Tank, Tank, Tankaroo!

Who's doing it and how it is affecting the league

Maybe a better headline would be "who's not doing it." Tanking is the NBA's new favorite buzzword and the issue has sparked debates all across NBA land. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term: tanking is when a bad or even mediocre team decides to essentially sabotage their season by trading or buying out their best player(s) thereby assuring their record goes in the toilet. Why would a team purposefully try to lose games?

Because they want to win games.

Yea that doesn't make a lot of sense at first but let me finish. Losing a ton of games means improving your chances of getting a great young player in the draft. The NBA draft operates on the lottery system, I won’t go into the details of how it works in this article but as most of you know the worse you are, the better chance you have at getting a top draft spot. When you get a top draft spot, your chance of nabbing a future super star that you can build a team around shoots up as well. These NBA GM's are looking to make their teams viable in the long term, and as they have shown this year they are more than willing to sacrifice one season to achieve that. So why are we hearing so much about tanking this season? The tactic has been around for a while, look back to the 80's when the Rockets went full dumpster mode to get Olajuwon. Here is a great article I dug up about the situation, all credit goes to the author Dannie of The Recliner GM.

This year's draft class is the primary reason we are seeing the tanking tactic make a splash in the NBA once again. Although I think several of the individual players coming out this season are slightly overrated (Andrew Wiggins, Marcus Smart) I have to say the overall level of talent in this draft is extremely high. A lot of bad teams, synonymous with Eastern Conference teams at this point, are looking to get in on the action. Let’s take a look at three that have pressed the self-destruct button in hopes of landing a future star and rising triumphantly from the ashes.

Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks are currently the proud owner of the worst record in the NBA. The Sixers may have something to say about that before the season is over though. The race for last place may provide the only drama the East has seen this year, with the notable exception of the revitalized Bulls making waves. Regardless, Milwaukee's GM John Hammond is doing a great job of camouflaging some valuable players in a sea of mediocre. The first of those pieces is point guard Brandon Knight. Easily one of the most underrated point guards in the league, Knight manages to shine on a team that is at the bottom of the NBA food chain. Averaging a sweet 17.1 points per game to match his above league average 17.0 Player Efficiency Rating Knight's stat sheet speaks for itself. The only shortcoming is his low assist numbers, only averaging 5 or so per game. Assists are the golden stat for judging Point guards so ordinarily I would be wary about a PG who was lacking in that department. But then I remembered he plays with a bunch of teammates who couldn't shoot a golf ball into the ocean.

The other diamond in the rough is a little less refined. Giannis Antetokounmpo. No I did not just smash my face down on the keyboard, that’s the guy’s name. Otherwise known as the “Alphabet”, Antetokounmpo is the Bucks’ only reason to be excited about the future. He is a 19 year old kid from Greece with next level length and athletic ability. He is still raw, and prone to mistakes but that’s the best part about him being on Milwaukee. He can go out there and turn the ball over 20 times and it won’t matter because the Bucks will just lose by 30 instead of 20 that night. The point is, he is getting a chance to learn the NBA in a no pressure situation at a very young age, not many players get the chance to do that in this day and age of sports. Players are expected to come out of high school or college and immediately produce results for the teams that drafted them. Take my word on this one, Antetokounmpo is going to be a special player, be sure to check in on him in the next few years.

Los Angeles Lakers: Out of any team tanking this season, the Los Angeles Lakers are in the worst position. Overpaying for a broken down 35 year old Kobe has really put the Lakers in a bind. For those of you who don’t know, Kobe is paid $100,000 more than the next highest paid player in the league for “past services rendered.” Really? Paying him millions back then didn’t cover it? They also have the 40 year old Steve Nash who in his prime was one of the most exciting players in basketball. But now… It’s nothing against Nash, who’s been hurt the majority of the season, but can you really keep up with some of these 20, 21, and 22 year old kids who are quicker than grease lightning and jump out of the gym? Trying to win with an old roster in the NBA is a difficult road. Popovich and the Spurs manage to make it work but they are the exception, not the rule. Laker fans better get used to seeing their team be the punching bag in L.A. The little brother who you have been bullying for the last 30 years just kicked the ever living shit out of you on national television. And it’s going to happen a lot more. Los Angeles is the Clippers playground for the foreseeable future.

However, there is a silver lining to that 48 point drumming on Thursday. It allowed the Lakers to become a full-fledged member of the tank squad. They don’t have to pretend to keep trying for the sake of the fans. The fans know, there is no confusion to what the Lakers are now. Rejoice! Being this god awful is good news if you are a Laker fan, it’s the second best place to be in the NBA. You either want a championship contender or a dumpster fire, anything in between is a waste of time. When you’re the middle of the pack, you get middle of the pack draft picks and you stay middle of the pack. Of course there is always free agency and trades but being terrible gives you the chance to draft that once in a decade player. And with a deep draft class like this year’s? Get them ping pong balls Lakers, draft yourself a Jabari Parker, the league is a much better place when the most popular team is a contender.

Philadelphia 76ers: This team has by far caught the most flak for being a tankaroo this year. Understandably so. The Sixers have made no attempt to try and cover up the fact that they want no part in winning any more games this year. This past February they traded Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen for Danny Granger and a second rounder. Okay, Danny Granger is a nice veteran piece that may have been able to help Michael Carter-Williams develop and bring some life to Philly. But if you want to tank and tank right, you can’t put yourself in a position to win 2 or 3 extra games! So, they bought out Granger’s contract to save a measly $500,000 and solidified themselves as the worst team in the worst conference. Beautifully done in my opinion. They were still too good (ha!), and if they really wanted a shot at the top draft picks they needed to get bad, real bad, and accumulate as many draft picks as possible in the process.

At this point there is no reason for Philly fans to even show up to the games. They have to watch a team full of D-leaguers and Michael Carter-Williams go out and get smoked every night. It hurts now and it will probably hurt for a few more years, but the Sixers front office is obviously committed to making this team viable in the long term. The price is sacrificing a few seasons in the short term, and in my opinion it will be worth it. A goal of any team should be to win a championship, not to sometimes make the playoffs and lose in the first round. Blowing up a team and starting from scratch is a hard way to change, but it is also the most effective.

I will say that one major disadvantage to the moves the Sixers are making is the toll that this season of crap is having on Michael Carter Williams. He’s a promising young star that has to go out and get destroyed every night because his team is designed for the express purpose of losing games. Antetokounmpo’s case is different. He is still relatively unknown and just now learning what it means to be an NBA player. The Buck’s losses don’t reflect on him like the Sixers losses reflect on Michael Carter Williams. The Sixers are more or less his team, for whatever that’s worth. You can only get beat so many times before it starts to affect your confidence. An undesired outcome of Philly’s tanking strategy may be the stunting of MCW’s development as a player. I hope for his sake he continues to try and improve his game and develop good basketball habits. I can see how easy it would be for him to do the complete opposite in his situation.

The Verdict? There is no doubt that tanking is a viable strategy, evidenced by the number of franchises taking part this year. These GM’s and front offices are making tough choices which often force them to choose between being okay to good now and an opportunity at being a championship contender 5 years down the road. In business, long term is always more important than the short term and make no mistake the NBA is a business. Long term viability is the right choice for NBA teams, but there are very real consequences for the sacrifices made to achieve it.

The Revolving Door of Quarterbacks

Increasingly, successful college football programs are decided long before any actual games are played. This shift comes as college football recruiting has exploded and focus has shifted towards the development of high school quarterbacks. Programs around the country are constantly scouring Friday night matchups and position-specific camps to find their next great playmaker – otherwise known as their next quarterback.

Over the past decade, the rise of the quarterback has been clearly documented. Players like Matt Leinart, Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, and most recently Jameis Winston have all been elevated to stardom after leading their teams to championship seasons. These student athletes are the faces of college football and their transcending personalities constantly force them in the media spotlight.

Along with the increased attention, the attitude of many of these top-tier high school athletes has changed. We have shifted from a “team”–first attitude to a “me”–first attitude. Today, playing time and an intolerance for patience leads many of these athletes to choose the school where they have the best chance to see the playing field immediately. This prevailing impatience coupled with the NCAA’s graduate transfer waiver rule has created a revolving door of quarterbacks always on the move to find greener pastures – a virtual waiver wire in college football.

Despite several successful transfers including Troy Aikman, Ryan Mallett, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, and somewhat Zach Mettenberger, there still exists a large group of blue-chip quarterbacks that made the move and never panned out. As these student athletes continue to jump around aimlessly like my dog searching for a place to take a dump, coaches are becoming more strategic about targeting these kids.

On one side of the table, Texas Tech recently lost three of its young quarterbacks due to transfer. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury can relate as a former college quarterback; “Only one quarterback can be on the field at one time, and they all want to play. I understand." Following Davis Webb’s brilliant bowl performance, each of these quarterbacks saw the competition ahead of them and decided to avoid the trouble. 

On the opposite end, teams like Alabama seek to benefit from an incoming transfer quarterback. Jacob Coker, who formerly lost the competition at Florida State to Jameis Winston, will be a junior at Alabama this fall. After drawing rave reviews from the Seminole staff, Nick Saban decided to pursue Coker due to his lack of depth and experience at the quarterback position. As the revolving door indicates, once Coker signed on at Alabama, Luke Del Rio saw his chance to escape the competition at Alabama for playing time elsewhere. Several other recent notable transfers include the Texas Tech gang, Max Wittek, Tyler Murphy, and Zack Kline. Only time will tell if these individuals made the correct decision.

As quarterbacks continue to shine and gain greater responsibilities within their high school teams, the trend will likely continue. Rightfully so, the number of kids wanting to play quarterback will continue to skyrocket. As quarterback camps such as Elite 11 and position gurus like George Whitfield continue to develop these young athletes, the number of capable quarterbacks within college football programs will continue to grow and the level to determine “eliteness” will continue to rise. As a result, depth charts will begin to consist of one veteran followed by a true or redshirt freshman. No longer will coaches be able to recruit an elite quarterback each offseason – simply because they all won’t want to compete against each other. I hope that at some point talented quarterbacks will outnumber available positions at top programs and these athletes will be forced to compete against each other rather than tuck their tail in between their legs and transfer.

To add gasoline to the fire, many coaches are now putting in place transfer restrictions in order to limit their players’ ability to transfer to direct competition. In the case of Texas Tech, Kliff Kingsbury and his staff disallowed Baker Mayfield and Michael Brewer to transfer to in-state Big 12 schools. These restrictions, which seem legitimate to me, seem to irritate the quarterbacks looking to transfer to one of the restricted programs. For whatever reason, high school recruits (and quarterbacks in specific) don’t feel that their commitment on national signing day should hold up beyond their desire to remain with the program. If they want out, they believe they should be given the choice – thus empowering them even further.

The choices by these players have had a major impact on the way coaches handle their programs. Mike Riley, head coach at Oregon State, stated “The one thing that we have always tried to recruit is one [quarterback] a year. I'm breaking my own rule right now. If you get too many quarterbacks you inhibit their development because they don't get many turns [in practice]. They get frustrated. It's hard. So I try to keep that [position] room small, but you also have to be ready for a season and cover your bases."

In Lubbock, Kliff Kingsbury will be counting on developing one or more walk-ons for the second straight year; however, Kingsbury prefers this approach versus combing the “free agent market.” “I haven't looked at the waiver wire, but there's a bunch of guys out there looking for a place to play."

As transfers, particularly at the quarterback position, continue to become more commonplace, I am very curious to see how coaches, fans, and academic officials react. Clearly, I am not a fan of the current environment because I feel that it stiffens competition and leads to a “me first” attitude among the college programs but I’m not so sure that there’s a way around this issue. If a rising prospect truly wants to elevate his skills to the next level, shouldn’t competition be a good thing? On the opposite side of the argument, is it more beneficial for Jacob Coker, who would be forced to wait for his time behind Winston at Florida State, to pursue more playing time in the short-term? And where do academics fit into this whole situation or have they been forgotten in today’s big money college football scheme?

In the end, I hope these student athletes can pick a place they want to play, honor their commitment, and swallow their defeat if they are beat out for the starting position. In other words, no matter how successful my dog is…it is much easier on everyone involved to leave a single pile of crap than one dump scattered all about – the same goes for these quarterbacks.

Toro!

What can you say about the Chicago Bulls this year? I can't remember the last time I counted a team out this many times. Obviously the first time was when Derick Rose went down with a torn meniscus in just his 10th game back from ACL surgery. I don’t even like the Bulls and I was heart broken. It was going to be a viciously competitive season in the East for once. With Rose back a lot of people thought this roster was good enough to challenge the Heat for top honors in the East. But alas it seemed the basketball gods looked with ill favor upon the windy city. They lost Rose again after a measly 10 games and Bulls fans saw their season falling by the wayside once again. Understandably, Bulls fans had had enough. I believe that "Let just blow this shit up" was the popular consensus in Chicago after Rose's second season ending knee injury. I can't say I blame them, everyone thought that without Rose this year was going to be a waste. They made some waves without him last year but no one believed that they would have enough left in the tank to do that in back to back seasons. Shipping out a few pieces and loading up on picks to put around Rose when he got back sounded like the most viable option. 

It looked like the Bulls front office was planting the C4 when they traded Luol Deng to the Cavs for Andrew Bynum, 3 picks and a right to swap picks with Cavs in the 2015 draft. From November 22nd (the date Rose went down for the season) to January 7th (the date of the Deng trade) the Bulls went a very lackluster 9-14. Everything was going according to plan. They could only get worse after losing Deng. The explosives were set, ready for detonation in 3...2....1.... Nothing. There was just on problem with the plan, the Bulls forgot to keep losing. Inexplicably, after losing their two best players, the Chicago Bulls got better. They won 7 out of their next 10 games after Deng departed and have now maneuvered themselves into the 4 spot in the Eastern Conference standings just a half game behind the Raptors. 

How is this team defying all the odds and moving up the Eastern ladder? Well, first of all the East blows. Lets just get that on the record and out of the way. I hate to say it but if the Bulls were in the West they would probably be stuck in the middle of the pack, fighting for an eight spot with Memphis and Minnesota. That's just how big the gap is between the East and West right now. If Rose were healthy and Deng was still on the team I would say that they could be a top 4 team in the West . In the East however, they can be a top tier team with their current roster. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to lessen what the Bulls have done this year, I'm just giving you all a little context. Knicks fans would give their left nut for anything resembling the Bulls season. Chicago's roster is arguably one of the most decimated in the league and they have found a way to make it work. 

Tom Thibedeau has obviously played a huge role in the Bulls miraculous performance this year. I don't think any other coach in the NBA could have as much success as Thibs has had with this roster. He milks every possible ounce of basketball talent from the players he has. Win or lose the Bulls show up every night, diving for balls, crashing the offensive boards, and playing lock down D. The Bulls hold opponents to just 43.2% Field Goal percentage and 92.3 points per night, per NBA stats, that's good enough for second in the league in those categories. Instead of trying to win shootouts with opponents, a popular strategy these days, Chicago is playing some good ol' fashioned defense. It's about as fun to watch as Joakim's jumper but it's getting the job done. 

And at the center of it all is none other than Joakim "Ugly Jumper" Noah. He has become the undisputed leader of this rag-tag bunch and is the most integral player on both sides of the ball for Chicago . Who saw that coming??? Coming out of Florida I didn’t think this guy was gonna be anything other than the 11th man who does all the handshakes with the starters before the game. He had that awkward tall guy look to him and I wasn't sure his skinny frame would hold up in the NBA. Fast forward a couple years and we are looking at a much stronger, much more mature 6'11'' Power forward/Center with an unmatched work ethic. He is one of the few players in the league you can watch for just a few minutes and know he's leaving it all on the court. He is averaging a double-double with 12 points and 11.5 boards a game. Dishing almost 5 dimes a game, he is also one of the best passers on the team. His intensity and Thibedeau's old school defensive mentality complement each other perfectly and together they have given the Bulls their gritty identity. Noah has evolved into one of the league's top all around big men and is the primary reason why the Bulls hold the 4th place spot. 

Bottom line this Bulls team is dangerous. No one expected them to do anything but tank this season, and they are playing like they have nothing to lose. I guarantee that if Chicago moves into the 3rd place spot Miami will start caring a lot more about getting the one seed. Before Chicago's resurgence I think Miami was fine with coasting easily into the two spot and saving their aging roster's legs for the playoffs. But now... Nobody, not even the mighty Heat want to face the possibility of playing this team in the second round of the playoffs. If it came down to it, I think both the Pacers and the Heat would beat Chicago in a best of 7. However, whichever team has to go through that series with Chicago is going to be physically and mentally drained for the Eastern Conference final. My prediction is whoever doesn't have to play the Bulls in the lead up to the conference finals will win the East. That's the kind respect I have for this Bulls team now and I think the top dogs in the East are starting to feel the same way. 

I think we have the Bulls to thank for keeping this year's Eastern conference watchable (okay and Lebron too). Not only have they been a great Cinderella story themselves, but they are forcing the top 2 teams in their conference to watch their backs and actually care about how the regular season turns out. I for one can't wait to see what kind of havoc Noah and the rest of Bulls are going to cause in the playoffs. I can only hope that they will bring some excitement and suspense to a conference that is sorely lacking both.

Knicks Fix

I have to say that watching the New York Knicks crash and burn this season is not as entertaining as I thought it would be. Full disclosure, I have never been a Knick fan, or a New York sports for that matter. I was born in the Northeast but didn’t live there long enough to develop any loyalties. I moved away when I was 5 so it's kind of hard to develop any loyalty to a professional sports team when you're too busy trying to find your blue Power Ranger. 

When I finally started to learn about and play basketball I was living in Dallas, Texas. This meant I grew up watching those few precious years with Dirk and Nash playing one of the most entertaining brands of basketball I've seen to this day. Lots of scoring, lots of threes, and absolutely no defense. It was mesmerizing to watch and I fell in love with it immediately. After watching those high octane Mavs teams, it's no surprise I never tried to get back to my roots and support the Knicks. That said, I've always looked at the Knicks as sort of the Dallas Cowboys of the NBA. You'll find fans no matter where you go, even down south

But over the past decade or so very little has been going right in "Basketball Mecca". A combination of poor management, poor coaching and selfish players have turned one of the league's most storied franchises into a laughing stock. A few down years is acceptable and even expected, but having the richest and second most popular team in the NBA be perennially bad is another thing entirely. The joke that is Knicks basketball is beyond old, its just sad. The worst part of it is that they gave their loyal fans hope last year with a team that, with a few adjustments, looked like it could contend with Miami and Indiana for the top spot in the abysmal Eastern Conference. This year though, it looks like its back to business as usual...

The big three New York dailies, radio talk shows, ESPN, and everyone's uncle have been trying to pinpoint the exact cause of the Knicks frustrations. "That Melo is a ball hog." "Please, Woodson is just a terrible coach. "No, it's the front office!" The scary thing is, they are all partially right. 

Let's start from the top and work our way down. To be fair the Knicks management has never been a source of pride for New York sports fans, but this year it looks like a circus. James Dolan and Steve Mills have done nothing to help stop the bleeding this year. The trade deadline (granted a fairly uneventful trade deadline overall) came and went without an attempt from the Knicks to try and make any moves in their backcourt, which is arguably the worst in the NBA. Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni? Both of them have Player Efficiency Ratings that are below the league average of 15 (12.30 for Felton and 13.51 for Prigioni) per ESPN.com. They've got Hardaway coming off the bench who can occasionally provide some energy but he's still too inconsistent to take over Felton's role. J.R. Smith is having one of his worst shooting seasons statistically with his PPG, FG%, and FT% numbers all down. Has anyone else noticed how ice cold he has been from the free throw line this year? He is currently only sinking 60.2% while his career average is 73.6%. 

Dolan and Mills have made it clear they want to re-sign Melo, but what have they really done to keep him from opting out? Offering a shit ton of money is indeed the correct answer. But what if that isn't enough? What if Melo actually wants a decent roster? With the trade deadline passed it's going to be hard for the Knicks to make any impactful roster changes. Signing a big time free agent is off the table, the Knicks are essentially capped until the end of the 2015 season. What about getting a big name in this year's supposedly mega deep draft? Not unless they plan on getting him in the second round, the Knicks traded their 2014 first rounder to Denver. Yikes. Guess they're planning on 2015 being a big year, if Melo is still around that is... 

Someone who's more than likely not going to be around is coach Mike Woodson. Some may think that Woodson is the scapegoat here, but I'm not so sure. Two things stand out in my mind about the Knicks this year that put Woodson in a less than favorable light. 

1. Lack of offensive coordination: We've all had to watch a lot of Knicks basketball this year, it seems they have a game on national TV every other night. Because of this we get to see how the Knicks compare to a lot of other teams and they just don't measure up. It's rare to seem them run anything resembling a play. Unless you want to call passing the ball to Melo or J.R. and watching them shoot low percentage fade away jumpers. I know this is the NBA and offenses are much more free lance than they are in college but would it be that bad to see a couple of set plays that lead to a layup? Maybe a nice out of bounds play off the time out that leads to an easy bucket? 
2. Lack of effort: They always say a coach shouldn’t have to coach effort, but I think an exception needs to be made with the Knicks. Its painful watching this team fall behind by 20 points and shut it down on the defensive side of the court night after night. Part of a coach's job is to keep his players motivated, and the Knicks look just about anything but. Lack of trust in the coach is why most of the Knicks have hung it up and are waiting for this nightmare of a season to be over. It's pretty simple, the players think Woodson is in over his head. Why play hard for someone who you have no faith in?

And finally we have Melo. The final piece of this Knicks debacle. The smallest piece in my opinion. Yes, it's true Melo is a ball hog that’s going to get his every night regardless if its good for the team or not. He slacks on the defensive end of the floor and most importantly doesn’t lead his team like a Lebron James, Tim Duncan or Kevin Durant would. With all that said, he is still one of the most dynamic scorers in the league. He is a threat from just about anywhere on the court and has really stepped up his rebounding this season, averaging 8.5 per game (that’s more than Roy Hibbert, Paul Millsap, and Lebron). When the Knicks went after Carmelo they knew what kind of player they were getting. It was up to them to put players around him that would complement his abilities. It just hasn't worked. For those who say that trying to build a team around one offensive star doesn’t work, look at the 2000-2001 Eastern Conference winning 76ers. That was Allen Iverson (arguably the biggest gunner in NBA history) and a bunch of B- players who passed him the ball and got rebounds. They didn't even have Iguoadala yet. So no, Anthony isn't the kind of all around superstar like Lebron or Jordan was but you can still win with a guy that can score as well as he can. 

I honestly don't know what Melo really wants to do after this season. If I had to bet I would say he takes the money and stays in the Big Apple. But every time I see him get trounced by Lebron James and the Heat or Kevin Durant and the Thunder I see Melo getting left behind. A few more seasons like this with the Knicks and it won't matter how many points he scores, he wont be considered an elite NBA player anymore. Elite players win games and win playoff series. I think Melo sees this too and the 30 year old is going to have to decide pretty quick whether he wants to be rich and famous in New York or a contender and a little less rich somewhere else.

As for the Knicks as a whole, they are desperately hoping Melo takes the money and sticks around. It seems strange that a team with a top 3 scorer in the league needs to rebuild but that is the tragedy of the Knicks. Until they can clean house and get some real pieces around Melo fans are just going to have to accept a sub par Knicks team. The only other option is to blow up and rebuild, something I highly doubt the Knicks management will be able to accomplish. It's a definitely a hard time to be optimistic as a Knick fan, I'm know I'm glad I'm not one.

The Round-Up: 02/08/14

Let's take a look at the action and news from the past several days:

• Thanks to the gentlemen at Good Bull Hunting we can take a look at the geographic reach of the SEC during the 2014 recruiting process. They were also so kind as to add "TROLL MODE."
• We've heard of a "three-sport" athlete but this prospect from Florida is reinventing himself as a "three-school" athlete (I don't think it's going to work out for him).
• It may be outdated, but The Saturday Edge took a look at the role of emotions in handicapping college football bets with the help of The Sports Boss.
• College Football Cafeteria has released its early 2014 preseason rankings - let's just say I don't agree with a couple of his selections.
• The BCS is officially over and forgotten, for the time being. BCS Guru takes a look back at each of the past 16 BCS Series' which included many controversial situations yet somehow managed to avoid debate in its final season.
• How big was Twitter's IPO? Big enough to take over the college football recruiting process.
• Oops. Auburn added a recruit profile to their website just before he chose to sign with Alabama.
• I had hoped my previous signing week dinner announcement would start a revolution but clearly I wasn't up to snuff. Solomon Thomas, on the other hand, set a new precedent for national signing day by starting from the roots up.

Taking My Talents To...

This Wednesday is National Signing Day for high school football recruits throughout the country. Most of these players have already committed to the school they wish to attend for the next four years, but some will make their decision at the last hour. 
 

Sadly, there will be quite a few of us fans that are hanging on every word these recruits speak before and during their announcement. In an effort to make a simple situation more dramatic than last year’s Iron Bowl, many of these highly touted recruits will make their announcement public during a live broadcast.
 

As these exaggerated announcements grow in popularity, I thought we as fans should have the opportunity to also make our own big announcements.
 

Without further delay, I present to you my decision regarding one of the most important choices I’ve yet to face in life…dinner.

 

  

I hope my bold decision inspires all fans to proclaim your own decision this week.

Staying Home: The Decision Facing Recruits

This week, Everyday Should Be Saturday released some very interesting recruiting graphics based on solid, fundamental facts (and by facts, we mean emotions). With National Signing Day quickly approaching, we decided to take our own approach at examining a small sub-segment of the recruiting process: staying home.

Emotionally, one of the biggest decisions to be made for any high school senior during the recruiting process is “should I stay or should I go?” Using rivals.com annual top 100 players over the past six years, 49% of these recruits are from the big 4 states (California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia); however, not all of these players can attend local schools. As a result, some of these state schools actually fail to retain all of the talent within the state.

Below is a graphic illustration of the movement of recruits over the past six years. 

States such as Texas and Georgia are highlighted in red due to the sheer number of recruits coming from high schools within these states and electing to not attend an in-state school. In addition, the dark red states of Nevada, New Mexico, Kansas, and New York illustrate the neglect that these states give to their football programs as athletes prefer to leave the state versus play for their home team. Some of these states may also be misrepresented because of the small number of high school recruits coming from the state.

More telling are the dark green states including Oregon, Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. These states, while not producing as much high school level talent, are a large draw to potential recruits because of the success of their college football programs.

Perhaps the most telling stat is the percentage of recruits who stayed to play college football in their home state: 60%, 53%, 58%, 50%, 49%, and 48% respectively between 2009 and 2014.

While the trend seems to be slightly shifting towards more recruits leaving their home state, historically, it is pretty much a toss-up on the decision to stay home versus head out of state.

The detailed list on a state-by-state basis is below.