Florida has long been a hotbed of high school football talent, and a new study conducted by the NCAA proves it.
The Sunshine State ranked first in the nation in the percentage of high school football players who have been recruited by Division I college programs, according to a study released Wednesday by the NCAAResearch Twitter account.
Nearly 10 percent of Florida’s high school football players between 2013 and 2016 were recruited by Division I schools, the study shows.
Former Wellington WR Ahmmon Richards, now at UM, was among many Florida high school football players recruited by Division I schools. (Allen Eyestone/Palm Beach Post)
Percentages were derived by the number of Division I football recruits from those years, divided by the number of boys football participants per state in 2015-16 as reported by the National Federation of State High School Football Associations.
Georgia was No. 2 at 8.6 percent, followed by Louisiana at 8.2 percent. The District of Columbia, Maryland, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina round out the top eight.
Palm Beach County has produced numerous Division I college football players in recent years, with many – like 2016 Wellington graduate Ahmmon Richards – making an immediate impact.
The UM wide receiver caught 49 passes for a team-leading 934 yards and three touchdowns last season, and was named a 2016 Freshman All-America.
