| NEWS Twenty need-to-know stats from National Signing Day 2020- 247Sports

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Recruiting isn’t an exact science. While five and four-star players have a proven effect on a program’s ability to win national championships, there will always be busts and surprises on the recruiting front. Ultimately, it’s like any other evaluation in sports – a projection.

That’s why, on National Signing Day, it’s good to present some facts.

You might not be able to know how today’s signees impact your program’s future. But there is a way to bring some perspective to the day’s activities other than the number of stars on a player’s profile.

In honor of National Signing Day 2020, these are 20 need-to-know facts based on the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

1. Georgia is No. 1. Again. The Bulldogs inked the nation’s No. 1 overall class in 2018 and now 2020, making them one of only three programs in the last 15 years to post multiple No. 1 classes: Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Of note, the Crimson Tide and Gators both won multiple national championships during that period. Georgia is still looking for a title. The Bulldogs signed 10 of the top 60 players in the country.

2. Alabama signed California dual-threat quarterback Bryce Young, who is tied for the highest-ranked player to ink with the Tide in the Nick Saban era. Young slots at No. 2 overall in the 247Sports Composite – No. 1 in the Top247 – tying him with Cyrus Kouandjio from the 2011 class. Despite signing eight of the last 10 No. 1 overall classes, the Tide have never inked the nation’s No. 1 player 247Sports Composite player during Saban’s tenure.

3. Speaking of the No. 1 overall player in the 247Sports Composite, Bryan Bresee signed with the Tigers. He’s the third No. 1 player to do so in Tigers history, joining Trevor Lawrence (2018) and Da'Quan Bowers (2008). That means Clemson, which had the No. 3 class, has signed more No. 1 overall players than anyone else in 247Sports Composite history.

4. Before moving on from Clemson, here are a few more pretty insane stats about the Tigers' class, via Clemson247 expert Anna Hickey.

  • This Clemson’s first top five class in the modern recruiting era.
  • Clemson did not have a single decommitment for the third straight cycle. For perspective, Miami had TWENTY decommitments in 2020.
  • Clemson landed 23 percent of its 106 offers. LSU offered 316 players while Georgia offered 267.
  • Finally, only two prospects the Tigers hosted on official visits failed to sign with the school. That’s honestly just an insane stat. Schools host multiple official visitors a weekend and will often go one-for-five. Clemson missed on just two all cycle.
5. The jewel of LSU’s No. 4 overall class is five-star tight end Arik Gilbert. The Georgia native ranks fifth nationally in the 247Sports Composite, making him the highest-ranked tight in recruiting history. Greg Olsen, at No 10 overall in 2003, was the previous top-ranked tight end.

6. Ohio State finished fifth in the 2020 class rankings. A big reason for that is a generational wide receiver haul. The Buckeyes are the first team in a decade to sign a trio of top 10 receivers in the Composite: No. 1 Julian Fleming, No. 5 Jaxon Smith-Njigba, No. 10 Gee Scott. The last team to do so was Texas in 2010.

7. Texas A&M finished with the No. 6 overall class, which gives the Aggies back-to-back top 10 classes for only the second time in program history. But Jimbo Fisher’s second (4th) and third (6th) classes are at another level. Only Kevin Sumlin’s 2014 group (5th), which included Myles Garrett, is better than either of Fisher’s 2020 haul. Texas A&M enters 2020 with the roster ammo to actually compete with Alabama, LSU and Auburn.

8. Before moving out of the SEC, it’s worth noting six of the top eight classes come from the conference. That’s never happened before in the modern recruiting era.

9. Nineteen of the 30 accounted-for five-stars – Zachary Evans is still on the board – signed with just five programs: Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Ohio State. That quintet signed 47 of the top 100 prospects as well. “There’s an arms race between Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama and LSU,” Georgia QB signee Carson Beck told 247Sports this summer.

10. Texas is the first program since 2007 to sign a pair of top 75 quarterbacks (No. 73 Ja'Quinden Jackson, No. 57 Hudson Card) in the same class, per the 247Sports Composite data. Such a class belonged to the Florida Gators in 2007, who signed both Cam Newton (No. 26) and John Brantley (No. 30). The other school since 2004 to sign a pair of top 100 QBs in the same class is Washington in 2018 (No. 91 Colson Yankoff, No. 94 Jacob Sirmon).

11. Oregon finished with the top-ranked class (No. 12) in the Pac-12 for the second straight year. The Ducks are the only non-USC Pac-12 team since 2002 to lead the conference rankings in back-to-back cycles.

12. There were a special trio of prospects atop the Top247. Young (Alabama), DJ Uiagalelei (Clemson) and Bresse (Clemson) each earned a 101 grade from the 247Sports rankings council. It’s the first time in Top247 history that a trio of prospects ranked at 101 or better.

13. Georgia Tech is back as a recruiting factor, finishing 26th nationally, the program’s first top 40 recruiting class since 2007. The Yellowjackets inked four-star running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who ranks as the nation’s No. 75 overall prospect. Gibbs is the highest-rated recruit to sign with Georgia Tech since 2007 and the first Peach State top 25 prospect to ink with the Yellowjackets since 2013.

14. A couple of other classes jump out because of their historic strength. Let’s run through them.

  • Cincinnati finished as the top-ranked G-5 program at 40th nationally. That's the best finish in program history. The Bearcats also signed four-star quarterback Evan Prater, the top-rated player to ever sign with them.
  • Wisconsin finished with its highest-ranked recruiting class since 2001 at 25th nationally. The Badgers have signed back-to-back top 30 classes for the first time ever.
  • Utah finished with a top 30 class for the first time in its history, ranking 29th. That group includes four-star corner Clark Phillips (No. 50), the top-rated prospect to ever sign with the Utes.
15. On the other end of the spectrum, there were a few historically bad classes.

  • Virginia Tech sat at 71st nationally late Wednesday afternoon. The Hokies had never ranked worse than 43rd (2002) in a single cycle before this year.
  • Arizona finished Wednesday afternoon at 64th. That’s the worst class in program history.
  • Illinois had the worst effort in the Power Five, finishing 88th nationally. That is the worst ranking in program history. The Illini only took 13 commits and will hit the transfer portal hard. But it's still a puzzling showing.
  • Florida State finished at 21st nationally, which is its worst-ranked modern recruiting class. It's probably not fair to criticize the Seminoles and Mike Norvell in a transition class. But the number is not a good one for a program that should be around the top 10 every year.
16. Before we move on from teams with rough recruiting efforts, it’s worth spending a moment on USC. The Trojans finished 54th nationally. Keep in mind, the previous worst mark in program history was 20th, which happened last year. USC’s 2019 class was considered a mess. This group more closely resembles a disaster. USC inked just one top 25 prospect from California. It signed 10 such prospects in 2018. The Trojans could be perfectly decent in 2020 and save Clay Helton's job, but then he'd be facing a roster with a massive talent depletion in the years to come. Or they could move on from Helton, and such a behind-the-curve roster would be somebody else's hole to dig out of. Either way, consecutive years of inept inaction and waffling by the athletics administration has placed the Trojans in dire straits.

17. Speaking of USC’s California haul, here are few notable takeaways from the battleground states.

  • Only three of the Top 25 prospects from California stayed home. Arizona State, Washington and Oregon each signed more California top 25 prospects than the entire group of FBS California schools.
  • Florida won the Sunshine State, inking six of the top 25.
  • Auburn won in Georgia, inking six of the top 25.
  • Finally, Texas took control of its state signing seven of the top 25.
18. Parker McQuarrie is the first four-star prospect from New Hampshire in the 247Sports era of recruiting. The UCLA signee and nation’s No. 256 overall prospect is the first four-star recruit from New Hampshire since 2006 (Richard Lampham, Boston College).

19. Speaking of talent-producing states, California (444) had the most ranked prospects nationally. On the other end of the spectrum, four states failed to produce a ranked prospect: Maine, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont.

20. There are always a number of recruits with famous parents each cycle. Here are a few to keep an eye on from the 2020 class: Four-star Stanford RB signee EJ Smith (son of NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith); Three-star FAU RB signee Frank Gore Jr. (son of Pro Bowl RB Frank Gore); Three-star Clemson safety Tyler Venables (son of Clemson DC Brent Venables); Three-star Georgia quarterback Jackson Muschamp (son of South Carolina HC Will Muschamp); Three-star FAU athlete Willie Taggart Jr. (son of FAU HC Willie Taggart); Three-star safety Gabe Taylor (brother of Pro Bowl NFL S Sean Taylor); Three-star Texas State wide receiver Jaycob Horn (son of NFL Pro Bowl receiver Joe Horn).
 
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