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In my decade long effort to get Texas Football to recruit the Left Coast with more fervor, I published this piece on Inside Texas. It outlines some of the basics for why Texas should focus its efforts on California, the Southwestern satellite cities (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City) and, occasionally, Louisiana.
So, it’s not surprising that Texas already has 2019 commitments from two of the Top 26 composite ranked players in California (Adimora, Floyd) and two of the Top 3 in Arizona (Smith, Liebrock).
We should be doing even more.
In a pay feature, I quantify the opportunity further. Most 2019 California elite recruits are currently uncommitted and the opportunity for out of state raiding has never been better.
While 90% of the state of Texas Top 10, 72% of the Top 25, and 68% of the Top 50 are committed, California’s numbers are 50%, 44%, 44%, respectively. It also happens that Cali DL (six four stars uncommitted) and LB (five four stars uncommitted) are particularly loaded with an elite OT or two available as well. Areas of need the Longhorns desperately covet in the 2019 cycle.
Local recruiting competitors are either largely irrelevant - (all of Cal’s commits are 3 stars, both Arizona schools are flailing and can’t even lock down their in-state elites much less make a dent in traditional hunting ground California); UCLA should be landing Top 15 classes with ease but is an absolute recruiting disaster under Chip Kelly - the Bruins are currently trailing Old Dominion and Nevada in the national rankings - or idling.
USC will eventually get theirs, but they can bide time because of the lack of local competition. Stanford is focused on national recruiting and academic narrowcasting and is as likely to beat the Longhorns for a recruit in Texas as in their home state. Oregon is coming down from Eugene and pillaging (they currently have a Top 5 nationally ranked class due to California raiding) and Washington fills up on their Poly niche.
Incredibly, Oregon is the only Pac 12 school ranked in the national Top 30 right now.
There isn’t a comparably talented state with less meaningful competition more open for swiping of elite talent.
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If you want to understand why Texas will likely take as much as 40% of their 2019 class from out of state and read the best 2018 Texas and Longhorn opponent preview on the market, check out: