A previous poster suggested that if we secure John Simpson it would be a double win bx we get a big in state recruit and prevent SC from doing so. His contention was that we do better with highly rated out of state recruits than SC, and getting the top in state kids hurts them because they do not recruit the top kids out of state as well as we do. Thus, I did a little checking on the two school's out of state footprint/success, because I thought his hypothesis was a good one.
The results over the last eight recruiting classes initially suggest the gamecocks do as well as we do. Over the eight years, we secured 42 out of state four stars while SC secured 41. (I did not count CC transfers)
However, when you consider the best of the best, it is a different story. Over those same years, we secured 8 out of state five stars while the lowly chickens failed to bring in a single out of state five star.
This led me to another hypothesis. I would suggest that the Tigers really have a handle on emphasizing character (of course accepting there are fails like Bellamy). I think that effort, attitude, and character can go a long way to distinguish many initial four stars that then jump to five stars (see D Cain). So we are able to get some of those high out of state five stars because they like culture that exists at Clemson. In fact, I seem to recall that Sammy actually noted that he would be more able to avoid problems if he chose the Tigers. In fact, I even think the suspensions in year two emphasized his need to embrace high standards. Just remember the number of screw ups there have been in Columbia with little or no consequences (D Summers, S Garcia, ...).
So, I suggest the initial poster may have been correct (sorry i don't remember who - maybe he will chime in and take a bow).
Regardless, I am interested in feedback from the board, and of course C/L/P
The results over the last eight recruiting classes initially suggest the gamecocks do as well as we do. Over the eight years, we secured 42 out of state four stars while SC secured 41. (I did not count CC transfers)
However, when you consider the best of the best, it is a different story. Over those same years, we secured 8 out of state five stars while the lowly chickens failed to bring in a single out of state five star.
This led me to another hypothesis. I would suggest that the Tigers really have a handle on emphasizing character (of course accepting there are fails like Bellamy). I think that effort, attitude, and character can go a long way to distinguish many initial four stars that then jump to five stars (see D Cain). So we are able to get some of those high out of state five stars because they like culture that exists at Clemson. In fact, I seem to recall that Sammy actually noted that he would be more able to avoid problems if he chose the Tigers. In fact, I even think the suspensions in year two emphasized his need to embrace high standards. Just remember the number of screw ups there have been in Columbia with little or no consequences (D Summers, S Garcia, ...).
So, I suggest the initial poster may have been correct (sorry i don't remember who - maybe he will chime in and take a bow).
Regardless, I am interested in feedback from the board, and of course C/L/P
