The football recruiting period for the class of 2006 wrapped up yesterday and the ACC didnt’ do very well. At all.
The growth to twelve teams with the addition of football powers Miami and Virginia Tech along with northern school Boston College was supposed to vault the ACC to the top of the national conference rankings. That may still happen, but if this year’s recruiting is an indicator, things aren’t going as planned.
According to Scout.com, only four ACC programs have top-25 classes. Rivals.com thinks it was even worse – only three teams. Scout.com’s rankings. Rivals.com’s rankings.
Scout lists FSU as having the best class, but rates them at only #12 nationally. Rivals likes FSU’s class better – they have them at #3, but both services agree that no other ACC landed a premier haul.
Of particular interest is how mediocre NC State’s and Virginia’s classes are. Both schools had been recruiting well, but neither did well this year. Scout has State at #41 while Rivals puts them down at #56. Worse for the Pack, they came in well behind rival UNC (#25 and #30). Further accenting the disparity, Carolina landed 17 in-state recruits while State got only four. Four! Chuck Amato claims that’s because it was a down year in the state for talent, but you have to keep the local pipeline lubricated if you want long-term success.
It should be noted that Duke actually did fairly well. Their class is rated #40 and #55, in both cases, better than NC State’s.
The News & Observer has an overview along with a listing of each school’s classes here.


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