This is perhaps the most overblown faux excuse of them all. First of all a "recruiting region" is not defined by state boarders, rather it is it's proximity to where recruits live. Kentucky is in close proximity to the metro areas of Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus and Nashville and is attractive to quality players from Northern Ohio, Michigan and other locations for kids wanting to play in the SEC. Recruiting is no longer about getting all the local kids who want to go to "state U", that went out with dial phones, and VCRs. In the information age universities are looking nationwide for certain type of players and players are comparing staffs, offense/defense types, early PT opportunities etc. and both have the technical tools to conduct such broad and deep searches and analysis. Look at the recruiting classes of the so-called talent rich states. Half or more of their classes are from kids from out of state. And if in-state recruiting is such a big factor in program success why is a team like UofL which exists in Kentucky beating teams like Miami from the so-called talent rich states?
It's just a tired old excuse that to a large degree has been disproven by Stoops by landing top 25ish classes several years, something the nay sayers said 10 years ago would never be possible. Now their trying to put another artificial ceiling on recruiting again with the same ole lazy thinking.
End of rant 😁