Three-Point Stance: SEC reset; raiding Louisiana; cities with talent

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here taking a look at SEC recruiting, who raids the state of Louisiana the best and which cities produce the most top players in Rivals history.

RELATED: Five out-of-state teams with buzz in Louisiana | Can UT stay hot?

Biggest Get: WR Jadon Haselwood, Georgia – One of the top wide receivers in the country and an in-state get, he’s the best commitment for the SEC so far and he’ll be hard to beat at No. 5 in the nation.

Biggest Surprise: LB Shane Lee, Alabama – This one surprised me quite a bit. Should I ever be surprised at an Alabama commitment? Probably not, but I expected him to stay closer to home and play at Penn State or someplace else.

Great Start: Georgia – This could also be Alabama, but with a five-star and less commits with a better average star ranking, I went with the Dawgs. Is Georgia becoming the better recruiting program? Are they the recruiting king of the SEC now? Those questions could be answered this cycle.

Hot Team: Tennessee – The Vols are on a roll, landing four-stars at offensive line, wide receiver and linebacker and all three seem to be immediate impact players. Jeremy Pruitt is getting the job done early for Tennessee and just needs to add some of the in state talent to make this a special class.

Surprising Start: Ole Miss – The Rebels are recruiting very well despite the NCAA sanctions and the shadow the investigation put over recruiting for years. Matt Luke is doing one of the best jobs in the country so far.

Rough Start: Florida – The Gators at No. 10 in the SEC heading into June with a 3.13 average star ranking and seven of their eight commitments ranked as three stars. Dan Mullen does a great job finding talent and developing players, but a little more star power is expected this early, no?

Recruiting Battle to Watch: Georgia vs. Alabama – Kirby vs. Nick and not much else needs to be said. This is a heavyweight battle and Smart has been getting the best of it.

Must Keep: Derek Stingley Jr. – LSU needs to keep him in state and if they can’t some other SEC team needs to keep him in the conference, he’s that talented.

Do or Die: Missouri – Recruiting is not easy for Missouri with geographical disadvantages in the SEC and last year wasn’t a great recruiting year with some in state talent heading elsewhere. This is a big recruiting year for Barry Odom and his staff and they are off to a slow start with few commitments.

Last one I promise. So we’ve done Florida, Texas, California, Georgia and Ohio when it comes to which out of state programs raid the states the best. Let’s finish the series with Louisiana and the answer won’t surprise many.

1. Alabama – The Tide have easily been the biggest thorn in the side of LSU, having lured 10 four- or five-stars since 2013, double that of the next team. And many have been stars like Tim Williams and Cam Robinson. Les Miles and now Ed Orgeron have a real problem with the Tide here if this continues.

2. Texas A&M – The Aggies have done a good job here, luring five four- or five-star prospects out of Louisiana since 2013. Speedy Noil is the biggest name and it’s interesting that the Aggies and not the Longhorns have been the threat here in SEC country. Yes, Texas A&M is in the SEC, but you’d think the Longhorns would be closer (Texas has lured one).

T-3. Mississippi State – The Bulldogs aren’t far behind at all when it comes to luring players from Louisiana with four different four- or five-stars since 2013. And that doesn’t even include Dak Prescott, who was way back in 2011 and was only a three-star. Great spot recruiting by Mississippi State here.

T-3. Oklahoma – The Sooners make yet another list (they made the top five for Texas and California as well), which again shows their recruiting prowess out of state. They are tied with Mississippi State with four prospects.

T-5. Kansas – The Jayhawks have one already for 2019 and landed two in 2018, so this is a recent trend, but a good one for the program. Tony Hull is the man here when it comes to the Louisiana connection.

T-5. TCU – The Horned Frogs also have three fou- or five-stars since 2013, including quarterback Justin Rogers last cycle. They do a good job of spot recruiting the area and have some connections.

Do you like to crunch numbers? Here are the top cities to produce four and five star prospects since Rivals began tracking such things in 2002. I’ve included the teams that landed the most players out of each state as well for the top ones.

Miami: 119 (Miami-32, Florida-9, Florida State-8, Louisville-7, Auburn-4, USF-4, Georgia-3, LSU-3, Ohio State-3, Illinois-2, Tennessee-2, Texas-2, UCF-2)

Los Angeles: 63 (UCLA-16, USC-14, Cal-5, Arizona-4, Oregon-4, Washington-3, Stanford-2, Washington State-2)

Houston: 60 (Texas-21, Texas A&M-10, LSU-6, Baylor-2, Florida State-2, Oklahoma-2, Oklahoma State-2, Oregon-2, Stanford-2, Texas Tech-2)

Jacksonville: 60 (Florida-14, Florida State-12, Auburn-3, Clemson-3, Georgia-3, Ohio State-3, Alabama-2, LSU-2, Miami-2, South Carolina-2, UCF-2)

Tampa: 48 (Florida-12, Florida State-8, Miami-4, Auburn-3, Clemson-3, Georgia-3, South Carolina-3, USF-2, USC-2)

Dallas: 42 (Oklahoma-9, Texas-7, Texas A&M-6, Oklahoma State-3, Cal-2, Texas Tech-2, USC-2)

New Orleans: 40 (LSU-20, Texas A&M-4, Georgia Tech-3, Florida-2, Mississippi State-2)

Atlanta: 39 (Georgia-18, Auburn-4, Clemson-3, Florida-3, Alabama-2, South Carolina-2)

Detroit: 39 (Michigan-17, Michigan State-10, Ohio State-3, Iowa-2)

Cincinnati: 38 (Ohio State-9, Notre Dame-5, Kentucky-3, Cincinnati-2, LSU-2, Michigan-2, Michigan State-2, Penn State-2)

Washington DC: 34 (Maryland-10, Florida State-3, Alabama-2, Illinois-2, North Carolina-2, Pittsburgh-2, Tennessee-2, Texas A&M-2, West Virginia-2)

Cleveland: 33 (Ohio State-19, Notre Dame-2)

Charlotte: 32 (North Carolina-9, Georgia-4, Clemson-3, Florida-3, South Carolina-3, Tennessee-3, NC State-2, Notre Dame-2)

Memphis: 32 (Tennessee-9, Alabama-4, Mississippi-3, Georgia-2, LSU-2, Vanderbilt-2)

Nashville: 28 (Tennessee-11, Memphis-2, Oregon-2, Vanderbilt-2)

Las Vegas: 28 (USC-6, UCLA-5, Oklahoma-3, Arizona-2, Arizona State-2, Miami-2, Nebraska-2, Notre Dame-2, Ohio State-2)

San Diego: 27 (Oregon-5, Stanford-4, USC-4, Cal-2, Oklahoma-2, UCLA-2, Washington-2)

Indianapolis: 27 (Notre Dame-5, Indiana-4, Michigan-2, North Carolina-2, Ohio State-2, Tennessee-2)

Long Beach: 27 (USC-10, UCLA-5, Arizona State-2, Florida State-2, Oregon-2)

Virginia Beach: 26 (Virginia-7, Florida State-5, Virginia Tech-5, Maryland-3)

Orlando: 25 (Florida State-7, Florida-5, Alabama-2, Miami-2, Michigan-2, Notre Dame-2)

Chicago: 24

Fresno: 24

Mobile: 20

Pittsburgh: 19

Scottsdale: 19

Baton Rouge: 19

Philadelphia: 18

Baltimore: 18

St. Louis: 18

Fort Worth: 18

Portland: 17

Sacramento: 17

Phoenix: 16

Oklahoma City: 16

Oakland: 13

Honolulu: 13

Austin: 13

Louisville: 13

Tulsa: 13

Denver: 12

Brooklyn: 11

Birmingham: 10