Five-Star History: Texas checks in at No. 2
This week, Rivals.com is releasing a series looking at every high school five-star in company history dating back to 2002. Fourteen states have never produced a five-star. After the bottom 24 states, the next 10 were released on Tuesday, followed by California as the No. 3 state on Wednesday and now today’s release of Texas in the second spot on the list. The final state will be released on Friday.
It’s important to note Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy recruits are categorized by their home state as to not give Florida a falsely-inflated number.
RELATED: California is No. 3 | Georgia at No. 4 | States that produce the fewest five-stars
BREAKING DOWN TEXAS' FIVE-STARS
Total five-stars: 63
Texas (20): Vincent Young, Rodrique Wright, Tony Hills, Jr., Malcom Brown, Sergio Kindle, Jackson Jeffcoat, Eddie Jones, Malik Jefferson, Garrett Gilbert, Tray Allen, Erick Fowler, Johnathan Gray, Alex Okafor, Edorian McCullough, Justin Blalock, Franklin Okam, Mason Walters, Curtis Brown, Malcolm Brown, Caden Sterns
Texas A&M (9): Trey Williams, DeMarvin Leal, Myles Garrett, Christine Michael, Martellus Bennett, Erick Young, Reggie McNeal, Kenyon Green, Kellen Mond
Oklahoma (9): Jermie Calhoun, Stephen Good, R.J. Washington, Theo Wease, Trey Metoyer, Brandon Williams, DeMarcus Granger, Trejan Bridges, Adrian Peterson
LSU (5): Craig Loston, Terrance Toliver, Maea Teuhema, Russell Shepard, Marcel Brooks
Alabama (3): Tony Brown, Jaylen Waddle, A’Shawn Robinson
Ohio State (3): Baron Browning, Jeffrey Okudah, Mike Mitchell
Miami (2): Lance Leggett, Reginald Youngblood
Florida State (2): Marvin Wilson, Mario Edwards
BYU (1): Ofa Mohetau
Ole Miss (1): Gregory Little
Georgia (1): Matthew Stafford
UCLA (1): Soso Jamabo
Stanford (1): Walker Little
Florida (1): Jarvis Moss
Michigan (1): Ryan Mallett
Oregon (1): Lache Seastrunk
Uncommitted (1): Zachary Evans
OVERVIEW
The recent trend has been that other programs - namely Texas A&M and Oklahoma - have done better with five-star talent in Texas, but this is still a state where a lot of elite talent wants to play for the Longhorns and the numbers indicate that in a convincing way.
Texas has landed 20 of the 63 five-star prospects from the state in the Rivals era and the Longhorns are very much in play for the state’s top player this recruiting cycle, Houston North Shore’s Zachary Evans, who is also serious about Texas A&M and many other programs. It’s hard to know if the 2019 recruiting cycle was a one-off or could be a trend in the state as none of the six five-stars last year picked the Longhorns. Three went to Texas A&M, two to Oklahoma and one to LSU.
And that competition should only be heated up in the years to come as Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma battle for supremacy in the state. Tom Herman can recruit, as evidenced by his impressive haul in the 2018 class; A&M’s Jimbo Fisher has established himself as one of the best recruiters for a long time; and Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley can go anywhere to get any player, especially running such a player-friendly offense.
Other programs have had limited success in the state. LSU has done an admirable job with five five-stars and Alabama and Ohio State have dipped in for three each, but no other team has landed more than two. This is still a state where its top prospects usually stay local - and that could be a really interesting storyline moving forward since the Big Three of Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M should be battling it out for elite talent for many years to come.
FARRELL'S TAKE
The state of Texas has produced fewer five-stars than California but to me they have produced more big-impact guys and less busts, which is why they are No. 2 on this list. Players like Vince Young and Adrian Peterson are generational talents and others like Myles Garrett, Martellus Bennett and Matthew Stafford have gone on to NFL success after being very high picks in the draft.
There have been some surprising busts like SoSo Jamabo, Lache Seastrunk and Tony Brown, but overall we’ve had a very solid group of five stars from Texas. And with players like Ed Oliver, Marvin Wilson and a really strong group last year led by Theo Wease, it could get even better.