Members of the ASU football team come from all over the Grand Canyon State.
There are Sun Devils from Chandler, Mesa and Tempe. There are Sun Devils from Phoenix and Glendale. There are even three Sun Devils from UA's backyard, including highly touted freshman lineman Stephen Berg of Tucson Canyon del Oro High School.
"It's big, especially being a state school," ASU recruiting coordinator Tom Nordquist said. "You've got to take care of the home front. There are some good players around here, and we want the best players around to play for the Sun Devils."
Of the 104 players that participated in ASU's first practice, 37 hailed from Arizona high schools. Among the 45 high school players brought into the program by second-year Sun Devil head coach Dirk Koetter, 20 attended school in Arizona. Most of the Arizona graduates are on scholarship.
ASU currently has verbal commitments from two Arizona high school seniors. By comparison, UA has 36 instate players on its roster.
However, only 16 of them have been signed in the two years since head coach John Mackovic took over, and most of them are walk-ons that were not given scholarships. The contrast has led athletes to consider ASU as Arizona's team.
"I definitely think (ASU's success in recruiting Arizona) is a benefit," said Sun Devil freshman quarterback Chad Christensen of Scottsdale. "(High school football in) the state of Arizona has been improving, and ASU has really stepped up and taken control. After all, when you play for ASU, you're playing for the home team."
Of course, ASU hasn't been unbeatable instate. Several of the state's top prep players from the past two years chose to play out of state.
"I hope we can get every kid we go after, but you just aren't going to get all of them," Nordquist said. "We want to keep the best talent at home, but it's not just a home-state deal. We also need to go out of state to find top players. Even while we expand outside Arizona, I know we'll continue our success here."
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