ESPN Top 300 Recruits

[Crusty]

I thought I would take a look at the ESPN Top 300 recruits to see where they come from and which positions comprise the most 4 and 5 star.

Here are the top 20 states. I have attached a complete list.

 

[Crusty]

The breakdown between players on offense and defense was, as expected,t even. Somewhat of a surprise perhaps is that 80% of the 5-stars are defensive players. I included Athletes in defense.

 

[anomander]

Thanks for the work you put into this. We have talent all around us there is just a lot of competition for it. With the scarcity of talent in the Midwest, we have schools like Michigan, Michigan St, Ohio St, Notre Dame, and even Wisconsin going into NJ, PA, and even NY when it's there to pull guys. Maybe my memory is shot, but I don't think they did with the regularity they do now. Or maybe we were good enough back then to hold them off?

Personally I'd like to see Syracuse try to extend their reach to the DMV area.

 

[Crusty]

Thanks for the work you put into this. We have talent all around us there is just a lot of competition for it. With the scarcity of talent in the Midwest, we have schools like Michigan, Michigan St, Ohio St, Notre Dame, and even Wisconsin going into NJ, PA, and even NY when it's there to pull guys. Maybe my memory is shot, but I don't think they did with the regularity they do now. Or maybe we were good enough back then to hold them off?

Personally I'd like to see Syracuse try to extend their reach to the DMV area.

If my premise is correct and the P5 is about to separate themselves into what amounts to a different division, recruiting will become more and more national, or at least super regional, and the top talent will be split among 66 schools. With all the technology and what I believe will be new P5 governance and enforcement, everybody's recruiting reach will grow. The P5 will want to be able to fly kids and their parents in for interviews and do the same for a certain number of games once they are players. All these stupid recruiting rules will go out the window.

There has been much discussion about players receiving compensation, but I have not seen any mention of any kind of P5 compensation cap. If there were a compensation cap (however derived) it would likely have the effect of creating greater parity. Certain teams would be against it, but the vast majority would be in favor. Something to think about.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Thanks for the work you put into this. We have talent all around us there is just a lot of competition for it. With the scarcity of talent in the Midwest, we have schools like Michigan, Michigan St, Ohio St, Notre Dame, and even Wisconsin going into NJ, PA, and even NY when it's there to pull guys. Maybe my memory is shot, but I don't think they did with the regularity they do now. Or maybe we were good enough back then to hold them off?

Personally I'd like to see Syracuse try to extend their reach to the DMV area.

DMV makes a lot of sense. We have had some success there in the recent past as well.

 

[jekelish]

Well, hopefully we can land the biggest fish in the DMV area this year...of course it'll be a whole lot more realistic if Mr. Washington commits...

 

[Alsacs]

Since ESPN has gotten into the college football recruiting service Syracuse football has never gotten an ESPN300 recruit to commit out of HS.

We need this to change ideally.

 

[jekelish]

Since ESPN has gotten into the college football recruiting service Syracuse football has never gotten an ESPN300 recruit to commit out of HS.

We need this to change ideally.

We're in the running for several right now (Washington, Dwayne Haskins, Moe Neal, Koby Quansah, among others). Hopefully we can get at least one of them.

 

[anomander]

We're in the running for several right now (Washington, Dwayne Haskins, Moe Neal, Koby Quansah, among others). Hopefully we can get at least one of them.

I'm really high on Koby Quansah. I believe he was a camp offer for us, but then he had to go and kill it at one of Rivals regional camps, which exponentially increased his exposure.

 

[Crusty]

Here are the ESPN 300 by the top 20 schools.

Also, a summary of ACC schools. The only ACC members to not land at least one of the ESPN 300 were Syracuse and Georgia Tech. Yikes!

 

[javadoc]

Here are the ESPN 300 by the top 20 schools.
View attachment 36142
Also, a summary of ACC schools. The only ACC members to not land at least one of the ESPN 300 were Syracuse and Georgia Tech. Yikes!
View attachment 36143

GT did pretty well with middling talent!

 

[NineOneSeven]

How many 5 star recruits are there every year? Not many it looks lkke

 

[jekelish]

How many 5 star recruits are there every year? Not many it looks lkke

I think it's typically 20-25.

 

[anomander]

Here are the ESPN 300 by the top 20 schools. Also, a summary of ACC schools. The only ACC members to not land at least one of the ESPN 300 were Syracuse and Georgia Tech. Yikes!

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we have ever landed a top 300 kid which is absolutely amazing. You would think we would by accident. Schools like UCF and Duke each had 2 this season.

 

[Alsacs]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we have ever landed a top 300 kid which is absolutely amazing. You would think we would by accident. Schools like UCF and Duke each had 2 this season.

We have NEVER landed an ESPN 300 kid. Wake Forrst/Kansas both dregs recently have landed ESPN 300 kids. Our recruiting efforts have been at best 3 star kids, diamonds in the rough and an occasional TOS 4 star kid Thompson/Lobell/Sprull. With our current staff's coaching ability I hope they bring in serious talent to help the program get up. I would love one ESPN 300 kid as in this thread jekelish said we are involved with 3 for next yr I would like just 1 to commit to get momentum.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

If we have NEVER landed a top 300 kid, why do people think we will at this point? Marrone was on the road to success here, his last year was going to be his best class, he had laid the foundation on all 3 sides of the ball with what would work at Syracuse and obviously he left but it was clear that we had average talent but we were out coaching/ scheming many teams his last year. Like may said, he probably left 2 years too early but the path to success here is to recruit as well as we can, which is realistically a notch above where we are now and find ways to be productive on offense given the talent we will most likely be working with here. My point here is not to start another Marrone thread but to really look at what works at Syracuse and what doesn't. Clearly, what we have been trying on offense doesn't work but we need to find a system and stick with it and keep at it. Hopefully, Lester is what we need here.

We will never win 8-9 games on talent alone, will never happen

 

[Crusty]

If we have NEVER landed a top 300 kid, why do people think we will at this point? Marrone was on the road to success here, his last year was going to be his best class, he had laid the foundation on all 3 sides of the ball with what would work at Syracuse and obviously he left but it was clear that we had average talent but we were out coaching/ scheming many teams his last year. Like may said, he probably left 2 years too early but the path to success here is to recruit as well as we can, which is realistically a notch above where we are now and find ways to be productive on offense given the talent we will most likely be working with here. My point here is not to start another Marrone thread but to really look at what works at Syracuse and what doesn't. Clearly, what we have been trying on offense doesn't work but we need to find a system and stick with it and keep at it. Hopefully, Lester is what we need here.

We will never win 8-9 games on talent alone, will never happen

It will if you have a Nassib, Pugh, Jones (both) and Hickey. A good solid roster with a few exceptional talents are enough.

 

[Crusty]

GT did pretty well with middling talent!

Absolutely. If we keep getting solid smart classes we can play winning football. Anything is possible from there.

 

[Rocco]

I don't know how long ESPN has been compiling their 300 list, but we landed several top 300 recruits during the 80's-90's.

I cannot stand the rankings. Drives me bananas.

 

[leftytg]

If my premise is correct and the P5 is about to separate themselves into what amounts to a different division, recruiting will become more and more national, or at least super regional, and the top talent will be split among 66 schools. With all the technology and what I believe will be new P5 governance and enforcement, everybody's recruiting reach will grow. The P5 will want to be able to fly kids and their parents in for interviews and do the same for a certain number of games once they are players. All these stupid recruiting rules will go out the window.

There has been much discussion about players receiving compensation, but I have not seen any mention of any kind of P5 compensation cap. If there were a compensation cap (however derived) it would likely have the effect of creating greater parity. Certain teams would be against it, but the vast majority would be in favor. Something to think about.

you keep banging this drum, but isn't this - for all intents and purposes - the way it already effectively works? I mean, the Power 5 conferences already have substantial recruiting advantages. The top talent is already split among 66 schools (more like 15-20). Power 5 schools seldom lose recruiting battles to non Power 5 schools. Sure, if the break away happens those recruiting advantages get more pronounced, and some kids around the margins will find their way to Power 5 schools who otherwise might end up at a UCF or SMU or whatever. But it isn't going to drastically alter the recruiting landscape for Syracuse.

The issue is Syracuse relative to other P5 schools, and more specifically to the ACC. Syracuse is already at or near the bottom of ACC recruiting. The hard fact is that Syracuse has significant, built in, recruiting disadvantages. Syracuse is located in a place that seldom produces local top talent, and is surrounded by states that, more or less, produce little. Like I said in another thread, the demographics are against Syracuse. Population is going to the south and the west, where high school football is much more popular and elite talent is developed. Unless that kid is a legacy, Syracuse faces loooonnnnggggg odds enticing that kid to look at Syracuse. It's great that a Robert Washington comes along every now and then, and I hope we land him, but he is an anomaly.

If you are GT, with a crystal clear vision of who they are, who they want to be, and the exact attributes in the athletes they need to run their off kilter system, then it makes sense that rankings would be misleading. Rankings look at kids in a global sense and do not attempt to adjust based on fit in a particular system. Thus, a kid who may be middling in overall attributes may fit perfectly into what GT is attempting to do, thus his overall impact on a winning GT team is understated in recruiting ratings.

However, as it stands, Syracuse has no such vision, no such definition (at least on offense). They need to develop this quickly, as Syracuse's only shot at being consistently competitive is having a crystal clear idea of who they are, and recruiting to that.

 

[alphaorange]

If my premise is correct and the P5 is about to separate themselves into what amounts to a different division, recruiting will become more and more national, or at least super regional, and the top talent will be split among 66 schools. With all the technology and what I believe will be new P5 governance and enforcement, everybody's recruiting reach will grow. The P5 will want to be able to fly kids and their parents in for interviews and do the same for a certain number of games once they are players. All these stupid recruiting rules will go out the window.

There has been much discussion about players receiving compensation, but I have not seen any mention of any kind of P5 compensation cap. If there were a compensation cap (however derived) it would likely have the effect of creating greater parity. Certain teams would be against it, but the vast majority would be in favor. Something to think about.

I doubt it would help much unless the penalties for circumventing the capped compensation were enforced and severe. Cheaters will always cheat to gain an advantage.

 

[Crusty]

you keep banging this drum, but isn't this - for all intents and purposes - the way it already effectively works? I mean, the Power 5 conferences already have substantial recruiting advantages. The top talent is already split among 66 schools (more like 15-20). Power 5 schools seldom lose recruiting battles to non Power 5 schools. Sure, if the break away happens those recruiting advantages get more pronounced, and some kids around the margins will find their way to Power 5 schools who otherwise might end up at a UCF or SMU or whatever. But it isn't going to drastically alter the recruiting landscape for Syracuse.

The issue is Syracuse relative to other P5 schools, and more specifically to the ACC. Syracuse is already at or near the bottom of ACC recruiting. The hard fact is that Syracuse has significant, built in, recruiting disadvantages. Syracuse is located in a place that seldom produces local top talent, and is surrounded by states that, more or less, produce little. Like I said in another thread, the demographics are against Syracuse. Population is going to the south and the west, where high school football is much more popular and elite talent is developed. Unless that kid is a legacy, Syracuse faces loooonnnnggggg odds enticing that kid to look at Syracuse. It's great that a Robert Washington comes along every now and then, and I hope we land him, but he is an anomaly.

If you are GT, with a crystal clear vision of who they are, who they want to be, and the exact attributes in the athletes they need to run their off kilter system, then it makes sense that rankings would be misleading. Rankings look at kids in a global sense and do not attempt to adjust based on fit in a particular system. Thus, a kid who may be middling in overall attributes may fit perfectly into what GT is attempting to do, thus his overall impact on a winning GT team is understated in recruiting ratings.

However, as it stands, Syracuse has no such vision, no such definition (at least on offense). They need to develop this quickly, as Syracuse's only shot at being consistently competitive is having a crystal clear idea of who they are, and recruiting to that.

Yes, that is why I said what we make of it is up to us.
I also think that it is a matter of numbers. Talent concentrated in 66 teams will, over time, create greater parity to some degree. Playing time alone becomes a bigger factor. We are already starting to see the P5 effect in better recruiting. (Not saying this is the only reason. )

I certainly agree we need to have an identity so as to have credibility with recruits.

Imagine a couple more classes like the last two ' only better. Then imagine a competent OC having run his system for a couple of years. We will be very competitive IMO.

 

[PhatOrange]

NY combined with the border states had [14] - 4 star kids.

North Carolina and the border states had [65] - 4 star kids and [4] - 5 star kids.

It's easy to see why Wake would 'stumble' onto one of them