. It sounds good until you realize most of your conference is in the top 10

[LSUFan]

Only Missouri and Kentucky have produced less from the SEC. Our recruiting issues are much more than just not being able to recruit Texas or Louisiana or Florida better. Our high schools needs to produce more talent. No reason we can't produce talent on the same level as Virginia or New Jersey or others that are higher than us.

True

But DVH does a helluva job getting the instate talent for baseball, that you have to admit.

[Rzback]

Let's assume this ranking is correct. Why are 50% of 4 & 5 star recruits from 4 states? Maybe those 4 states place more emphasis on high school football? I've lived in 3 of the top 4 listed states and on Friday Nights virtually the entire communities are at the games and then they are talking about that game and the upcoming game all the next week. IMHO the Arkansas Athletic Association handcuffed high school football years ago (for safety reasons) when they started putting limitations on practices. When I moved to GA and saw the entire high school football team of a community of 15,000 people load up in buses and go to Florida for 3 weeks for football camp, I knew high school football was different in GA. Is safety more important than rankings? I think so but we have to adjust our expectations accordingly.

[Rzbakfromwaybak]

The major problem is that we play in a conference that recruits in these talent hotbeds.

True, most good schools are going to recruit the "talent hotbeds", wherever they are.  We should too, just need to do a better job in those hotbeds.... & the # 1 hotbed in the country is Texas, right next door.

[sage_dragoon]

we are in the top 25 of that list

_{(accounting for 0.9% of the top talent)}

well played +1

[jkstock04]

Pretty good article and charts. Notable to me is Oklahoma. Very comparable to Arkansas in terms of 4 & 5 star recruits. Throw in that OU and OK state have to compete against other makes for smaller pickens for both those teams for that state.

[Birminghog]

Only Missouri and Kentucky have produced less from the SEC. Our recruiting issues are much more than just not being able to recruit Texas or Louisiana or Florida better. Our high schools needs to produce more talent. No reason we can't produce talent on the same level as Virginia or New Jersey or others that are higher than us.

As of 2013, according to the Census Bureau (rounded to nearest 100,000):
   Virginia - 8.3 million people
   New Jersey - 8.9 million people
   Arkansas - 3 million people

Others:
   Texas - 26.4 million people
   Florida - 19.6 million people
   California - 38.3 million people
   Georgia - 10 million people
   Ohio - 11.6 million people

To be fair, Alabama has 4.8 million, Louisiana has 4.6 million, and Mississippi has 3 million, but those three are the only states when you can do reasonable comparisons unless you want to break down per capita numbers.
   

[clutch]

Let's assume this ranking is correct. Why are 50% of 4 & 5 star recruits from 4 states? Maybe those 4 states place more emphasis on high school football? I've lived in 3 of the top 4 listed states and on Friday Nights virtually the entire communities are at the games and then they are talking about that game and the upcoming game all the next week. IMHO the Arkansas Athletic Association handcuffed high school football years ago (for safety reasons) when they started putting limitations on practices. When I moved to GA and saw the entire high school football team of a community of 15,000 people load up in buses and go to Florida for 3 weeks for football camp, I knew high school football was different in GA. Is safety more important than rankings? I think so but we have to adjust our expectations accordingly.

I think Arkansas has too many classifications. There's so many small schools that either, don't have football, or play against other small schools where talent is limited. Most kids aren't playing against very good competition. There's some talented kids in 2a and 3a, but they are usually so far ahead of their competition that they aren't being pushed to be better. They aren't seeing any kind of competition in practice either. Also, a lot of times they are playing out of position. They have to be the QB or RB or LB because they are the best player on the field. They might have the body type and potential to be a high level CB or Safety, but never pan out because they don't have any experience at that position.

Another thing that really hurts, small schools just don't have the resources to fully maximize a kids potential. They don't have the money to build weight rooms that accommodate a whole football team, they don't have indoor facilities so that they can do skill work indoors during the offseason, etc. I've seen multiple small schools where the weight room has 5-6 squat racks with benches, 5-6 barbells, and 1 set of mismatched dumbbells. It's hard to properly train 30+ kids when that's all you've got and it's crammed into a room about the size of a small apartment.

Now I love small schools. I love the small school environment and I don't really think I want to see all of them disappear just so that in state athletics improve, but I definitely think it would improve things across the state athletically if that were to happen.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Pretty good article and charts. Notable to me is Oklahoma. Very comparable to Arkansas in terms of 4 & 5 star recruits. Throw in that OU and OK state have to compete against other makes for smaller pickens for both those teams for that state.

That's true and Oklahoma usually has the upper hand in that deal though Okla State may be gaining some ground. Can't verify that.

What I can verify is that both teams have relied heavily on Texas recruiting in the past and both have seen a downturn in emphasis (at least in success, if not because of emphasis). From 2007-2011 Oklahoma averaged about 12 Texas signees each year. From 2012-2016 that average has gone down to about 7.5 per year.

From 2007-2011 Oklahoma State averaged getting 14.4 signees from Texas each year. From 2012-2016 that average went down to 11.2 each year.

That's a reduction of 7-8 players each year between the two teams and that isn't because Oklahoma football has become that much better or produced that many more P-5 players. I'd suggest that it is because the competition for higher rated recruits in Texas has increased from P-5 schools within and outside of Texas. Arkansas has seen a reduction in Texas signees of about 3-4 per year as well.

I believe that the resurgence of Baylor and Houston has impacted this to some degree and I'm sure Gary Patterson at TCU has had some impact as well. Then there is Alabama who from 2002-2006 signed just 1 player from Texas. With Saban's arrival from 2007-2011 that number went up to 6 and from 2012-2016 that number increased to 9, including 3-5 stars, 5-4 stars and 1-3 star. They are cherry-picking recruiting areas nationally off their success. 

I'm still of the opinion that we need to work Texas harder and need to try to pull 6 to 8 really good players out of there each year. It won't be easy, but I think it can be done.

[ChicoHog]

Let's assume this ranking is correct. Why are 50% of 4 & 5 star recruits from 4 states? Maybe those 4 states place more emphasis on high school football? I've lived in 3 of the top 4 listed states and on Friday Nights virtually the entire communities are at the games and then they are talking about that game and the upcoming game all the next week. IMHO the Arkansas Athletic Association handcuffed high school football years ago (for safety reasons) when they started putting limitations on practices. When I moved to GA and saw the entire high school football team of a community of 15,000 people load up in buses and go to Florida for 3 weeks for football camp, I knew high school football was different in GA. Is safety more important than rankings? I think so but we have to adjust our expectations accordingly.

You may be right about GA but not CA. I live in CA and there is not a big emphasis on sports including football because none of the schools have money for coaching and facilities-or at least most of them do not.  We finally got a field turf field at my kids alma mater HS just this fall.  And that is shared with soccer of course and the other HS in town until they complete their field next year.   Both HS have enrollment of around 2000.  Aaron Rodgers went to the same HS as my kids and a few years ago he actually wanted to donate money to build a new field but the school district turned him down because then that school would have an unfair advantage over the other school in town.   If he could not donate enough to build fields for both then they would not let him do just one.  I understand their argument but still not sure if it's right.  Anyway the lack of facilities here is amazing compared to what they have in Texas and NWA.  And the coaches make very little extra money from what they make as a teacher-I think around 5000 more to coach major HS sport like football, basketball, baseball.  That's nothing compared to the hours they put into the sport.  The teachers here I think are overpaid but the coaches do not get enough additional money for the work they do.

[BoynamedWooPigSooie]

Appears Arkansas ranks #22 in 4 and 5 star recruits. 

22 is float line for Recruiting Classes at Arkansas.  If the class is ranked 23 or lower it was a piss poor recruiting job.

Seems to me that since the inception of the recruiting sites and ranking classes Arkansas coaches have underperformed and the results have been evident on the field.

[colbs]

Appears Arkansas ranks #22 in 4 and 5 star recruits. 

22 is float line for Recruiting Classes at Arkansas.  If the class is ranked 23 or lower it was a piss poor recruiting job.

Seems to me that since the inception of the recruiting sites and ranking classes Arkansas coaches have underperformed and the results have been evident on the field.

Not really because other states have multiple P5 programs within the state.