Big Ten expansion won't dramatically alter recruiting

CHICAGO - The Big Ten could grow its footprint substantially by adding one, three or five teams, but conference football and basketball coaches said they don’t expect expansion to have a big impact on recruiting.

“I think it affects recruiting somewhat, but probably not as much as you think,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said earlier this week at the Big Ten spring meetings. “Most schools will do some southern recruiting anyway, because the population and the number of quality student-athletes there. But I don’t know if our geographical recruiting areas will shift that much regardless of who comes in the league.”

In three years under Rodriguez, Michigan has signed players from 14 different states. Typically, the Wolverines do most of their recruiting in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, but they also have a successful Florida pipeline and have secured commitments from non-traditional states like Arizona, Louisiana and Massachusetts.

Among the schools most commonly mentioned as expansion candidates, Texas (an extreme long shot) and Rutgers (in New Jersey) add the most fertile recruiting territory, while Nebraska has little in the way of appeal.

“Most of the time you start off recruiting where it makes sense geographically, but also where your coaching staff has ties and has the ability to come in and sign prospects out of,” Rodriguez said. “I think that’s a big part of it. I don’t know if you necessarily just shift because there’s two or three teams or institutions from (a new) area. I don’t think that makes your decision to shift your recruiting.”

Basketball coaches might get a slightly bigger bump in recruiting if the Big Ten raids the Big East for teams like Rutgers and Syracuse, especially if it leads to Big East’s demise.

Indiana coach Tom Crean recruited New Jersey extensively when he coached in the Big East with Marquette and speaks highly of the caliber of player there.

“When you’re in Milwaukee, Wisc., and you’re going to play predominantly on the East Coast, you’re crazy not to go to those areas,” he said. “And we did. And we had a lot of success with it.”

MORE INFORMATION

Here's where Michigan's football recruits have come from under Rich Rodriguez:
Ohio: 21;Â Florida: 14;Â Michigan: 13;Â New Jersey: 4;Â Pennsylvania: 4;Â Texas: 4;Â South Carolina: 3; Arizona: 2;Â Louisiana: 2;Â California: 1;Â Illinois: 1;Â Indiana: 1;Â Maryland: 1;Â Massachusetts: 1;Â Wisconsin: 1.

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.