Weekly Word: Social Media In Recruiting

I'm sure recruits / prospects are worn out with people talking to them about how important it is to filter the content they put on their social media accounts. I get it, honestly, as I hear people talk about it all the time as well. However, I hear many of those same people issue broad-based warnings and statements, but I don't often hear them explain why it's important, or what specifically to be careful of. With this article, I wanted to take the time to point out several things you should do or stay away from, as well as point out a handful of things for parents to be cautious of with their own social media accounts, because in this day and age where the NCAA has continued to limit visibility, college coaches have very little time to truly get to know prospects. That means they are looking to get to know you through every avenue possible, especially through your social media accounts.   Prospect "Dos & Don'ts" What is acceptable social media "behavior"? What can you post? What can you retweet? What are college coaches specifically looking for? These are just a few questions that you need to understand the answers to. Below, I will address things I would do as a college prospect in today's world as we know it. - First things first...I would go into ALL of your social media accounts and review your tweets, retweets, posts, and pictures. Look for anything that you think might be at all be perceived as negative by a college and remove it IMMEDIATELY. If you are 50/50 about something and aren't sure, either ask an adult, or just take it down altogether. Items with racial connotations, sexual inappropriateness, domestic abuse, language, drugs, etc., all need to be removed. If you recall, a member of the Villanova Wildcats men's team had an outstanding National Championship Game. Shortly after, internet trolls scoured his social media accounts and found an inappropriate post he made when he was just starting high school around six or seven years ago. Unfortunately, while that specific player did post something negative a while ago, those people are out there who want to point out every flaw you have and try to make your lives as miserable as their own. - Understand that retweeting / reposting / liking / favoriting other people's stuff is just as important as posting your own content. The best example of this is a former grassroots player of mine. He had already given a verbal commitment to a Division-I school. I received a phone call from the head coach of the school he had committed to asking me to talk to him about things he had retweeted. Apparently the president of the university had gone online to see what kind of player the kid was because he was excited about getting to know someone who could help their team. Instead, this president saw retweets of rap lyrics that included language and other references. The president scolded the head coach who then contacted me. Please understand that these administrators want to know who you are and how you're going to represent their institutions once you are on campus. - When referencing your team, make sure you are NEVER tearing down a teammate or a coach publicly. We all have our opinions...a teammate could have played smarter, a coach could have made better adjustments, you could have played more minutes, whatever...just make sure that's discussed "behind closed doors" and not in the public's eye. If you're going to negatively discuss someone from your team publicly, how can a college coach trust you to act more mature once you get to their team? Also, publicly be a "we" person and a "team" person who is always discussing how "we" played not just how you yourself played. - If you want to report offers, that's perfectly fine. Keep it simple though, thank the school and / or coaching staff, and move on. However, please do NOT count your offers publicly. I have seen kids post "thankful to have received an offer from School-X...my 12th offer now." All that does is make coaches think you only care about how many offers you have and not about receiving the right offer for you. You don't want to be an offer "collector", and I have seen colleges drop kids quick for posts such as those. Also, be careful about "pinning" an offer tweet or highlighting a specific offer on any social media platform. It makes other schools who have offered you feel like that's your new favorite, or it keeps other schools from possibly offering you because you appear to have a frontrunner now. Understand that "pinning" a tweet can send the wrong message, even if you are just excited and don't intend to send that message. A lot of it comes down to how you are perceived, not necessarily what you truly mean. - Be very careful with posts about politics or religion. While they may not be a big deal to you yet, these are hotly debated topics, and many adults are passionate about these topics and will argue about them nonstop. Regardless of whether or not they engage into a conversation with you about them, you will be judged about political or religious posts, even if you meant them halfheartedly. - Lastly, just because you might have finished your recruiting and you have either verbally committed or signed with a school, you still need to monitor your content. You will now likely have fans from that school begin following you and wanting to know you as a person as well, and you don't want to send the wrong message before you even get on campus.   Parental "Dos & Don'ts" I've said this many times before, and I truly believe it, but parents can get kids crossed off college recruiting lists faster than kids get themselves crossed off. I hear a lot of parents make the excuse that "the school isn't recruiting me, they are recruiting my child." False. The school is recruiting the family. Programs that are successful want to know about the whole package, not just the prospect themselves. Below are some additional tips parents want to be aware of as it concerns their own social media content. - Just like it was stated above in reference to the prospects, make sure you never publicly criticize anyone else on the team, ESPECIALLY other players. Don't call out another teammate, a coach, or even officiating. Social media isn't a platform for you to complain...I mean, I guess it can be, but not as a prospect's parent. If you disrespect a member of your team, coach or player, at the grassroots or high school level, how are college coaches going to trust you will respect them down the road? - If you want to comment about your kid's team(s), make sure you shed positive light on another player or a coach when they make a good play, have a great game, or make good adjustments, even it you feel like it rarely happens. Show college coaches you are supportive of the team / program above your own child. - Just like prospects shouldn't be offer "collectors", parents shouldn't act like beat-writers and report every single statistic after each game. I'm not saying you can't be excited for your own kid...if they have 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists, that's understandable. Be happy for them and proud of them. But every time little Jenny has 6 points and 3 rebounds, that isn't an accomplishment that needs accented, unless they are playing 17U at 10-years old, or they had all of their arms and legs replaced due to a nuclear accident and are returning for the first time...I exaggerate for effect. We are all proud of the people closest to us, but highlight the great accomplishments and stay away from the "participation trophy" congratulations. - Be careful of who you "tag" in posts. I know of situations where parents have pointed out an offer or a statistical performance their kid had, and they "tagged" colleges who had not offered them yet, and in some cases who hadn't even recruited them, while completely ignoring schools who WERE actively recruiting them. I understand wanting to increase interest for your child, but what this does is turn off the schools who ARE actively recruiting that prospect and who have already offered them. I've seen offers get pulled because of these actions. I guess, simply put, publicly appreciate the interest / offers you do have, and don't publicly seek out additional interest. If you think a school should be recruiting your kid, contact them privately via phone or through email. - Lastly, and this is something I have asked college coaches about and gotten interesting feedback on, but let's eliminate all of the direct communication with your own kids through social media. There are things that should be kept at home. Having a public conversation through social media raises questions about why you aren't doing it face-to-face at home, or at least over the phone. And if you are doing that as well, then by making everything public it appears as if it's more of a "look at me" statement proving to everyone you're a good parent. Why do you need the public to validate you as a good parent? If you are a good parent, then trust that you are and continue doing it the right way. Parenting is often a thankless job, but when your social media posts turn into direct conversations with your own children, college coaches take notice.   Header photo of Madison Jones of Western Boone High School. Photo courtesy of weboathletics.com.