SEC Dixie-nary: R is for Recruiting

R is for Recruiting

Eight of the Top 25 2011 Recruiting Classes (BaseballAmerica.com) were at SEC schools.

The SEC has a recruiting advantage because it has consistently been the most successful NCAA Baseball conference, leading in conference RPI, teams in the NCAA Regionals, and other measures of success.  Plus, the SEC gets more national exposure than most other baseball conferences.

Of course, just being in the SEC is already turning into a plus for Mizzou Baseball recruiting:

♦ Area recruits react to Mizzou's upcoming switch to the SEC (stltoday.com)

But for Griff Goodrich, the developing story hit closer to home. A senior pitcher at Kirkwood, had committed to continue his baseball career at Missouri before the move to the Southeastern Conference was announced.
. . .
"When I got the news Sunday morning, I woke up and right away it was pure excitement," he said. "It was awesome. The Big 12 is a great, prestigious conference, but to move down to the SEC for baseball, that's baseball country down there. You've got the top teams fighting for a trip to Omaha every year out of that conference. It's great competition."

Will a Tier-1 recruit who grew up in the Sun Belt be attracted to leave the South and go to "northern state" Mizzou in order to play in the SEC? Not likely, unless there's some other reason he wants to leave home.

For a top recruit from the Midwest, though, spending three years playing in the South might not be appealing.  But three years in the Midwest at Mizzou could be attractive now that MU is now an SEC team. It may be true there's no baseball conference like the SEC. But it can also be true that there's no place like home.

Recruiting Footprint:

The following is a list of where each SEC school tends to get its recruits, based on numbers from their announced 2012 Recruiting Class and their most recently posted roster.  The data is not consistent, due to some schools having only last year's roster posted and others not having their recruiting class posted.  But this list serves to provide a general idea of the Recruiting Footprint of each school..

Alabama

• 2012 Recruit Class:  8 AL; 1 FL; 1 NC
• 2011 Fall Roster:  25 AL; 4 GA; 3 FL; 2 MS; 2 SC; 2 LA; 1 each IL, OK, Ontario

Auburn

• 2011 Fall Roster: 20 AL; 8 GA; 2 CA; 2 TX

Arkansas

• 2012 Class: 4 AR; 3 TX; 1 each NC, OK, NM
• 2011 Fall Roster: 19 AR; 10 TX; 5 CA; 5 OK; 3 LA; 2 KS, 2 MO (St Louis and Columbia); 1 each IN, CO

Florida

• 2011 Roster: 28 FL; 2 GA; 1 each NJ, PA, KY, NC

Georgia

• 2012 Recruit Class: 17 GA; 1 PA
• 2011 Roster: 30 GA; 2 TN; 2 VA; 1 FL; 1 NC

Kentucky

• 2011 Roster: 15 KY; 4 TN; 3 IL; 2 CA; 2 GA; 2 IN; 1 each SC, OR, WA, OH, UT, CO and Quebec

Louisiana State

• 2011 Fall Roster:  23 LA; 5 TX; 2 FL; 1 each OK, CA, NC, CO, MS, WA, NV

Mississippi

• 2012 Recruit Class:  6 LA; 1 ea TX, OK, TN, PA
• 2011 Fall Roster:  14 MS; 6 FL; 4 CA; 4 TN; 3 GA; 3 LA; 2 VA; 1 each AR, AL, IL, OH, TX

Mississippi State

• 2011 Roster:  13 MS; 8 AL; 6 TX; 2 FL; 2 GA; 1 each LA, MD, NJ, MO (St. Louis)

Missouri

• 2012 Recruit Class: 8 MO; 1 IA; 1 TX
• 2011 Fall Roster (from SimmonsField.com):  15 MO; 6 TX; 4 IL; 3 KS; 3 CO; 1 each AZ, IA, LA

South Carolina

• 2011 Roster: 16 SC; 5 FL; 4 VA; 2 GA; 2 NC; 1 each NJ, NV, RI, PA

Tennessee (Dave Serrano is the new coach this season, just in from the west coast)

• 2012 Class: 6 TN; 2 GA; 2 SC; 1 NC, 1 KA, 1 WA
• 2011 Fall Roster: 14 TN, 5 GA, 2 NC, 1 VA, 2 CA, 1 ea TX, SC, OH, KS, KY, WA, FL

Texas A&M

• 2012 Recruit Class: 10 TX; 1 MO (Ballwin)
• 2011 Fall Roster: 32 TX; 1 AZ

Vanderbilt Commodores

• 2011 Roster: 11 TN; 4 MA; 4 TX; 4 IN; 2 NJ; 1 each LA, FL, PA, NC, IA, NY, AZ, MO (Lee's Summit)