In this ACCSports.com series, we’re looking at every state within the ACC’s footprint and figuring out which programs own them in recruiting.
Who Owns Florida In Recruiting?
Who Owns Georgia In Recruiting?
Who Owns South Carolina In Recruiting?
Outside of the dominant states such as Florida and Texas, perhaps there’s no better recruiting battleground than North Carolina. The four in-state schools claw for the state’s best prospects while trying to hold off predators from surrounding states. There are a lot of them, too, as it’s still in the SEC’s wheelhouse, and it’s neighbored by other states with big-time football programs. Coaches throughout the nation have labeled North Carolina as fertile recruiting territory. Given the amount of programs with their fingers in the state’s pot, it’s always fascinating to watch where the top North Carolina prospects will go.
To see which schools own North Carolina in recruiting, we scanned the last five recruiting classes (2010-2014). We looked at the top 30 prospects in each class (as ranked by Rivals) and where they decided to play their college ball. Here is what we found out.
Schools Who Signed The Most Top-30 North Carolina Recruits From 2010-2014
North Carolina – 31
N.C. State – 21
Clemson – 12
Duke – 9
South Carolina – 8
Wake Forest – 7
Georgia – 6
Notre Dame – 5
Florida – 5
Virginia Tech – 4
Who Owns It: North Carolina
Dominant ACC Team: North Carolina
Percentage Of Top 30 That Went ACC: 64.7 percent
Percentage of Top 30 That Went SEC: 18.7 percent
Percentage Of Top 30 That Stayed In-State: 48 percent
Biggest Out-Of-State Predator: Clemson
Biggest Haul Of Top 30 Recruits In One Class: 9 – North Carolina in 2011 and N.C. State in 2014