gracelhink;1507612; said:
Top 10: tOSU, ND, LSU;
top 20: tOSU
Top 50: Bama
Top 100: Auburn
Well, it looks like someone actually decided to do the work ... and almost got it right.
Here's the breakdown:
School..........Top-10...Top-20...Top-50...Top-100...Avg.Rank
Alabama............1........2.......10.......13.......#38
Auburn.............1........1........9.......23.......#58
Clemson............2........2........5.......14.......#56
Georgia............2........4........8.......11.......#33
Illinois...........0........1........4........6.......#43
Louisiana.State....3........4........8........8.......#22
Michigan...........0........1........4.......10.......#53
Notre.Dame.........3........3........6........7.......#27
Ohio.State.........3........5........9.......12.......#37
South.Carolina.....0........3........9.......27.......#56
Southern.Cal.......0........2........3........3.......#21
Tennessee..........1........3........6........9.......#36
So, Ohio State had the most top-10 prospects (three), tied with Louisiana State and Notre Dame. The Buckeyes' top-10 recruits were Jaamal Berry (class of 2009, #9), Michael Brewster (class of 2008, #3), and Etienne Sabino (class of 2008, #7).
Ohio State also had the most top-20 recruits (five), with the additional prospects being Duron Carter (class of 2009, #17) and James Scott (class of 2007, #18).
Ohio State had nine top-50 recruits, which was just one behind Alabama. The Buckeyes' top-50 recruits were (in addition to those listed above) Carlos Hyde (class of 2009, #50); Travis Howard (class of 2008, #43); Brian Rolle (class of 2007, #34); and Maurice Wells (class of 2005, #26).
Ohio State signed 12 top-100 recruits, which was far behind South Carolina (27) and Auburn (23), and just behind Clemson (14) and Alabama (13). The Buckeyes' additional top-100 recruits were Orhian Johnson (class of 2008, #59); Walter Dublin (class of 2006, #85); and Chimdi Chekwa (class of 2006, #97).
Although South Carolina, Auburn, and Clemson sign large numbers of Floridians, most are in the bottom half (or even bottom quarter) of the top-100 list. In other words, those schools are generally signing players who are being "passed on" by the top programs, both in Florida and out-of-state (a notable exception being RB C.J. Spiller, the #1 recruit in Florida and #8 overall in the class of 2006, who signed with Clemson). Because the states of South Carolina and Alabama do not produce many D-I prospects, those schools are forced to look out-of-state to fill out their classes, and Florida, being geographically close and chock full of talent, is the logical choice.
Ohio State, having plenty of home-grown talent, can afford to be more choosy when recruiting in the Sunshine State. In terms of average rank for each recruit signed, Ohio State (#37) compares favorably with regional powerhouses like Alabama (#38), Tennessee (#36), and Georgia (#33). Michigan, which has less in-state talent than Ohio State, signed ten Floridians, with an average ranking per recruit of just #53; take out the Wolverines' lone top-20 signee - WR Greg Mathews (class of 2006, #11 in FL, #93 overall) - and their average per recruit drops to #58. Even with a natural local talent advantage, Ohio State is clearly recruiting far better in the state of Florida than Michigan, which needs to look out of state to fill their classes.
Overall, only Louisiana State, perhaps, does noticeably better than Ohio State when recruiting in the state of Florida. Louisiana produces an abundance of high school talent, and LSU has a fanatically loyal following in its home state, as the Tigers signed 6 of the top 9 local prospects in 2009; the top 7 in 2008; 7 of the top 9 in 2007; the top 7 and 12 of the top 14 in 2006; and 6 of the top 7 in 2005. In all, the Tigers signed 58 in-state players during the five years in question; in addition, they signed another twenty from the talent-rich border state of Texas; meaning that LSU signed 72% (78/109) of its high school prospects from Louisiana and Texas. Thus, with such a high percentage of local recruits, the Bayou Bengals could afford to be very selective in the state of Florida, and as a result they signed seven very highly-rated recruits - DB Patrick Johnson (class of 2008, #1); LB Ryan Baker (class of 2008, #13); OL Greg Shaw (class of 2008, #35); DB Karnell Hatcher (class of 2008, #40); OL Ernest McCoy (class of 2007, #30); TE Jordon Corbin (class of 2007, #38); DL Charles Deas (class of 2006, #9); and DL Ricky Jean-Francois (class of 2005, #6); with an overall average ranking per recruit of #22.
Several people thought that Southern Cal would be high on the list, but the Trojans got nearly 70% of their signees from in-state (70/102), and another 8% from the Pacific Coast region. When the Trojans do go farther afield to chase a recruit, they usually pursue only super blue chippers such as RB Joe McKnight (class of 2007, #1 in LA, #2 overall); WR Ronald Johnson (class of 2007, #1 in MI, #8 overall); WR Vidal Hazelton (class of 2006, #2 in VA, #7 overall); DE Kyle Moore (class of 2005, #2 in GA, #40 overall); WR Patrick Turner (class of 2005, #1 in TN, #2 overall); LB Keith Rivers (class of 2004, #1 in FL, #5 overall); WR Fred Davis (class of 2004, #2 in OH, #19 overall); OL Jeff Byers (class of 2004, #1 in CO, #20 overall); and WR Dwayne Jarrett (class of 2004, #3 in NJ, #44 overall). The Floridians signed by USC generally fit that bill: DB Jawanza Starling (class of 2009, #20 in FL); DB Frankie Telfort (class of 2009, #27 in FL); and DB T.J. Bryant (class of 2008, #15 in FL, # 82 overall). In sum, USC doesn't need to recruit in Florida, so they rarely do; but when they do decide to head down to the Sunshine State (or anywhere else, for that matter), they get top-notch talent.
To summarize: The Buckeyes do well in Florida in terms of sheer numbers of recruits (twelve in five years, mostly in the top-50); are at the top of the list in terms of quality of recruits (three top-10 players and five top-20 players in five years); and, on the whole, generally out-recruit other non-regional programs such as Michigan, Notre Dame, and Southern Cal. The Buckeyes developed strong in-roads into Florida during the Cooper years, when many other schools were ignoring that state, and those early and long-standing relationships are certainly paying dividends today.
