Georgia finished first in the recruiting rankings in the 2018 class. Expect UGA recruiting to be near the top in 2019, too. DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell will answer a Recruiting Question of the Day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can ask him your questions on Twitter or the DawgNation Message board forum. Previous QODs can be found on our archives page.
QUESTION OF THE DAY
DawgNation message board forum user @SoFL_Dawg offers up: As UGA continues to expand its footprint on a national level for recruiting, which states not bordering Georgia would be seen as the most vital to sustaining recruiting dominance over the next three years?
Good question.
For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll take a glance at states that fall outside the border footprint of Georgia. That means the exclusion of Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
My take here is that the program needs to establish more inroads in these states:
- California
- Louisiana
- Maryland/D.C. area
- Mississippi
- Texas
How many recruits did UGA sign from those states in the last four recruiting cycles?
- California (0)
- Louisiana (1, 2015)
- Maryland/D.C. area (2, both in 2015)
- Mississippi (3 — 2 in 2015, 1 in 2017)
- Texas (0)
That likely carries the point. California and Texas are football hotbeds. Alabama has found championships players in those locales for years. The Bulldogs should, too.
That said, I did not base my answer on places that I’d like to visit for our coverage. It is the matter of tracking which states have the most elite talent in 2019 and 2020.
Look how many prospects among the nation’s top 100 (247Sports composite rankings) come from the following states:
Class of 2019
Top 100 on the 247Sports composite rankings (by state)
- California: 16
- Florida: 14
- Texas: 13
- Georgia: 11
- Alabama: 6
- Louisiana: 5
- Mississippi: 5
- Hawaii: 3
- North Carolina: 3
- Maryland/D.C. region: 2
- 6 other states: 2 (each)
- 8 other states: 1 (each)
Class of 2020
- Florida: 15
- Georgia: 14
- Texas: 13
- California: 9
- Maryland/D.C. region: 6
- Arizona: 5
- Tennessee: 5
- Alabama: 4
- Louisiana: 3
- North Carolina: 3
- 6 other states: 2 (each)
- 11 other states: 1 (each)
The District of Columbia and Maryland take on extra significance given that there are a couple of high-profile 2020 targets (5-star prospects Bryan Bresee and Mekhail Sherman) who have shown significant interest in the Bulldogs.
I extend my gratitude to @SoFL_Dawg for the question. As a courtesy, he will receive some DawgNation swag for suggesting the topic.
