The first week of releasing the Hot 100 list for the 2016 class means the players ranked 51 through 100 have been revealed.

Obviously, you’ll this week who makes the Top 50 of the list and there may be some surprises. For example, four players in the spots 1-50 are still uncommitted, somewhat unusual for today’s early recruiting picture, but just goes to show that not all bluechippers are off the board by this point.

Prior to the posting of the rest of the standout players, I thought it would be fun to look at some trends we’ve seen so far at this halfway point…

… for example:

 

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*** Colleges who are already making a big impression include:

• Arizona State (4 players committed)
• Georgia (4)
• Arizona (3)
• 5 schools with two players

*** You don’t have to be going to a so-called “big-name” program or belong to a major conference to make the list either.

Here are some of the universities who have a player in the 51-100 spots of the Hot 100:

• East Carolina
• George Washington
• Georgia Southern
• Louisiana Lafayette
• South Alabama
• South Florida
• Texas-San Antonio

*** Several club organizations – meaning not just one team but can be several squads –have multiple players listed already and many are in the South/Southeast.

Here’s the list of all who have three (3) or more players who’ve made the first 50 cut:

• Birmingham Thunderbolts (4)
• Georgia Impact (4)
• Corona Angels (3)
• Explosion (3)
• NC Lady Lightning (3)
• So Cal A’s (3)

*** When you think states that produce talent, California is obviously dominant again, leading the first 50 players listed with 16.

The list so far goes like this:

• California (16)
• Georgia (8)
• Texas (6)
• Alabama (4)
• Illinois (2)
• Virginia (2)

*** What’s interesting, even surprising, is that states that usually have strong talent—like Arizona, Florida and North Carolina, for example—only have one player listed… so far!

*** The first half of the 2016 Hot 100 has a pretty good representation of different states with 18 having at least one player included.

Here’s the list: Ala., Ariz, Calif., Fla., Ga., Ia., Ill., Kan., La., Mo, N.C., N.J., Okla., Pa., Tenn., Texas, Va. and West Va.

*** Let’s end on a fun note… here are some first name observations:

— there are already three players with a variation on the name “Alex” (Alex, Alexee and Alexis)
— also a “Kaitlin” and a “Kaitlyn” as well as a “Kendal” and a “Kendyl”
— a trio of potential “Maddi’s:” Maddi, Maddison and Madison
— we also have some cool descriptive names that evoke happy thoughts “Heaven” and “Justice” as well as the probable day of birth in “Tuesday” and hopefully a name NOT indicative of the players habits in class: “Gabby.”