Big time college football programs like those at Alabama and Auburn have a nationwide — even worldwide — reach when it comes to recruiting the top talent.
From private jets to helicopters, no expense is spared as coaches from the Tide and Tigers fan out across the U.S. delivering their pitches. As a result, both schools routinely garner some of the top recruiting classes in the country.
Yellowhammer decided to dig into the 2014 rosters to get a better idea of where all of this talent is coming from.
What we found is that even though both Alabama and Auburn are attracting top players from pretty much every corner of the country, the vast majority of them are still coming from the Southeastern U.S., and a big chunk of them hail from right here in the Yellowhammer State.
Of the 115 players on Alabama’s full 2014 roster, 92 of them are from the Southeast (80%), and 41 of them are from Alabama (36%).
Offensive lineman Dominick Jackson from Cupertino, California had to travel the longest distance to come to Tuscaloosa — 2,280 miles.
Here’s a map showing where every Alabama player is from:
Of the 122 players on Auburn’s full 2014 roster, a whopping 110 of them are from the Southeast (90%), and 38 of them are from Alabama (31%).
As you’ll see in the map below, Auburn is landing recruits from other parts of the country, but the cluster of dots (players) in the Southeast is much denser for them than it is in Alabama’s map above.
However, Auburn’s international reach far exceeds that of the Tide this year, at least in terms of the farthest a player traveled from his hometown to come play.
Freshman punter Matthew Shiel from Doncaster, Australia is 9,603 miles away from home. Considering the Earth’s circumference at the equator is 25,000 miles, he is literally almost on the other side of the world.
Here’s a map showing where every Auburn player is from:
Oh, and one more thing… Here’s a screenshot from Google Earth showing just how ridiculously far it is from Doncaster, Australia to Auburn, Alabama:
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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