This article is about a college football recruit at Penn State but applys to lacrosse players and all athletes involved in the recruiting process. We live in an age of shared information and you must be very careful with what you put out there.
Article from PENNLIVE.COM with video after the jump.
FROM PENNLIVE.COM
Penn State assistant Herb Hand says Nittany Lions 'dropped' prospect over social media presence
Penn State's coaching staff has brought the program into the 21st century, in terms of using technology to share their exploits, spread their message and interact with fans. Offensive line coach Herb Hand has quickly blossomed into a Twitter star with a youthful approach to his 19,000-plus followers.
Naturally, Hand is a proponent of proper social media use and is able to use those platforms -- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram -- to keep tabs on players and prospective recruits. Today, Hand caused a brief stir with a comment he made about a potential recruit, saying the Nittany Lions dropped their interest in him because of his presence on social media.
It's a lesson that recruiting analysts have been preaching for some time. Social media profiles can be deal-breakers for college programs who can use comments, retweets, photos, language and other factors as another tool for gauging potential risk in a student-athlete.
Hand's comments were mentioned on the Dan Patrick Show this morning. Patrick has been beating the social media drum this week and is currently fielding votes on the show's website to the poll question, "If you were a college football coach, would you ban players from using social media?"
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer addressed the topic on Patrick's show yesterday and talked about the Buckeyes' increased effort in monitoring the social media feeds of both current players and recruits.
"The evolution of social media and just so many people out there trying to get information out of you," Meyer said. "That's a topic when coaches get together all the time. You want to protect your players. You want to make sure they keep it on football because if someone says something that maybe gets taken out of context, and that just distracts your team. That topic comes up every year.
"I have a full-time staff member, that's part of his player relations is watch that social media, keep an eye on it. ... We get a social profile of any player we recruit now. If there's any chance of a red flag, we'll put together several pages of pictures and copy, a lot of the social media profiles of players, and see what they're doing."
Social media is an opportunity that comes with huge risks, particularly for the nation's best high school football players. Love pours in when things are going well, but hate is a factor when poor choices are made or a player spurns one fan base for another. The nature of the "speak first, think later" platforms have gotten even seasoned professionals in trouble.
But college and NFL coaches are increasing their efforts to get out in front of social trends. At the end of the day, for big-time recruits, that means at least one thing: They're watching you.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer addressed the topic on Patrick's show yesterday and talked about the Buckeyes' increased effort in monitoring the social media feeds of both current players and recruits.lacrosse recruiting
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