Small-Town Values: Will Wade Blossom Into Latest Star From Obscure Town?

Last year, Northern Iowa's Seth Tuttle became the latest All-American from an obscure hometown (Sheffield, IA) with small population (1,168 according to 2013 census). Perhaps the most overlooked budding star attending a power-conference school from this season's freshman class is Kansas State center Dean Wade (St. John, KS; 1,250). St. John is half the size of Kimball, Neb., the hometown for South Dakota State's Mike Daum, the Summit League's MVP as a redshirt freshman.

But Tuttle and Wade aren't exactly from virgin territory. There have been a striking number of major-college All-Americans who came from even smaller outposts. Flyover-country hamlets offering little more than a part-time post office and gas station supplied the following standouts from municipalities with populations fewer than 1,000 (including a total of 10 "small-timers" in four-year span from 1955-56 through 1958-59):