Big Ten expansion won't dramatically alter recruiting
CHICAGO - The Big Ten could grow its footprint substantially by adding one, three or five teams, but conference football and basketball coaches said they don’t expect expansion to have a big impact on recruiting.
“I think it affects recruiting somewhat, but probably not as much as you think,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said earlier this week at the Big Ten spring meetings. “Most schools will do some southern recruiting anyway, because the population and the number of quality student-athletes there. But I don’t know if our geographical recruiting areas will shift that much regardless of who comes in the league.”
In three years under Rodriguez, Michigan has signed players from 14 different states. Typically, the Wolverines do most of their recruiting in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, but they also have a successful Florida pipeline and have secured commitments from non-traditional states like Arizona, Louisiana and Massachusetts.
Among the schools most commonly mentioned as expansion candidates, Texas (an extreme long shot) and Rutgers (in New Jersey) add the most fertile recruiting territory, while Nebraska has little in the way of appeal.
“Most of the time you start off recruiting where it makes sense geographically, but also where your coaching staff has ties and has the ability to come in and sign prospects out of,” Rodriguez said. “I think that’s a big part of it. I don’t know if you necessarily just shift because there’s two or three teams or institutions from (a new) area. I don’t think that makes your decision to shift your recruiting.”
Basketball coaches might get a slightly bigger bump in recruiting if the Big Ten raids the Big East for teams like Rutgers and Syracuse, especially if it leads to Big East’s demise.
Indiana coach Tom Crean recruited New Jersey extensively when he coached in the Big East with Marquette and speaks highly of the caliber of player there.
“When you’re in Milwaukee, Wisc., and you’re going to play predominantly on the East Coast, you’re crazy not to go to those areas,” he said. “And we did. And we had a lot of success with it.”
MORE INFORMATION
Here's where Michigan's football recruits have come from under Rich Rodriguez:
Ohio: 21;Â Florida: 14;Â Michigan: 13;Â New Jersey: 4;Â Pennsylvania: 4;Â Texas: 4;Â South Carolina: 3; Arizona: 2;Â Louisiana: 2;Â California: 1;Â Illinois: 1;Â Indiana: 1;Â Maryland: 1;Â Massachusetts: 1;Â Wisconsin: 1.
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
PortageLkBlu
Sat, May 22, 2010 : 7:48 a.m.
Do any of us future Hall of Fame Analysts know what's on the menu for the barbecue? Come on boys and girls little details like that have an impact on recruiting such as I wouldn't go to a barbecue if only hot dogs were being served however, if they were serving hot dogs and hamburgers I would concider depending on whether the ground round was lean or had a cheap high fat content actually I prefer turkey burgers but for a good occasion like this I'll eat beef. Moving right along, a class act like Mich. has got to be serving Ribs and there are a variety of those including beef I kind of like baby backs but a sharp guy like our RR would know that depending on what part of the country you come from and what he serves on this barbecue menu could have an impact on the future of Mich. recruiting which could have an impact on the big ten conference standing which although it's a stretch could affect the BCS standings. I can't put enough emphasis on the importance of having a successful barbecue and I'm sure considering some of the adverse opinions I read about RR if this barbecue is not a hit some of you will have more reason to call for RR's head. Speaking of barbecue I'm cooking Tri Tip on my barbecue today I've got some friends coming over and well don't worry boys and girls I'll get it right I don't want to lose my fan base.
Chris Goodman
Fri, May 21, 2010 : 8:42 p.m.
It seems to me Mr. Birkett again seems to be writing about the expansion of Big Ten, but he is also continuing a persistent criticism of Coach Rodriguez's recruiting practices outside of the midwest. Perhaps, it give me some insight into his animosity towards Coach Rodriguez,i.e. that during these hard economic times in Michigan and the midwest, people feel that Michigan should recruit just from the Midwest and win with those recruits like they have in the past. I would be interested to a survey of attitudes towards Michigan recruiting. I would like to see the recruiting statistics of other nationally ranked Top 25 universities for their college football programs. I would also like to the actual recruiting statistics for Michigan over the last 15 years, so that one could see if there was some statistical significance. That does not prove any intent by coaches, and if there were any it would point as much to the preceding coaches Carr, Moeller and Schembechler as it would to Coach Rodriguez. It might also show the national distribution of elite college football recruits, and that Michigan is now just going to where the talent is. However, I think that the animosity towards Coach Rodriguez relates not just to where he comes, i.e. West Virginia, and that some would think he is not good enough to lead Michigan Football, but also that some don't like he is not recruiting more from the the midwest. Perhaps a little more candor by Mr. Birkett would speak more towards professionalism in journalism than his innuendo.
Sparky79
Fri, May 21, 2010 : 5:09 p.m.
Yes, another expansion article! Haven't had one of those recently! Does AA.com have a daily quota of five articles on expansion they must reach or something?