From sea to shining sea

Over at 247Sports, Bud Elliott has taken notice of a trend.

Five-star recruits in recent years have become more willing to leave their home states.

In fact, the four lowest in-state rates over the last 20 classes have come over the last four years. In 2017, the amount of five-star players staying home dipped below 25 percent for the first time ever.

Let’s look at this in four-class blocks.

• From 2001-04, 62 percent of five-star recruits stayed in their home states.
• From 2005-08, 51 percent
• From 2009-12, 53 percent
• From 2013-16, 53 percent
• From 2017-20, 34 percent

There was a slight trend down in the mid-aughts. But then for a little over a decade, about half of five-star recruits stayed home. However, in the last four seasons the number has dropped like a rock.

Why, you might ask, is this happening?  Check out reason number one:

Some schools are reaching out more nationally. Like Georgia.

“Georgia is a five-star magnet right now,” said Barton Simmons, the 247Sports Director of Scouting. “And Kirby Smart’s emphasis on recruiting nationally is paying off in the rankings. But dominance is relative. Georgia will dominate the rest of the country but the battle inside the top five is going to be fierce again.”

Ooh, baby, ooh.  Under Richt, we used to be worried about closing the fence around the state.  These days, Georgia don’t need no stinkin’ fences.