From the Lowcountry to the Midlands to the Upstate, South Carolina is fertile ground for football players.

Georgia doesn't import recruits from the Palmetto State in droves, but the players it does pluck away from Clemson and South Carolina typically make an impact.

"We've never had a lot of total numbers, but the question is, 'Do you go across the Savannah River to sign a player that's going to pick splinters out of his rear end, that's going be a bench warmer?' " said Georgia defensive ends coach Jon Fabris, who recruits the state. "You can go down the road 25 miles from here and have people happy that he's signing with the home state."

Three of Georgia's top draft picks in the past five NFL Drafts hail from South Carolina: defensive end Marcus Howard from Huger (fifth round, Colts, 2008); cornerback Tim Jennings from Orangeburg (second round, Colts, 2006); and tight end Ben Watson (first round, Patriots, 2004) from Rock Hill, who transferred from Duke.

Freshman receiver A.J. Green, who is from Summerville, S.C., could develop into an elite NFL prospect in the 2011 or 2012 draft.

Perhaps more impressive is that every Georgia player signed from South Carolina since Mark Richt arrived at Georgia has started for the Bulldogs except two sidelined by injury.

In addition to Howard and Jennings, Georgia's South Carolina pipeline includes Cincinnati Bengal Robert Geathers (Georgetown) and Bulldogs safety CJ Byrd (North Augusta) and cornerback Prince Miller (Duncan).

"I knew about those guys coming into Georgia," Miller said. "They didn't sway me one way or the other. ... I think most importantly my family liked and I like that Georgia is a winning program."

Safety Antavious Coates (Greenwood) had to give up football after three knee surgeries, and linebacker Charles White (Columbia), a 2007 signee, redshirted last season and is out for this season with a ruptured Achilles.

"Every guy we've taken from there has been productive for us, and that's what you hope for," Richt said. "You hope that you land guys outside of your state, guys that you couldn't get in your state on any given year."

South Carolina is the 11th smallest state in the nation in land area, but it produced 53 players on 2007 NFL rosters, tied for seventh in the U.S., according to data compiled by USA Football. That trailed only California (209), Texas (184), Florida (178), Ohio (92), Georgia (77) and Louisiana (71).

All of those states, except for Louisiana, are among the nine most populous in the nation, according to the U.S. Census. South Carolina is 24th with 4.32 million -- less than the population of metro Atlanta -- and Louisiana is 25th with 4.28 million.

"There's no question that Georgia and Florida out-recruit most all other schools as far as players in their state," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. "What we need to do is do a better job of keeping our in-state players here and to do that we need to win consistently a little better than we've done."

Fabris said he tries not to spend too much time recruiting a player who has strong ties to Clemson or South Carolina.

"It's a two-way street," Fabris said. "Maybe he just wants to get away from home. It's got to be the right fit for everyone."

Green grew up in the part of the state where there are plenty of Gamecocks fans, but he visited Georgia during his sophomore season after telling his coaches that he liked the Bulldogs and their colors.

"I told them this is the place that I wanted to go," Green said. "They never preach football. They preach life after football, and that's pretty unusual."

Green committed in October of his junior season. Spurrier never took a home visit. Richt said Green felt a comfort level with the program that he didn't feel at Clemson or South Carolina.

"That's where he wanted to go and that's where he is," Spurrier said. "Some players like a school for whatever reason and that's where they're going to go. It doesn't matter how much recruiting you want to do with him."

Reach Marc Weiszer at marc.weiszer@onlineathens.com.