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?
- Who Owns North Carolina in Recruiting?
Virginia is next as we head north in the ACC’s footprint. Virginia, much like North Carolina, has programs from all along the East Coast trying to pick out its best players. There are two dominant in-state ACC programs, but it geographically lies in the middle of ACC and Big Ten territory. When you rope in Northern Virginia and the DC area, Virginia is one of the top high school football states in the country. Every year, a handful of prospects are recruited on the national level, which brings all the elite schools to the state.
To see which schools own Virginia 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 Virginia Recruits From 2010-2014
Virginia Tech – 52
Virginia – 34
North Carolina – 9
Penn State – 5
Alabama – 4
West Virginia – 3
Ohio State – 3
Vanderbilt – 3
Florida State – 3
Who Owns It: Virginia Tech
Dominant ACC Team: Virginia Tech
Percentage Of Top 30 That Went ACC: 72.7 percent
Percentage of Top 30 That Went SEC: 8.7 percent
Percentage of Top 30 That Went Big Ten: 7.3 percent
Percentage Of Top 30 That Stayed In-State: 58.7 percent
Biggest Out-Of-State Predator: North Carolina
Biggest Haul Of Top 30 Recruits In One Class: 15 – Virginia Tech in 2012