Monday, April 18, 2011

Leave the Recruiting to the Coaches

Such is the implicit warning in Dave Seminara's piece in today's New York Times Sports Section. The story, "A Recruit's Friend, a Team's Fan, And a Headache for Colleges," looks at Chris Grace's efforts to add something extra to Duke's recruitment efforts: a Facebook friend request. Grace, 30, tracks who Duke is recruiting, and sends these players friend requests on Facebook: "If they accept my friend request, I'll send them a message telling them how great it would be if they'd commit to Duke," Grace says in the story.

The problem is, according to Seminara's story, the NCAA only allows coaches to communicate with recruits via email, fax (does anyone fax other than to send in LOI?), or social networking sites. Alumni, fans, and boosters, however (either individually or in an organized group), are not permitted to contact a recruit for the purpose of enticing him to attend a particular university.

I won't regurgitate the entire story, but it's definitely worth a read. Chances are, if you're crazy enough to read this site, you might also be crazy enough to try and connect (read: stalk) a potential recruit. You've been warned.

2 comments:

Andrew Smith said...

That's why I only influence recruits by sending them threatening letters with the words cut out from magazines.

AD said...

The fax machine is the wave of the future. Paper through a telephone is more technologically fantastical than LOLcats on a wireless ipad.