BleedGopher
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per CBS:
These are recruiting moves within the expansive Big Ten footprint, but there's only one problem -- the Big Ten seems to be running from its footprint the past few years, fueling the theory that the Midwest has experienced a talent drain.
A recent CBSSports.com study of recruiting trends shows the 2014 Big Ten, as a 12-team league, signed 129 of 244 high school players from outside the nine-state footprint, or 52.8 percent -- more than 20 percent higher than in 2010.
That percentage dips to 43.8 percent (125 of 285) with Maryland and Rutgers included, punctuating the importance of an East Coast base commissioner Jim Delany long coveted.
Whether coaches admit it or not -- and most won't -- the national recruiting could be a response to the Midwest growing at a much slower rate than the South and West. That's not a bad thing for Ohio State or Michigan State, which are still winning big with local players.
But 247 Sports national analyst J.C. Shurburtt believes it's such a response, adding "we've known about (a talent drain) for a while." A 2010 census brief shows the Midwest growing at a 3.2-percent rate last decade, compared to 14.3 percent in the South and 13.8 in the West. The Big Ten discussed the Midwest demographic extensively in 2009-10, before the addition of Nebraska. On the field, Michigan State's No. 4 ranking in the final 2013 BCS standings was the conference's first in the top four since 2007.
Minnesota coach Jerry Kill, however, says the recruiting trend is about pre-existing relationships with coaches and casting a large net more than declining talent in the league.
"There are good players all over the country," said Minnesota coach Jerry Kill, who in February signed nine high school players outside the Big Ten. "The population base in some states is simply not as big. Since I've been here, everyone has been nationally recruiting."
Kill was not yet the Gophers' coach during the 2010 recruiting cycle, when an 11-team Big Ten signed 93 of 298 players (31.2 percent) outside the footprint. That percentage dips to 26.5 percent (79 of 298) with Maryland and New Jersey added as footprint states. The percentage doesn't change much with Nebraska, which in 2010 signed 14 of 38 high schoolers outside the Big Ten.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...es-national-scope-to-stay-in-national-picture
Go Gophers!!
These are recruiting moves within the expansive Big Ten footprint, but there's only one problem -- the Big Ten seems to be running from its footprint the past few years, fueling the theory that the Midwest has experienced a talent drain.
A recent CBSSports.com study of recruiting trends shows the 2014 Big Ten, as a 12-team league, signed 129 of 244 high school players from outside the nine-state footprint, or 52.8 percent -- more than 20 percent higher than in 2010.
That percentage dips to 43.8 percent (125 of 285) with Maryland and Rutgers included, punctuating the importance of an East Coast base commissioner Jim Delany long coveted.
Whether coaches admit it or not -- and most won't -- the national recruiting could be a response to the Midwest growing at a much slower rate than the South and West. That's not a bad thing for Ohio State or Michigan State, which are still winning big with local players.
But 247 Sports national analyst J.C. Shurburtt believes it's such a response, adding "we've known about (a talent drain) for a while." A 2010 census brief shows the Midwest growing at a 3.2-percent rate last decade, compared to 14.3 percent in the South and 13.8 in the West. The Big Ten discussed the Midwest demographic extensively in 2009-10, before the addition of Nebraska. On the field, Michigan State's No. 4 ranking in the final 2013 BCS standings was the conference's first in the top four since 2007.
Minnesota coach Jerry Kill, however, says the recruiting trend is about pre-existing relationships with coaches and casting a large net more than declining talent in the league.
"There are good players all over the country," said Minnesota coach Jerry Kill, who in February signed nine high school players outside the Big Ten. "The population base in some states is simply not as big. Since I've been here, everyone has been nationally recruiting."
Kill was not yet the Gophers' coach during the 2010 recruiting cycle, when an 11-team Big Ten signed 93 of 298 players (31.2 percent) outside the footprint. That percentage dips to 26.5 percent (79 of 298) with Maryland and New Jersey added as footprint states. The percentage doesn't change much with Nebraska, which in 2010 signed 14 of 38 high schoolers outside the Big Ten.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...es-national-scope-to-stay-in-national-picture
Go Gophers!!