Based on a quick review of 358 (obviously the older the class the less info is available)
FCS schools were left out.
Both ODU and Coastal Carolina are recent FBS teams that didn't exist in the first two classes listed (2004,2008)
Mike Vick and Ronald Curry were mentioned by mad lad previously. Those guys played high school football 25 years ago, so yes since then recruiting everywhere has become more national, but those years have nothing to do with West or the timeframe being referenced here.
Class of 2004 top 35 VA recruits from 757:
Virginia Tech
Kent State
Virginia
UNC
Tennessee
5 schools (2 outside of region/5 hour radius)
Class of 2008 top 50 VA recruits from 757:
Marshall
Virginia Tech
Temple
Virginia
SMU
UCONN
Minnesota
UNC
Maryland
Florida State
10 schools (4 outside of region/5 hour radius)
Claduss of 2011 top 50 VA recruits from 757:
Navy
Temple
Virginia
ECU
ODU
Syracuse
Virginia Tech
Vanderbilt
Arkansas
UNC
10 schools (3 outside of region/5 hour radius)
Class of 2020 top 50 VA recruits from 757:
Coastal Carolina
ODU
Kansas
Temple
Virginia Tech
NC State
TCU
Penn State
Florida
9 schools (4 outside of region/5 hour radius)
I'm not sure what you're trying to point out here but you are super defensive. You said I was the one getting upset but you lobbed some accusatory and BS attacks to someone simply trying to give some perspective and get some information out there. You called the information: "completely laughable fantasy opinion." Prior to that, you stated "this unmined area thing is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. Lol." And then derisively calling me or my source a "madlad." Stop being a d*uche and I'll stop being one as well.
So yes I'm going to get defensive when you're tossing out garbage on a perspective that based on your numbers above don't really bear out your line of thinking. We go from two national recruits in '04 to 4 in '08 to 3 in '11 to 4 in '20. In that list, the school going after players are better and there is a larger pool of those schools each period you list. Which is evidence that as we got further into the 21st century there were more, larger national schools recruiting the area.
So let's break it down based on your numbers.
In 2004 when West was at JMU, he's hitting up the 757 going against regional schools and Tennessee. He's getting guys who are on that second tier of recruits and doing it in a way it hadn't been done before.
In 2008 he's at ODU and still involved in the 757 with the second-tier recruits. More schools nationally are starting to look at that area. From really one national school (UT) in '04 to three or four in '08. Though to be fair not many big boys outside of FSU in '08.
In 2011 during his heyday at UVA (not recruiting coordinator yet, but still hitting up the Tidewater) he's going up against what, Vanderbilt? Arkansas? Syracuse? He's hardly stepping up and recruiting against the NCAA's heavy hitters when it comes to recruiting. Yes, there are top tier schools recruiting there, but he is at a beloved state school with a beloved head coach (Mike London may not have done much at UVA, but people LOVED him). He has built-in help with an area he had been working for more than ten years already. Certainly much longer than any of his peers at the national schools.
Then the most recent year and you have TCU, Penn State, and Florida on the list. Certainly a better list at the top end then any of the other years we're looking at. Which bears out the point that recruiting the area has become significantly more difficult since when West was there.
And let's go back to the addendum I put in this morning which I think highlights what was trying to be said that you so dismissively brushed off:
"He also made those connections while with JMU and was recruiting the area for JMU at a time where FCS teams just were not doing serious recruiting in the area. Those connections gave him a huge head start on every other major college when teams started going all in there around 2005-2008. He already knew everyone. As I said, he gets props for creating the connections but those connections are either A) retired or B) getting love from every other major college in the country at this point."
I'm still trying to figure out how the above is an outrageous claim when it's true. He had a head start because not as many teams were recruiting that area in '02-'04. He solidified those relationships with ODU. He was able to exploit them when he was at UVA, a top tier Virginia team where he had the trust of those coaches, and those coaches loved Mike London, who was a hell of a recruiter in his own right.
Now, West has been in coaching purgatory for the better part of six years. That's a long time. In that time the area has continued to attract national attention from recruiters but he hasn't been a player in six or seven years. Now he's at a big school again, but one in Central New York, not Charlottesville. Does that sound like a slam dunk recipe for success in recruiting that area? I can understand as I said in the one post how that first post could have been misconstrued. I asked him for more context which I thought did a good job of breaking it down.
I don't know what to tell you if you are going to continue to insist it's a ludicrous statement about him living on his reputation from six or seven years ago when your numbers and his time in college football purgatory bear that out. But hey, go ahead and make that your hill to die on. I'm done with the topic so fire away. I honestly don't even really care that much about any of this, just trying to share some information.
