West invasion: Who is poaching West Coast prospects the most?

The West region is loaded with talented players, especially in Southern California, and top national programs are making more of an effort to recruit those areas. Here is a look at five teams outside of the region that have had great success in recent years targeting West prospects.

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Five-star RB Najee Harris, the top-rated prospect in the entire 2017 class, is from Antioch, Calif., but he signed with the Crimson Tide. So did Hawaii’s best prospect, four-star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and five-star JUCO OL Elliot Baker from City College of San Francisco. Alabama has proven it can go anywhere to get anybody and the West region is no exception.

The previous recruiting cycle, five-star OL Jonah Williams from Folsom, Calif., picked the Crimson Tide. Assistant coach Tosh Lupoi has tremendous connections in the region and aggressively goes after top talent. Five-star quarterback Matt Corral, four-star DB Isaac Taylor-Stuart, four-star OT Tommy Brown and others are some top 2018 targets. UCLA commit Chris Steele, a 2019 four-star defensive back, is expected to visit Alabama in the coming weeks. Even in Utah, Alabama has targeted four-stars Penei Sewell and Cameron Latu. The Crimson Tide are all over the West.

Possibly the best head coach recruiter in college football, Urban Meyer has tapped into the West region successfully and does not look to be backing down any time soon. The Buckeyes went to powerhouse Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco last recruiting cycle to land five-star OL Wyatt Davis and returned this year to get four-star DB Jaiden Woodbey. Bosco produces tons of D1 players every cycle, so Ohio State will probably be back.

Ohio State also successfully targeted Las Vegas Bishop Gorman last cycle to get four-stars Tate Martell and Haskell Garrett. It’s an outside shot now, but the Buckeyes are pursuing five-star WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, the top prospect in California this cycle, along with four-star LB Solomon Tuliaupupu and many others in the region. There’s no question Ohio State will keep hitting the region hard to target top recruits in the coming years.

It will be interesting to see if there’s a change in recruiting philosophy now that Lincoln Riley has taken over for Bob Stoops, but there’s no doubt the Sooners have had a lot of success in California over the years. Addison Gumbs, Grant Calcaterra and a few JUCO prospects last recruiting cycle. Five-star Caleb Kelly and four-star DB Jordan Parker the year before. Dru Samia and five-star RB Joe Mixon before that. A bunch of Fresno, Calif., standouts in the last few years.

Oklahoma has recruited the state of California so well and it could continue to pay off in these next few recruiting cycles. Four-star commit T.J. Pledger, who will play his senior season at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, is originally from California. Five-star WR Jalen Hall has interest. Woodbey could visit. There are a lot of names up and down the state rankings who have a lot of interest in the Big 12 power.

The Calibraska movement is in full effect. It kicked into extra high gear these past few recruiting cycles as talented four-stars like Lamar Jackson, Patrick O’Brien, Tristan Gebbia, Elijah Blades and Tyjon Lindsey picked the Huskers over many high-level Pac-12 programs. Coach Mike Riley has played a big role in landing a lot of top West prospects. Another main reason why so many outstanding recruits are headed to Lincoln is because of assistant coach Donte Williams, who has tremendous recruiting ties in that region. He was the lead recruiter in landing a lot of those top kids.

Nebraska is back at it again this cycle already with commitments from four-stars Chase Williams and Manuel Allen out of California and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star DB Brendan Radley-Hiles, who’s originally from California. There are a bunch of other top targets available, including Bryan Addison.

The Irish have done a great job hitting up West prospects for years dating back to five-star quarterback Jimmy Clausen and beyond. Three West region prospects were included in Notre Dame’s 2017 class, led by four-star OL Aaron Banks. The previous recruiting cycle, high four-star Javon McKinley was the headliner. Four-star Equanimeous St. Brown picked Notre Dame in 2015 and it’s one big reason why the Irish have a fighting chance with his brother, five-star Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Notre Dame does not have any West commits in this recruiting class so far, but USC commit Bo Calvert is looking, 2019 four-star DB Chris Steele is already saying he’ll take an official visit to South Bend even though he’s committed to UCLA and many others are interested.