College Football Recruiting 2011: The Top 10 Twitter Accounts To Follow

There was once a time when college football recruiting news was an after thought. Then it evolved into an interest with a few newsletters around the country and newspaper coverage on signing day. Then with the Internet evolving, websites and message boards afforded college football recruiting news to develop into an industry.

With social media being so important for an array different means, Twitter has grown into being among the very most popular in social media communication. College football recruiting news has crossed into Twitter and there are some very good accounts for which die hard fans should follow for the latest news.

Here are the top 10 Twitter accounts to follow for college football recruiting news.

10. Chris Pool: Midwest/ESPNU

Pool has been covering football recruiting for 15 years and mainly focuses his coverage on Midwest prospects.

His work can be seen on ESPN.com for whom he writes and blogs on prospects, scouting reports, and latest news from the Midwest.

Account: http://twitter.com/Chris_Pool

9. Brandon Huffman: West/Scout

Working for Scout.com, Brandon Huffman has established himself as one of the premier go-to guys for college football news, not only on the west coast but also nationally.

Huffman is in his sixth year as the regional manager at Scout, and also has college coaching experience as well.

Account: http://twitter.com/brandonhuffman

8. Chris Nee: Rivals/Florida

We have Nee ranked this high because he efficiently covers one of the top three hot bed states in recruiting: Florida.

Nee writes for Rivals and his account has over 2300 followers, in which he very frequently tweets updates on prospects from all over the Sunshine State.

Account: http://twitter.com/RivalsCNee

7. Tom Lemming: CBS/National

Lemming has been considered the "original" recruiting guru and is based out of Chicago. He travels non-stop to see prospects and has been the go to guy for the Army game in the recent years.

Though he's drawn some criticism for his alleged steering of recruits to Notre Dame, Lemming is a very well respected analyst who's account should be a favorite as signing day draws near.

Account: http://twitter.com/LemmingReport

6. Barton Simmons: 24/7 Sports

Simmons bolted from the Rivals family to the upstart 24/7 Sports to cover recruiting news on a national front.

He's always up to date on the latest news, visits, commitments, and he usually gets his info directly from the players.

Account: http://twitter.com/bartonsimmons

5. Bob Lichtenfels: Scout/Midwest

Lichtenfels has a young Twitter account, yet he is not green when it comes to recruiting news experience. In his eight years at Scout, he handles the Midwest portion and also is very potent on the national scene.

He goes directly to the players for information and also is a very respected evaluator of talent, something that many so called experts are questioned on.

Account: http://twitter.com/BobLichtenfels

4. Jamie Newberg: ESPN/National

Newberg is a very recognized name in the industry and was a coup for ESPN to get to help cover football recruiting.

Based out of St. Petersburg, Florida he has worked with Scout, Rivals, and has done countless radio segments and TV shows from around the country for his expert analysis breaking down recruiting news.

Account: http://twitter.com/JNewbergESPN

3. JC Shurburtt: 24/7 Sports

Shurbutt is a nationally recognized name that has been in the recruiting news industry since it's inception.

He's very respected, informed and has worked for both Rivals and ESPN. His account currently has nearly 3500 followers.

Account: http://twitter.com/jcshurburtt

2. Mike Farrell: Rivals/National

Farrell is the go to guy for Rivals, one of the biggest recruiting news pillars in the industry. Rivals was among the very first and immensely popular sites for recruiting news on the Internet.

He keeps his account active with constant updates and tweets and is a great source for recruiting news and information for your favorite program.

Account: http://twitter.com/rivalsmike

1. Jeremy Crabtree: ESPN/National

Crabtree takes the top spot and is the senior recruiting coordinator for ESPN, which has put a firm stake in the recruiting industry.

He's got over 3200 followers and his account is a must-follow for the biggest news and updates on prospects from all over the country.

Account: http://twitter.com/JeremyCrabtree