Evin Demirel: Where Is The Arkansas Football Capital?

It’s no surprise Pulaski County, by far Arkansas’ most populous county, also happens to produce the most Division I players in the state. This played out yesterday when nine high schoolers in Pulaski County signed national letters of intent to play for D1 football programs. But when it comes to investing in a culture of football at all levels and producing D1 talent on a per capita basis, central Arkansas lags behind other parts of the state. And, no, this time we’re not talking about northwest Arkansas.

Look southward, toward the state line. Union County is home to the 6-3, 295-pound Bijhon Jackson. It’s no coincidence this four-star defensive tackle, the headliner of the Razorbacks’ most recent class, hails from El Dorado High in Union County. His program has not only won at a high clip – winning four state championships in the last five years – but it likely rivals North Little Rock High in producing the highest output of future D1 players among all Arkansas prep programs. By itself, Union County produces a state-high one Division I player for every 117 of its college-age males. Three of the county’s high school seniors signed on Wednesday, including Jackson.

“He’s really everything you want,” El Dorado coach Scott Reed told the El Dorado News-Times. “He’s intelligent. He’s explosive … He has great savvy. He understands the game. There are no limits on him.”

The same, sadly, cannot be said of county quotas when it comes to future D1 football players. But some Arkansas counties are still punching far above their weight. And to that, we here at Sporting Life Arkansas tip our helmets.

Here are Arkansas’ top D1 hotspots over the last few years:

1. Union County

D1 Players: 15

Population*: 1,754

Per Capita: 1 in 117

*Population reflects only college-age males residing in the county.

*Five classes are included in this calculation: the current four classes on college campus – including the college seniors who finished their career in 2013 – and the class of high school [HS] seniors who just signed. Sources: MODE and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.  

2. Cross County

D1 Players: 6

Population: 707

Per Capita: 1 in 118

3. Ouachita County

D1 Players: 7

Population: 1,042

Per Capita: 1 in 149

4. Jefferson County

D1 players: 22

Population: 4,150

Per Capita: 1 in 189

* All hometowns are taken from ESPN.com. They do not always reflect where the player has lived for most of his adolescence. Scotty Thurman Jr., for instance, spent much of his adolescence in Little Rock and Fayetteville.

How do some of the more populous counties fare? Here’s a breakdown among the big boys:

1. Crittenden

D1 Players: 10

Population: 2,198

Per Capita: 1 in 220

2. Pulaski

D1 Players: 39

Population: 18,031

Per Capita: 1 in 462

3. Sebastian

D1 Players: 11

Population: 6,080

Per Capita: 1 in 553

4. Washington

D1 Players: 27

Population: 15,029

Per Capita: 1 in 557

6.Garland

D1 Players: 6

Population: 3,945

Per Capita: 1 in 658

7. Benton

D1 Players: 12

Population: 9313

Per Capita:  1 in 776

9. Craighead

D1 Players: 6

Population: 6,252

Per Capita: 1 in 1,042

10. Faulkner

D1 Players: 6

Population: 8,736

Per Capita: 1 in 1456

11. Saline

D1 Players: 3

Population: 3,998

Per Capita: 1 in 1,333

Extra Notes 

– Per capita rankings include only counties with a minimum of four D1 players.

– Walk-ons are included (e.g. Smackover’s Ty Mullens, who’s walking on to Louisiana Tech)

–  Major h/t to Benn Stancil of MODE for the fascinating post which formed the basis for this one.

– Unfortunately, there is no easy access to historical data to help us discover which Arkansas county holds the all-time per capita record for D1 players. It would be interesting to see where Bradley County – which only has a college-age male population of 495, but produced the likes of Julius Wright and Greg Childs – would have ranked at its apex.

D.J. Demirel spins the historical sports data turntable all night long on Twitter and  thesportsseer.com.