Who won the state of Florida in 2017 recruiting?
The 2017 recruiting cycle has come and gone, but analysis of how the recruiting year played out is ongoing. Today, we examine which programs successfully pursued prospects from the state of Florida -- and which struggled.
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STATE CHAMPION: FLORIDA STATE
The ‘Noles have shifted some of their focus to recruiting nationally, but it hasn’t slowed down their efforts in the Sunshine State. Florida State landed five of the state’s top 18 players, highlighted by the No. 2 prospect, five-star defensive end Josh Kaindoh. Other big signees include wide receiver D.J. Matthews (No. 9), defensive back Stanford Samuels (No. 12) and defensive back Cyrus Fagan (No. 15). The ‘Noles also signed four-star quarterback James Blackman out of the heart of South Florida.
HONORABLE MENTION: FLORIDA
A few weeks before Signing Day, it looked like the Gators weren’t going to make this list, but a strong close to the cycle in state helped them vault up the Rivals.com team rankings. In the end, Florida ended up signing 14 of the state’s top 100 players, including closing with four-star wide receiver James Robinson (No. 19), four-star offensive lineman Tedarrell Slaton (No. 27) and four-star running back Adarius Lemons (No. 57) on National Signing Day.
SURPRISINGLY WEAK: CLEMSON
The Tigers took just 14 signees in the class of 2017, so that has something to do with their deficiency in the Sunshine State, but signing just one Florida prospect is quite a surprise. In past years, players like Artavis Scott and Deon Cain, two major contributors in Clemson’s national title run, came from Florida. This year, the Tigers' lone signee from the state is three-star offensive lineman Blake Vinson, the No. 69 player in the Florida. Chances are this year’s light haul is just a blip, but only time will tell.
OUT-OF-STATE THREAT: ALABAMA
The Tide has a pretty good argument for the state title, especially considering they came away with the No. 1 (five-star offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood) and No. 3 (five-star wide receiver Jerry Jeudy) players in the state. Alabama finished with seven of the state’s top 31 players, an impressive haul that is actually better than Florida, Florida State and Miami in terms of top-tier signees.
