Every Pac-12 team’s highest ranked recruit in school history
Every year, the topic of recruiting rankings comes up, and the same schools across the nation start to brag about where they rank annually, while others tend to claim that rankings don’t matter, and lobby for the importance of coaching and development instead.
In the end, both play a massive role in success. While some of the top players in the nation can struggle to reach their ceiling without proper coaching, even the best teachers in the nation may not reach the pinnacle of success without the most talented players to work with.
In the Pac-12, the Oregon Ducks have largely reigned supreme over the past decade when it came to recruiting rankings in the conference, though teams like USC and Washington have given respectable efforts over the years as well. Rather than look at recruiting rankings in the conference over the years, we wanted to take a step back and look at some of the top recruits that have played out west.
Which team has had the single best player or the single highest-rated recruit sign with their squad in the past 25 years?
We dug into the history books to find out.
Washington State Cougars — WR Michael Bumpus
Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © (2006) Jason Parkhurst
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 4-star (0.9693)
Recruiting Class: 2004
National Ranking: 82nd
Positional Ranking: 10th
Career Stats: 42 Games | 195 catches, 2,022 yards, 8 TD
Utah Utes — CB Clark Phillips III
Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 4-star (0.9744)
Recruiting Class: 2020
National Ranking: 51st
Positional Ranking: 6th
Career Stats: 31 Games | 110 tackles, 5 TFL, 1 sack, 9 INT
Arizona Wildcats — WR Tetairoa McMillan
Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 4-star (0.9779)
Recruiting Class: 2022
National Ranking: 51st
Positional Ranking: 5th
Career Stats: 12 Games | 39 catches, 702 yards, 8 TD
Oregon State Beavers — IOL Isaac Seumalo
Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9876)
Recruiting Class: 2012
National Ranking: 28th
Positional Ranking: 1st
Arizona State Sun Devils — LB Vontaze Burfict
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9935)
Recruiting Class: 2009
National Ranking: 11th
Positional Ranking: 2nd
Career Stats: 37 Games | 228 tackles, 22.5 TFT, 7 sacks, 1 INT
California Golden Bears — WR Keenan Allen
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9949)
Recruiting Class: 2010
National Ranking: 10th
Positional Ranking: 1st
Career Stats: 33 Games | 205 catches, 2,570 yards, 17 TD
Washington Huskies — LB Shaq Thompson
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9977)
Recruiting Class: 2012
National Ranking: 4th
Positional Ranking: 1st
Career Stats: 39 Games | 232 tackles, 15 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 5 INT
Stanford Cardinal — OT Kwame Harris
Tom Hauck/Allsport
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9978)
Recruiting Class: 2000
National Ranking: 6th
Positional Ranking: 1st
Colorado Buffaloes — RB Darrell Scott
(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9980)
Recruiting Class: 2008
National Ranking: 4th
Positional Ranking: 1st
Career Stats: 27 Games | 263 rushes, 1,252 yards, 6 TD
Oregon Ducks — EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9987)
Recruiting Class: 2019
National Ranking: 2nd
Positional Ranking: 2nd
Career Stats: 30 Games | 126 tackles, 35.5 TFL, 19 sacks
UCLA Bruins — EDGE Jaelan Phillips
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9988)
Recruiting Class: 2017
National Ranking: 1st
Positional Ranking: 1st
Career Stats: 20 Games | 86 tackles, 23.5 TFL, 12,5 sacks, 1 INT
USC Trojans — RB Joe McKnight
Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Recruiting Rating: 5-star (0.9997)
Recruiting Class: 2007
National Ranking: 1st
Positional Ranking: 1st
Career Stats: 36 Games | 347 carries, 2,213 yards, 13 TD
