Deep South dominance when it comes to producing 5-star football recruits

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It's no secret that the Deep South is the preeminent high school football hotbed in the United States.

But the depth of the region's dominance in the recruiting landscape is stunning.

Examining the recruiting rankings by Rivals.com from 2004-17 reveals that over a third of the prospects to receive a 5-star designation came from the SEC states of Florida (home to 71 5-star prospects during that span), Georgia (33), Alabama (22), Louisiana (19), Mississippi (15), Tennessee (12), Arkansas (4) and Kentucky (3).

It's not just the quantity, but the quality is striking as well. Florida has produced Heisman Trophy winners Tim Tebow and Trent Richardson, not to mention NFL up-and-comers Ray Ray Armstrong, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Lamarcus Joyner and Sammy Watkins.

Georgia has its own Heisman winner in Cam Newton plus Eric Berry, Isaiah Crowell, Robert Nkemdiche, Stephon Tuitt and Deshaun Watson.

Alabama arguably has the best list of recent 5-star alums with D.J. Fluker, Julio Jones, Bo Scarbrough, Andre Smith, Jameis Winston and T.J. Yeldon

The list of stars is also long in Louisiana with the late Joe McKnight, La'El Collins, Landon Collins, Leonard Fournette, Jarvis Landry, Rueben Randle and Cameron Robinson all coming out of the Bayou State since 2004.

Stepping out of the Deep South, California owns the top spot with 74 5-star recruits since 2004. DeSean Jackson, Matt Kalil, Rey Maualuga, Tyron Smith and Shaq Thompson are some of the Golden State's best during that span.

Texas (46), Virginia (29), Pennsylvania (16) and North Carolina (14) are other Top 10 states not mentioned previously. Read on for a state-by-state breakdown of 5-star prospects over the last 13 years.

Thirteen states have never produced a 5-star recruit – Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

California – 74
Florida –71
Texas – 46
Georgia – 33
Virginia – 29
Alabama – 22
Louisiana – 19
Pennsylvania – 16
Mississippi – 15
North Carolina – 14
Ohio – 14
Maryland – 12
Tennessee – 12
Arizona – 9
Illinois – 9
New Jersey – 9
Michigan – 8
Washington – 8
Kansas – 6
New York – 6
South Carolina – 6
District of Columbia – 5
Missouri – 5
Arkansas – 4
Indiana – 4
Colorado – 3
Kentucky – 3
Oregon – 3
Utah – 3
Minnesota – 2
Connecticut – 1
Hawaii – 1
Iowa – 1
Nebraska – 1
Nevada – 1
New Mexico – 1
Oklahoma – 1
Wisconsin – 1