Big Ten pipelines: Where each school goes to find players

Which recruiting regions have been the most fruitful for Big Ten programs over the last three classes? This week’s Big Ten Breakdown analyzes the regions in which conference programs had the most success between the classes of 2014 and 2016.

Top Region: Chicagoland

Number of commits: 10

Breakdown: Between the 2014 and 2016 classes Illinois has signed prospects from 21 different states and the District of Columbia, but it is no surprise that their best recruiting territory has been the Windy City. The biggest Chicagoland signees during that time were offensive tackle Nick Allegretti (2014), safety Patrick Nelson (2015) and athlete Dre Brown (2015). Chicago has to be the focal point of any recruiting plan in Champaign, and new head coach Lovie Smith obviously gets that with each of his first five commits in 2017 hailing from the Chicagoland area.

Top region: Greater Indianapolis area

Number of commits: 7

Breakdown: Indiana actually signed a higher number of prospects from Cincinnati than Indianapolis between 2014 and 2016, and the Hoosiers also pulled in a lot of players from the South. But combining talent and numbers Indianapolis has been the most fruitful region for the in-state program. Four-stars Dominique Booth and Tim Gardner, the latter of whom made a stop at prep school after playing his high school career in Indy, are the highest rated of the bunch. The Hoosiers also have three Indianapolis commits in 2017.

Top region: Detroit

Number of commits: 7

Breakdown: This is a close call, but when combining numbers and quality of players, Detroit is going to get the edge over Eastern Iowa and the DMV area around Washington D.C. Each of those regions has contributed about equal numbers, but Detroit has provided more depth of talent. The biggest signing was class of 2014 quarterback Tyler Wiegers out of Detroit Country Day. Iowa signed four from the area in 2016, but interestingly does not have any Detroit natives in what is developing into a very good 2017 class.

Top region: DMV

Number of commits: 20

Breakdown: This is no surprise, as the area around Maryland’s College Park campus is loaded with top talent. The Terrapins' haul from this region over the last three classes includes seven four-stars along with 2014 five-star Damian Prince from Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md. New head coach D.J. Durkin is putting significant resources into the South, but he is not forgetting the home territory with several big pickups from the DMV already in 2017, including four-star Washington D.C. quarterback Kasim Hill.

Top region: New Jersey

Number of commits: 9

Breakdown: It does seem strange to say Michigan’s top recruiting territory over a three-year stretch is on the East Coast, but it really is not even a debate. The Wolverines' top two commits over that time – five-stars Rashan Gary and Jabrill Peppers – both came from New Jersey and were rated Nos. 1 and 3 in their classes, respectively. Of their nine total New Jersey signings in that stretch, seven were at least four-stars. Maybe surprisingly, then, none of the Wolverines' 17 commits in the 2017 class are from the Garden State.

Top region: Chicagoland

Number of commits: 10

Breakdown: Michigan State’s brand is selling all across the country, but the Spartans have been particularly good at recruiting in the Midwest metropolitan regions of Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland, signing at least four four-star prospects from each of those areas over the three-year span. Chicago has been the most fruitful recruiting territory for the Spartans from 2014-2016, though, with seven four-star signings, including four in the 2016 class alone. They have another coming in 2017 with offensive guard Kevin Jarvis.

Top region: Minneapolis/St. Paul

Number of commits: 11

Breakdown: This is another unsurprising result, but the competition is closer than one would suspect. Minnesota has had good success in southwest Ohio, Detroit, and even Canada over the last three classes. Its backyard, though, has still been the most fruitful from both a numbers and a talent standpoint, thanks to a 2016 class in which it signed seven prospects from the Twin Cities Metropolitan area, including the state’s No. 1 ranked player, Rivals100 linebacker Carter Coughlin.

Top region: California

Number of commits: 6

Breakdown: California has developed into Nebraska’s most valuable recruiting territory under head coach Mike Riley, and that is becoming evident with the Huskers' success there in the 2017 class. But even the influx of Golden State talent in the 2016 class is enough to make California the top recruiting region for the Huskers over the last three classes. They signed four from the state in 2016, including four-stars Lamar Jackson, Marquel Dismuke and Patrick O’Brien.

Top region: Chicagoland

Number of commits: 9

Breakdown: The Wildcats do not pull huge numbers out of their own backyard, which is surprising because the prospects they do get are usually highly rated guys. The 2014 class provided the bulk of talent that puts the Chicagoland area as the top recruiting territory for Northwestern over places like Dallas and Cincinnati, where it also recruits well. That 2014 class provided three four-stars from Chicago, including starting quarterback Clayton Thorson and starting running back Justin Jackson.

Top region: Cleveland/Akron

Number of commits: 16

Breakdown: Ohio State can recruit nationally as well as any school in the country right now, and the Buckeyes have had strong success in places like Texas, the DMV, Georgia and Detroit. Their most fruitful recruiting territory, however, is still their home state, and in particular the Cleveland/Akron area. In fact, it’s not even close. Of their 16 signees from the area between 2014 and 2016, 13 have been rated four-stars, including four who ranked in the Rivals100.

Top region: Eastern Pennsylvania

Number of commits: 14

Breakdown: Penn State recruits the entire Eastern seaboard well, with New Jersey and the DMV among its favorite places to land prospects. When it comes to the top recruiting territory over the past three classes, though, Eastern Pennsylvania has yielded the strongest results. Among the 14 total commits from the area, half were rated four-stars, including 2015’s freshman sensation, running back Saquon Barkley.

Top region: Northern Indiana

Number of commits: 5

Breakdown: Purdue’s recruiting plan under head coach Darrell Hazell has been hard to pin down. The Boilermakers seem to get players wherever they can, but have not had significant success in any one region, which makes identifying a top pipeline area difficult. Dallas, Los Angeles and Indianapolis have each sent prospects to West Lafayette, but Northern Indiana gets our nod here. Their highest-rated signee in that stretch was four-star defensive end Gelen Robinson in the 2014 class.

Top region: North Jersey

Number of commits: 13

Breakdown: Home-state recruiting is undoubtedly vital to Rutgers’ recruiting plan, and the state of New Jersey accounts for more of the Scarlet Knights' signees than any other region or state in the country. If you break the state into North Jersey, Central Jersey and South Jersey, then you see that the bulk of Rutgers’ signees come from North Jersey. There are no four-star signings from North Jersey during this time period, but Rutgers only signed one four-star total between 2014 and 2016.

Top region: Milwaukee/Madison

Number of commits: 10

Breakdown: Wisconsin is another school that is able to pull talent from a number of different regions. Arizona, California, South Florida and Central Ohio are all candidates for this topic because the Badgers have pulled significant talent from each region, but the area between Milwaukee and Madison has been most productive and is overall the most important to the Badgers' recruiting efforts. The headliner of that group is four-star offensive tackle Jaden Gault, who signed in 2014.