Clemson and USC lead the way in signing states' No. 1 prospects

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Forty states including the District of Columbia are represented in the Rivals.com state rankings and there are some schools that dominated in landing No. 1 players from those areas.

No surprise: Clemson and USC did really well as both top programs dominated states in the respective regions and then dipped into the Midwest for a top prospect. Each school landed five players who were No. 1 in their state.

The Tigers beat out Alabama for five-star receiver Justyn Ross from Phenix City (Ala.) Central along with landing DE Xavier Thomas (Florida), QB Trevor Lawrence (Georgia), Derion Kendrick (South Carolina) and OL Jackson Carman, who picked Clemson over his home-state school Ohio State.

USC was equally successful as the Trojans finished with an impressive haul. The Trojans signed the best players from California, Hawaii, Oregon and Nevada as WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, LB Kana’i Mauga, ATH Talanoa Hufanga and LB Palaie Gaoteote were all signed. Plus, USC went to Missouri and landed four-star DT Trevor Trout.

Who else had a good run with top players in the state rankings? Some usual suspects.

Georgia, Alabama, Penn State and Oregon all signed three No. 1 players from a state as Georgia went to Illinois (TE Luke Ford), North Carolina (RB Zamir White) and Tennessee (OL Cade Mays) for top-ranked recruits.

Alabama’s route to getting its players was more circuitous as the Crimson Tide landed Connecticut’s top player in Josh Jobe, Indiana’s No. 1 guy in Emil Ekiyor and Maryland’s five-star defensive end Eyabi Anoma.

The Nittany Lions and Ducks both dominated in their regions. Penn State got the top player in its home state in five-star defensive end Micah Parsons, in New Jersey with five-star receiver Justin Shorter and up in Massachusetts with TE Pat Freiermuth.

Oregon lost the top player in its own state to USC but Arizona’s No. 1 recruit, four-star quarterback Tyler Shough, Utah’s top prospect, four-star OL Penei Sewell and Colorado’s best player, four-star DB Adrian Jackson, all flocked to Eugene.

Ohio State (TE Jeremy Ruckert from New York and LB Teradja Mitchell from Virginia) along with Nebraska (DE David Alston from Minnesota and in-state ATH Cameron Jurgens) each had two.

Teams with one No. 1 prospect each: Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Duke, LSU, Oklahoma State, UConn, Washington, Pitt, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Mississippi State.