The Social Athlete Bandwagon- The Impact of Social Media on Recruiting

by Jessica Cruz


With the growing popularity of social media, college recruiters look at the athlete’s Twitter and Facebook accounts to decide if the athlete is a right fit for the team. Sometimes athletes are not reminded enough of the fact that what they post or tweet online is public. Anyone can see them especially college recruiters and coaches so it is very important for these athletes to be careful of what they say online.

One athlete learned it the hard way when he posted vulgar and offensive tweets. His Twitter account was on private but someone took a screenshot of the tweets and was shown publicly. This athlete is Yuri Wright. He had scholarship offers from different institutes including Michigan, Notre Dame, USC and Alabama. Wright was pursuing to play for the Michigan Wolverines but was later pulled out of the scholarship after the tweets were posted. Luckily, Wright got a second chance and signed with Colorado.

Wright spoke with ESPN.com about his reflection on his social media experience. "Hopefully, other people will learn from what happened to me and make smarter choices,"

Wright has also gone social media free after the incident. "My days with social media are over, I promise. No more Twitter. No more Facebook.”

Sue Enquist, who is a college softball coach at UCLA, discussed in the following Youtube video about the importance of a student athlete’s personal brand.

“Although you may be having fun and you may have a wild social life. When it comes to college, (coaches) are looking for individuals that have their priorities straight. They’re looking for individuals that respect one another. So be really mindful of your own personal brand as a young high school athlete.” –Sue Enquist

 

Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffGzXTyMnc8#t=69

This shows that no matter how good you are at a sport it will not guarantee you a successful future if you abuse the use of social media.  

Kirpalani, Sanjay. (2013). How social Media Has Transformed College Football Recruiting. Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1731067-how-social-media-has-transformed-college-football-recruiting