Interactive maps: Arkansas compiles over 50 years of recruiting data

When it comes to recruiting, sometimes there is a lot you can learn just by looking at maps.

Arkansas recently put together some really insightful interactive Google maps, which detail the hometown location of each football recruit that has come to play football for the Razorbacks since 1963.

With more than 50 years worth of data at our disposal, there are some significant trends to observe.

Notes for using the maps:

• The menu bar at the top left corner of the map will allow you to narrow your search to a certain time period.
• You are able to zoom into a particular area to get a more detailed report of where players were located.
• You can enlarge these maps by clicking the button on the top right of each map to open in a new browser tab.

First, here’s a look at the map which includes roughly 1,500 current or former Razorbacks players.

Arkansas Recruiting (1963-2016)

The Razorbacks report that 45 percent of their players are from Arkansas, and the map certainly represents that.

Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Missouri, all states which border Arkansas, are the most frequent out-of-state data points. No surprise there.

But one thing you can do that is interesting is narrow this map down to the SEC era for the Razorbacks (1992-present) to see just how much playing in the league expanded recruiting. Particularly moving the Arkansas recruiting efforts into Florida and California.

Some other interesting tidbits, courtesy of the Razorbacks website:

• Clusters: Zoom in close enough and you can see that Arkansas has historically gained recruits in-state from the I-30 and I-40 corridors, and also the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, New Orleans, Birmingham, Ala., Atlanta, Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, and OKC/Tulsa areas.

• The top three positions recruited by Arkansas in the past 50 years in order, are: Offensive linemen (322), running backs (290), and linebackers (193).

Arkansas also produced three more interactive maps that breakdown the recruiting by location of offensive players, defensive/special teams players, and then where the Arkansas coaching staff is from:

Offense Recruiting

Defense/Special Teams Recruiting

Coaches

Nick Cole

Nick Cole is a former print journalist with several years of experience covering the SEC. Born and raised in SEC country, he has taken in the game-day experience at all 14 stadiums.