2015 National Signing Day: Which states produce the most high school football recruits?

Everyone knows the best states for producing football talent are California, Florida and Texas. Or are they?

Sure, by sheer volume the three states always dominate the list of top recruits. But when you take population into account Texas and California actually rank toward the bottom when it comes to producing talent.

Washington, D.C., for example, has produced four Top 100 recruits in the past five years, despite having a population of just under 650,000. Right behind that is Alabama, which has produced 24 Top 100 recruits with a population of just over 4 million.

Compare that to California, which has 58 Top 100 recruits, but draws from nearly 39 million people.



Also, in the past five years, the state of Louisiana has produced more Top 10 recruits than Texas.

This isn't to say that California, Texas and Florida aren't monsters when it comes to producing talent, but on a level playing field the smaller states more than hold their own. Sources: 247Sports Composite Rankings, U.S. Census Population Estimates

Top 100 recruits by state (last five years)
Florida - 85
Texas - 64
California - 58
Georgia - 43
Alabama - 24
Louisiana - 23
Ohio - 22
North Carolina - 17
Virginia - 17
New Jersey - 13
Illinois - 12
Arizona - 10
Michigan - 10
Mississippi - 10
Pennsylvania - 9
Maryland - 8
Tennessee - 8
Missouri - 7
Arkansas - 6
South Carolina - 6
Washington - 6
Oklahoma - 5
Indiana - 5
Utah - 4
Washington, D.C. - 4
Kentucky - 3
New York - 3
Oregon - 3
Colorado - 1
Connecticut - 2
Hawaii - 2
Iowa - 2
Kansas - 2
Minnesota - 2
Idaho - 1
New Mexico - 1
Nevada - 1
Ontario (Canada) - 1


Top 10 recruits by state (last five years)
Florida - 11
California - 7
Louisiana - 6
Texas - 6
Georgia - 4
Maryland - 3
Virginia - 3
Arizona - 2
Alabama - 1
Indiana - 1
Missouri - 1
North Carolina - 1
New Jersey - 1
Pennsylvania - 1
South Carolina - 1
Washington, D.C. - 1

Most Top 100 Recruits per million residents (last five years)
Washington, D.C. - 6.07
Alabama - 4.949
Louisiana - 4.946
Florida - 4.27
Georgia - 4.26
Arkansas - 3.37
Mississippi - 3.34
Texas - 2.37
Virginia - 2.04

Least Top 100 Recruits per million residents (last five years)
New York - 0.15
Colorado - 0.19
Nevada - 0.35
Minnesota - 0.37
New Mexico - 0.48
Connecticut - 0.56
Idaho - 0.61
Iowa - 0.64
Kentucky 0.68
Kansas - 0.69



2015 Top 100 recruits by state

California - 17
No. 4     Iman Marshall    Long Beach Poly    CB    Uncommitted
No. 6    Kahlil McKenzie    Clayton Valley Charter (Concord)     DT    Tennessee
No. 12    Josh Rosen    St. John Bosco (Bellflower)    QB    UCLA
No. 17    Keisean Lucier-South    Orange Lutheran    WDE    UCLA
No. 21    Blake Barnett    Santiago (Corona)    QB    Alabama
No. 23    Rasheem Green    Serra (Gardena)    DT    Uncommitted
No. 49    John Houston    Serra (Gardena)    OLB    Uncommitted
No. 60    Marvell Tell    Crespi (Encino)    S    USC
No. 67    Brady White    Hart (Newhall)    QB    Arizona State
No. 68    DeChaun Holiday    Mission Hills (San Marcos)    CB    Uncommitted
No. 69    Jacob Daniel    Clovis North (Fresno)    DT    USC
No. 70    Trent Irwin    Hart (Newhall)    WR    Stanford
No. 71    Jake Browning    Folsom    QB    Washington
No. 79    Ricky Town    St. Bonaventure (Ventura)    QB    USC
No. 84    Ykili Ross    Poly (Riverside)    CB    USC
No. 87    Joseph Wicker    Long Beach Poly     SDE    Uncommitted
No. 97   Isaiah Langley    Foothill (Pleasanton)    CB    USC

Florida - 17
No. 2    Martez Ivey    Apopka     OT    Uncommitted
No. 3    Byron Cowart    Armwood (Seffner)    SDE    Uncommitted
No. 5    Derwin James    Haines City    S    Florida State
No. 7    Cece Jefferson    Baker County (Glen St. Mary)    SDE    Uncommitted
No. 9    Kevin Toliver    Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville)    CB    LSU
No. 11    Cavin Ridley    Monarch (Coconut Creek)    WR    Alabama
No. 15    Tarvarus McFadden    American Heritage (Plantation)    CB    Florida State
No. 18    George Campbell    East Lake (Tarpon Springs)    WR    Florida State
No. 19    Deon Cain    Tampa Bay Tech (Tampa)    WR    Clemson
No. 39    Jacques Patrick    Timber Creek (Orlando)    RB    Florida State
No. 65    Deondre Francois    IMG Academy (Bradenton)    QB    Florida State
No. 75    Torrance Gibson    American Heritage (Plantation)   ATH    Ohio State
No. 81    Ray-Ray McCloud III    Sickles (Tampa)    ATH    Clemson
No. 83    Mark Walton    Washington (Miami)    RB    Miami
No. 93    Abdul Bello    Montverde Academy    OT    Florida State
No. 94    Dexter Williams    West Orange (Winter Garden)    RB    Uncommitted
No. 99    Da'Vante Phillips    Central (Miami)    WR    Florida State

Texas - 14
No. 10    Malik Jefferson    Poteet (Mesquite)    OLB    Texas
No. 14    Daylon Mack    Gladewater    DT    Uncommitted
No. 20    Kendall Sheffield    Fort Bend Marshall (Missouri City)    CB    Alabama
No. 32    Soso Jamabo    Plano West    RB    Uncommitted
No. 33    Kyler Murray    Allen    QB    Texas A&M
No. 37    Maea Teuhema    Keller    OT    LSU
No. 38    Jarrett Stidham    Stephenville    QB    Baylor
No. 40    Ronald Jones II    McKinney North    RB    USC
No. 43    Damarkus Lodge    Cedar Hill    WR    Uncommitted
No. 44    Deionte Thompson    West Orange-Stark (Orange)    S    Alabama
No. 73    Anthony Wheeler    Skyline (Dallas)    OLB    Texas
No. 77    Chris Warren    Rockwall    RB    Uncommitted
No. 80    Holton Hill    Lamar (Houston)    CB    Uncommitted
No. 98    Kris Boyd    Gilmer    CB    Uncommitted

Georgia - 10
No. 1    Trent Thompson    Westover (Albany)     DT    Georgia
No. 22    Mitch Hyatt    North Gwinnett (Suwanee)    OT    Clemson
No. 26    Chuma Edoga    McEachern (Powder Springs)    OT    USC
No. 28    Terry Godwin    Callaway (Hogansville)    ATH    Georgia
No. 47    Roquan Smith    Macon County (Montezuma)    OLB    -
No. 48    Preston Williams    Lovejoy    WR    Tennessee
No. 51    Taj Griffin    McEachern (GA)    APB    Oregon
No. 66   Jonathan Ledbetter    Tucker    SDE    Georgia
No. 82    Arden Key    Hapeville Charter (Atlanta)    WDE    -
No. 88    Natrez Patrick    Mays (Atlanta)    WDE    Georgia

Louisiana - 4
No. 27    Tyron Johnson    Easton (New Orleans)     WR    LSU
No. 46    Derrius Guice    Catholic (Baton Rouge)    RB    LSU
No. 56    Donte Jackson    Riverdale (Jefferson)    ATH    LSU
No. 90    Daylon Charlot    Patterson    WR    -

North Carolina - 4
No. 53    Shy Tuttle    North Davidson (Lexington)    DT    Texas
No. 57    Jalen Dalton    West Forsyth (Clemmons)    WDE    North Carolina
No. 76    Johnny Frasier    Princeton    RB    North Carolina St.
No. 95    Mark Fields ii    Hough (Cornelius)    CB    Clemson



Ohio - 4
No. 34    Justin Hilliard    St. Xavier (Cincinnati)    OLB    Ohio State
No. 59    Larry Scott    Hubbard    RB    Michigan State
No. 61    Jerome Baker    Benedictine (Cleveland)    ATH    Ohio State
No. 100    Eric Glover-williams    McKinley (Canton)    CB    Ohio State

Alabama - 3
No. 29    Daron Payne    Shades Valley (Birmingham)    DT    -
No. 42    Kerryon Johnson    Madison Academy    ATH    Auburn
No. 55    Lester Cotton    Central (Tuscaloosa)    OG    Alabama

Mississippi - 3
No. 52    Javon Patterson    Petal    OG    Ole Miss
No. 58    Jamal Peters    Bassfield    S    Mississippi State
No. 63    Leo Lewis    Brookhaven   ILB    Ole Miss

Connecticut - 2
No. 24    Christian Wilkins    Suffield Academy    DT    Clemson
No. 85    Chris Clark    Avon Old Farms    TE    -

Hawaii - 2
No. 16    Canton Kaumatule    Punahou (Honolulu)    SDE    Oregon
No. 50    Breiden Fehoko    Farrington (Honolulu)    DT    Texas Tech

Michigan - 2
No. 74    Brian Cole    Heritage (Saginaw)    ATH    Michigan
No. 78    Mike Weber    Cass Tech (Detroit)    RB    Ohio State



New Jersey - 2
No. 30    Minkah Fitzpatrick    St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City)    CB/WR    Alabama
No. 45    Brandon Wimbush    St. Peter's Prep    QB    Notre Dame

Tennessee - 2
No. 36    Kyle Phillips    Hillsboro (Nashville)    SDE    Tennessee
No. 54    Drew Richmond    Memphis University    OT    Ole Miss

Utah - 2
No. 35    Osa Masina    Brighton (Salt Lake City)    OLB    USC
No. 41    Porter Gustin    Salem Hills    OLB    -

Virginia - 2
No. 8    Josh Sweat    Oscar Smith (Chesapeake)     WDE    Florida State
No. 86    Ricky Deberry    Atlee (Mechanicsville)    ILB    Oklahoma

Arizona - 1
No. 25    Christian Kirk    Saguaro (Scottsdale)    WR    -

Idaho - 1
No. 89    Tristen Hoge    Highland (Pocatello)    OC    Notre Dame



Illinois - 1
No. 13    Terry Beckner     East St. Louis    SDE    -

Kentucky - 1
No. 31    Damien Harris    Madison Southern (Berea)    RB    -

Minnesota - 1
No. 91    Jashon Cornell    Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul)    SDE    Ohio State

Missouri - 1
No. 96    Drew Lock    Lee's Summit    QB    Missouri

Nevada - 1
No. 62    Alize Jones    Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)    TE    Notre Dame

Ontario, Canada - 1
No. 72    Neville Gallimore    Canada Prep Football Academy    DT    Oklahoma



South Carolina - 1
No. 92    Albert Huggins    Orangeburg-Wilkinson    DT    Clemson

Washington, D.C. - 1
No. 64    Richie Petitbon    Gonzaga    OG    Alabama