Twitter, Recruits and Fans

[IndyIrishFan1]

I'm new to the IE boards so please forgive me if my board etiquette isn't up to par. I'll get there...

I came across something on Twitter regarding a recruit in town for camps and I wanted to share it with the board and hear some of the feedback:

Bryce Treggs (WR, CA) recently had this exchange with fans on Twitter:

(From a Cal Fan to Treggs) @BryceTreggs You and Kline can make magic at CAL. Please make it happen. Stay West young man. Forget the cold and bad weather of ND.

(ND Fan to Treggs) @BryceTreggs 40 years later the weather at a college will be long forgotten. But an ND degree will take you anywhere

(Treggs to ND Fan) @RobertCheney I agree 100% with that one. That's why #NotreDame is still one of my top choices.

(ND Fan to Treggs) @BryceTreggs wish you the best whatever decision you make. Best of luck with the recruiting process.

I would like to hear what everyone thinks of these interactions between recruits and fans. Personally, exchanges like this one help ND.

Go Irish!

 

[TerryTate]

These kids love twitter, they love hearing from the fans, and if ND fans would act like that one, we would be in good shape.

Thanks for the posts. This is a good conversation, we have lots of twitter-happy people here

Welcome

 

[BeauBenken]

First off, welcome aboard. Always good to have new posters.

Second, I'd agree. Positive, intellectual exchanges between fans and a recruit like the one above can be somewhat beneficial. To what degree? I'm not quite sure. So truly, interactions may or may not be worth the risk.

 

[GreatGolson]

seems fine to me, keep it suportive and positive, the recruits love attention from fans

 

[military_irish]

I am on my phone so I can not post a link to the other thread debating the Twitter/Facebook thing. But it has been talked about at lengths some like it some don't. In this case it seemed to help but that is just one of the good and polite fans. Some are not that kind.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I agree that tweets from ND fans like the one you posted probably don't hurt us; they may even help in some situations.

While the Irish fan base seems to be much less obnoxious about it than most, we do have some creepers who reach out to prospective recruits far too frequently and in unhelpful ways.

I'm personally not comfortable reaching out to prospective recruits, but I'll happily chew out an alleged ND fan for being creepy or aggressive with these kids. It's hard to catch though, since you have to watch the actual twitter pages (not your own feed) for each prospective recruit.

IMHO keeping the creepers in check is probably more helpful than being one of the few good guys.

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

If someone can remain respectful and intelligent it is alright, but that is a huge "IF". Personally, even posts like the example above are still a little creepy to me. If the person has a previous tie to that recruit - like they went to your high school - then I can understand it more. Or if you are more of a peer in the same general age range it is also more understandable.

If a grown man in his 30's or 40's contacts these young men just because they are thinking about coming to the university they follow has a weirdness to it. That is just my feelings. I don't begrudge anyone that wants to do it, I just happen to think it is a little strange.

 

[beryirish]

That's the thing with recruiting these days....a lot of the fans try to do it too. They are fans though...they just want to get good players on their team so they can have a better chance of winning to make their Saturday's that much more fun.

I follow some high prospects to hear what they have to say....it really is starting to get to be too much because they tweet about nothing constantly it drives you nuts. But sometimes you get a good tweet and I usually post it on the board just to get feedback or spark conversation.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Twitter is more acceptable than Facebook since it's less personal in general. Things like these are fine, but anything not completely positive is creepy and wrong.

 

[IndyIrishFan1]

For those of you on Twitter may I suggest following Ryan Grooms (Equipment Manager)? Ryan will often answer your questions and is always willing to post a few "insider" pictures.

@NDFBEquipment - I have had a lot of request to do a video tour of the Equ room, we will, but here is a pic for now

Lockerz.com .:. Ryan Grooms's Photos -

 

[IrishBlood81]

For those of you on Twitter may I suggest following Ryan Grooms (Equipment Manager)? Ryan will often answer your questions and is always willing to post a few "insider" pictures.

@NDFBEquipment - I have had a lot of request to do a video tour of the Equ room, we will, but here is a pic for now

Lockerz.com .:. Ryan Grooms's Photos -

thanks! Will follow. I got all the ND guys on my Twitter . they reply sometimes

 

[rikkitikki08]

Twitter can be good just like any social networking site....but also just like any other it has its dark sides

 

[TheTurningPoint]

Twitter is interesting. Its like the new internet to a point. News is being broke on twitter before websites or actual tv.

I know a few recruits have used twitter to announce their verbal. Its a great tool bc its very accessible on phones, and a little more invasive compared to facebook.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

I am on my phone so I can not post a link to the other thread debating the Twitter/Facebook thing. But it has been talked about at lengths some like it some don't. In this case it seemed to help but that is just one of the good and polite fans. Some are not that kind.

If they don't like it, then DON'T HAVE A GD TWITTER ACCOUNT! It makes me sick that every person under 25 these days thinks they have to use all these social networking tools, then complain when their privacy is compromised.

*Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine

 

[DANsanity15]

I think it can be useful...it just bothers me if people harrass the recruits...i mean honestly i might send them a tweet or two during the entire recruiting process just to put a good word in lol...i actually have a friend at purdue who texted a 2014 bball recruit because his # was on twitter..my friend acted like Robbie Hummel....the kid committed to IU a week later...

 

[jdailey1981]

I am looking to follow some myself. I follow coach Kelly. My twitter (@jdailey1981) is usually pretty active as of late, more than Facebook.

 

[ToledoGoIrish]

I absolutely HATE when i'd see ANY teams fan on some kids FB/Twitter thinking they can single-handedly sway a kid or are just obnoxious towards other schools. Not to mention ppl ACTUALLY do impersonate RIVAL schools and act like assh0les to get them to not like the school as much. Its a shame, most high school kids create them networking sites to talk to friends and have fun. Not be recruited on it.


I have my middle name set as "Go Irish" on my facebook, so when in the past adding yet to be recruits (lynch tuitt counsell Ishaq etc.) i can just pretty much say "dude your a beast, best of luck w/ your college future" ... Kinda skip all the "hey you need to go to ND because blah this and blah that". keep it simple. ive got replies back from some actually saying thank you for the "kind" words.
the go irish implies recognition of the ND fan base w/o the obnoxiousness and downright begging them to join up

 

[BGIF]

I'm new to the IE boards so please forgive me if my board etiquette isn't up to par. I'll get there...

I came across something on Twitter regarding a recruit in town for camps and I wanted to share it with the board and hear some of the feedback:

Bryce Treggs (WR, CA) recently had this exchange with fans on Twitter:

(From a Cal Fan to Treggs) @BryceTreggs You and Kline can make magic at CAL. Please make it happen. Stay West young man. Forget the cold and bad weather of ND.

(ND Fan to Treggs) @BryceTreggs 40 years later the weather at a college will be long forgotten. But an ND degree will take you anywhere

(Treggs to ND Fan) @RobertCheney I agree 100% with that one. That's why #NotreDame is still one of my top choices.

(ND Fan to Treggs) @BryceTreggs wish you the best whatever decision you make. Best of luck with the recruiting process.

I would like to hear what everyone thinks of these interactions between recruits and fans. Personally, exchanges like this one help ND.

Go Irish!

And technically are recruiting violations. Only the coaches can recruit per NCAA regs. The support staff isn't allowed to say those things to recruits. And neither can boosters. If you ever bought a ticket or ND gear the NCAA considers you a booster.

No, the NCAA has not come down on anybody to my knowlege over twitter (or facebook) because I don't think they know quite what to do with it or how to monitor it. It took them awhile before they put in regulations on texting. At least two schools (Kentucky and somebody) have gotten in trouble for fan recruiting over internet message boards. When I was a moderator on the Irish Recruiting Journal 15 years ago we contacted the ND NCAA Compliance Officer for a description of what was permissable and what isn't. Essentially everything wasn't.

When Shaun Cody was being recruited his dad contacted Joey Getherall's dad. They live in the same town but went to different high schools. Joey dad, Joe, contacted ND Compliance as the player's parents had been cautioned about inappropriate contact. Joe got a list of dos and don'ts. They could take about classwork, the availability of tutors, practice schedules, dormlife but they couldn't discuss the ND's academic rating, the 40 year mistake and things along that line because those are recruiting issues. It sounds bizarre but the rules all come about because of abuses by coaches like Neuheisel, Kiffin, and Saban who constantly push the envelope.

Again about 15 years ago ND was recruiting a kid out of private school in Tennessee. They were neck and neck with UTN. A night or two before NSD the kid got a call from the Governor of Tennessee. He was impressed and commited to UTN. It was a recruiting violation. The Governor of a state institution is on the board. Fulmer said, "whoops are bad. Secondary violation".

Regardless of what we here may think is reasonable, it's the NCAA's rules that matter. If you really what to know, contact the ND Compliance Officer directly. Call the UND switchboard they'll connect you. I suspect you will hear, "no contact is appropriate unless you have a long standing relationsip with the recruit PRIOR to his recruitment". Our poster, Dayne goes to the same HS as one of our current verbals. But they really don't have an "NCAA relationship". IF Dayne now goes and starts one (who wouldn't) and meets the NCAA definition of a booster (Kim Dunbar was considered an ND booster by the NCAA for a $25 charge for the gameweek luncheon) it would be an ND recruiting violation.