College Fans Contacting Recruits on Social Media: STOP IT!!!!!!!!

[baggerbob]

Booster to me --has always meant someone who; usually is an alum, gives or assist in the giving of large sums of money.

A number of years ago the Arkansas football team had a nice kid, very talented, that the local utility gave a non existent job and a car to. Lots of talk, lots of smoke,
but to my memory nothing happened to the nice kid or UArk.

So with all the huff an puff of the NCAA--what school/university been sanctioned; kept from post season or recruiting because a fan contacted a potential recruit via Social media.
Geno/Christine's holding of Social Media during season is designed to keep the kid or the team from getting into some --TV media circus..

If you ever buy season tickets, they consider you a booster, so just about everyone according to the NCAA is a booster. Another one of the thousands of idiotic rules the NCAA has, as Jay Bilas has said the rule-book needs to be burned, and start over.

 

[BroadwayVa]

If you ever buy season tickets, they consider you a booster, so just about everyone according to the NCAA is a booster. Another one of the thousands of idiotic rules the NCAA has, as Jay Bilas has said the rule-book needs to be burned, and start over.

I said to me what a booster meant--and it still does. If the NCAA in their list of word meanings defines Booster that way--that's ok and those that buy season tickets (because they pay a fee to the University beyond that fee (called a donation to make you some level depending upon the "donation" paid) for good seats) that almost meets my definition. Booster it would appear means some one who boost (not the street meaning of boosting) big money in the athletic department coffers.

 

[BigBird]

Sign of the times, I guess. Social media contact is a violation, but UNC fabricating bogus credit hours for athletes mostly isn't. Social media can be regulated by the NCAA (it supposes), but "institutional control" is beyond control. Got it.

So let me give it a last try. I have edited out the illegal bits. I think.

Hey ________, you should come and play basketball here at ____! We have the best coach in the known universe, coach _______ . Our team really IS a team, and plays like it. You will become the best player you can be, and you will graduate with a quality degree. We won't promise you a national championship, but if you work hard, you will have a real shot at one. Do you know what your friends will say then? Wow, _______, that is just _____ amazing! Gee, twelve of 'em!

There. I think that disguises things sufficiently.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I would say for UConn fans not to take any chances since the NCAA will jump all over us at the slightest sign of a violation. Whether that's from coach having an inadvertent five minute phone conversation with a 7th grade baseball player or failing to meet an academic standard during a season when said academic standard didn't yet exist, or now a random fan tweeting a potential recruit. If you see a girl playing basketball, don't look at her, certainly don't talk to or message her on social media, just simply run the hell away as fast as your legs can take you to avoid any appearance of booster tampering or impropriety. The way some of these rules are written are vague and open to interpretation, and the only interpretation that matters is the one by the NCAA COI whose definitions of punishable infraction and severity are a function of the school in question.

 

[Zorro]

Isn't it the height of egotistical presumption to think that a teen-aged girl who is good enough at the sport to be sought after by major basketball powers could have her decision swayed by a dumb-ass tweet? I mean, c'mon! Migawd, they KNOW that UConn has won 11 NCs including the last four. They KNOW the situations at Duke and UT and everywhere else! I am betting that they read fan boards and form their own conclusions. The whole thing is silly to the max, with no possible positive results and some posssible, if unlikely, negative ones. Sheesh! Grow a brain!

 

[meyers7]

I am betting that they read fan boards and form their own conclusions.

Heaven help us.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Isn't it the height of egotistical presumption to think that a teen-aged girl who is good enough at the sport to be sought after by major basketball powers could have her decision swayed by a dumb-ass tweet? I mean, c'mon! Migawd, they KNOW that UConn has won 11 NCs including the last four. They KNOW the situations at Duke and UT and everywhere else! I am betting that they read fan boards and form their own conclusions. The whole thing is silly to the max, with no possible positive results and some posssible, if unlikely, negative ones. Sheesh! Grow a brain!

that's why people should leave them alone cause they look "creepy" bothering them knowing that it will have no effect. #strangerdanger

 

[bags27]

I would say for UConn fans not to take any chances since the NCAA will jump all over us at the slightest sign of a violation. Whether that's from coach having an inadvertent five minute phone conversation with a 7th grade baseball player

What made this even more ridiculous is that it wasn't "inadvertent": Geno first cleared it with UConn's NCAA compliance person!

I dunno. I recently happened onto a twitter account (clicked on someone's link, didn't "follow" her) of a 16 year old who just tweeted that she had limited her potential schools, and saw how many alums/fans from those schools tweeted her encouragement. I think, frankly, no one has/could have control of this anymore. For a number of reasons, I really dislike everything about young people representing themselves this way on social media and older people responding. I agree with DaddyChoc: it is creepy and a lot of other things, too. But liking/disliking is one thing; controlling it seems no longer possible, and I don't know how the NCAA can possibly enforce compliance.

 

[CajunHusky]

What made this even more ridiculous is that it wasn't "inadvertent": Geno first cleared it with UConn's NCAA compliance person!

I dunno. I recently happened onto a twitter account (clicked on someone's link, didn't "follow" her) of a 16 year old who just tweeted that she had limited her potential schools, and saw how many alums/fans from those schools tweeted her encouragement. I think, frankly, no one has/could have control of this anymore. For a number of reasons, I really dislike everything about young people representing themselves this way on social media and older people responding. I agree with DaddyChoc: it is creepy and a lot of other things, too. But liking/disliking is one thing; controlling it seems no longer possible, and I don't know how the NCAA can possibly enforce compliance.

Actually Geno called someone else not aware that the player was there and that person put the player on the phone without Geno asking to talk to her.

 

[CajunHusky]

Heaven help us.

the SEC complaint way back when was almost entirely based on Boneyard comments.

 

[bags27]

Actually Geno called someone else not aware that the player was there and that person put the player on the phone without Geno asking to talk to her.

This is what I remember:
"Over the last 24 hours, the University of Connecticut, the American Athletic Conference and the NCAA have been working together to determine whether a violation occurred when head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma spoke with Mo'ne Davis over the phone during the 2014 Little League World Series," Manuel said in a statement. "The NCAA has determined a secondary rules violation of bylaw 13.1.3.1 did occur and while UConn accepts this decision, we do not agree with it.

"Prior to attempting to reach Davis, Coach Auriemma checked with the UConn compliance department and was advised such a call would be permissible since Davis is not considered a prospective student-athlete by the NCAA and the call was to be congratulatory rather than recruiting in nature.
NCAA Hits UConn With Violation For Geno's Call To Mo'ne Davis

 

[BroadwayVa]

Isn't it the height of egotistical presumption to think that a teen-aged girl who is good enough at the sport to be sought after by major basketball powers could have her decision swayed by a dumb-ass tweet? I mean, c'mon! Migawd, they KNOW that UConn has won 11 NCs including the last four. They KNOW the situations at Duke and UT and everywhere else! I am betting that they read fan boards and form their own conclusions. The whole thing is silly to the max, with no possible positive results and some posssible, if unlikely, negative ones. Sheesh! Grow a brain!

I raised a bunch of teenaged daughter (and I escaped unscathed) Now all professional from pretty fair Universities. They are intelligent. But to have expected them to know what's happening in NC--and a few were involved with WBB-gives them too much credit. They actually had very busy lives out side of sports or academia.
But I'd bet a buffalo nickle that if you as a Uconn fan contacted them about going to Uconn it would seriously inflate their egos and probably drive them to make wrong choices.

 

[BigBird]

This is what I remember:
"Over the last 24 hours, the University of Connecticut, the American Athletic Conference and the NCAA have been working together to determine whether a violation occurred when head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma spoke with Mo'ne Davis over the phone during the 2014 Little League World Series," Manuel said in a statement. "The NCAA has determined a secondary rules violation of bylaw 13.1.3.1 did occur and while UConn accepts this decision, we do not agree with it.

"Prior to attempting to reach Davis, Coach Auriemma checked with the UConn compliance department and was advised such a call would be permissible since Davis is not considered a prospective student-athlete by the NCAA and the call was to be congratulatory rather than recruiting in nature.
NCAA Hits UConn With Violation For Geno's Call To Mo'ne Davis

Of all the many asinine things the NCAA has done, this one belongs on the top shelf in their pantheon of stupidity.

 

[Carnac]

A lot of interesting dialog here. I think the best thing a recruit can do is get off of social media......completely. Unfortunately, for most of them, it's part of their social being and personality. Most of them don't feel they could live without it. I would guess the percentage of teenagers that have cellphones, and indulge in at least one (usually several) social media outlet is very high, like 95-98%.

It's interesting that there are fans, boosters or whatever you want to call them, think that they can persuade a recruit to go to a particular college or university by bombarding them with tweets, etc. I would not be surprised if a recruit was turned off by the constant barrage of said tweeters, boosters, etc., that become down right obnoxious.

You don't miss something you never had. I don't do social media, and life is good!!! I know I'm missing out on a lot of news and information, but that's OK.
I don't have " the need to know" mind set. I'm a Trekkie, but I would never dress up (like a character), and go to a science fiction convention.

No disrespect to those that do. I'm too old for that. I love Star Wars and Star Trek, but not THAT much. I joined face book (under an assumed name of course) so that I could sign-on to various chat rooms. Believe it or not, but Carnac is not my real name. LOL Just a name/character I chose because I realized I could have some fun with it!

I visit the boneyard daily for entertainment and information only, and because I get news about the UConn women's program here I can't/won't get anywhere else.
The UConn women's basketball program is NEVER mentioned out here in the Southern California media market by any of the local outlets.

This is UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans country, especially in football. We have a lot of small state colleges and universities in the southland. These two are the only MAJOR universities in the area that are recognized nationally. Now that the Rams are back (yeaaa!!), We have a professional franchise in every major sport. Unfortunately, the UCLA & USC women's basketball programs get very little media attention, very little. The men's programs get the bulk of media coverage.

 

[Checkmate]

Of all the many asinine things the NCAA has done, this one belongs on the top shelf in their pantheon of stupidity.

true, is the NCAA going to investigate BigBird, find his or her IP address, try to determine the actual name of the poster, then go through every list of booster club donations , only to find out they are not associated with the school they are promoting

I think not

 

[Charliebball]

true, is the NCAA going to investigate BigBird, find his or her IP address, try to determine the actual name of the poster, then go through every list of booster club donations , only to find out they are not associated with the school they are promoting

I think not

I wonder, is Big Bird a Louisville Cardinal or a South Carolina Gamecock booster?

 

[DaddyChoc]

You don't miss something you never had. I don't do social media, and life is good!!! I know I'm missing out on a lot of news and information, but that's OK.
I don't have " the need to know" mind set. I'm a Trekkie, but I would never dress up (like a character), and go to a science fiction convention.

No disrespect to those that do. I'm too old for that. I love Star Wars and Star Trek, but not THAT much. I joined face book (under an assumed name of course) so that I could sign-on to various chat rooms. Believe it or not, but Carnac is not my real name. LOL Just a name/character I chose because I realized I could have some fun with it!

I visit the boneyard daily for entertainment and information only, and because I get news about the UConn women's program here I can't/won't get anywhere else.
The UConn women's basketball program is NEVER mentioned out here in the Southern California media market by any of the local outlets.

I think the Boneyard logo can be added to the picture below... you can easily say "message boards" are social media, they all do the same thing. (create profile, post topics, share info, post pics, share videos, "like" comments etc.)

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

true, is the NCAA going to investigate BigBird, find his or her IP address, try to determine the actual name of the poster, then go through every list of booster club donations , only to find out they are not associated with the school they are promoting

I think not

The NCAA doesn't punish the individual, they punish the university.

The university, when possible, tries to find and punish the individual. At the very least, advise the individual to cease whatever they are doing. And yes, I know of a few minor incidents; interestingly, what they were followed with was a "lecture" from compliance to the fans, either at a fan club meeting or by e-mail to season ticket holders / donors.

 

[Carnac]

I think the Boneyard logo can be added to the picture below... you can easily say "message boards" are social media, they all do the same thing. (create profile, post topics, share info, post pics, share videos, "like" comments etc.)

Yes, I guess you could add the BY logo. I don't do any of those. The "Boneyard" is the only message board I frequent. I have a life. I don't really have the time/interest to troll other boards.

 

[DaddyChoc]

tweets from Twitter, videos from YouTube... posted here all fall "social media" #access #view #read

just my opinion

everyone has a life, a simple comfortable life allows you to "troll" the World Wide Web... it ok to be apart of "social media" its not a crime

emails, newspapers are under MY umbrella as social media IMO

we eat, sleep, take showers, watch tv, walk the dogs, bathe our elderly parents, paint the basement etc..... and still have "time" to be "social"

nice chatting with you buddy, Go Huskies

 

[Checkmate]

The NCAA doesn't punish the individual, they punish the university.

The university, when possible, tries to find and punish the individual. At the very least, advise the individual to cease whatever they are doing. And yes, I know of a few minor incidents; interestingly, what they were followed with was a "lecture" from compliance to the fans, either at a fan club meeting or by e-mail to season ticket holders / donors.

Again, identifying the poster is not easy. The NCAA cannot punish anyone until they identify the culprit . If someone says go to a school, they are not necessarily an "official booster" .

 

[DaddyChoc]

if you're not a student of the school... its just silly, and "creepy"


its just "basketball" to us but for them its a life-changing event that should be thoroughly looked at be the student and family.

sadly some of these players enjoy the "social-media" life

 

[Tonyc]

I dont know why any fan would want to contact a potential recruit. The last thing I would want is fans nagging me or asking me where I wanted to go to school etc etc. For me it would be a turn off. What do you have to offer them? You cant buy them anything or give them money thats a big time NCAA violation. If a recruit is interested in UConn and contacts you then you better refer them to Geno.

This is why I try to never be negative on this board. It could influence their decision. Some comments Ive read on this board about recruits and their playtime make me cringe. This is Geno and the coaching staffs job. They are the professionals in recruiting and building the team and they have alot more information then this board has.

How would you like some inexperienced person stepping in and doing something to screw up your job.

Hey I understand fans want to be fans and want the very best for their team. Please leave the recruiting to the coaching staff. The last thing we is a NCAA investigation. Look at the comments on this board about schools being investigated? Would you want that for UConn because of you?

 

[Charliebball]

I dont know why any fan would want to contact a potential recruit. The last thing I would want is fans nagging me or asking me where I wanted to go to school etc etc. For me it would be a turn off. What do you have to offer them? You cant buy them anything or give them money thats a big time NCAA violation. If a recruit is interested in UConn and contacts you then you better refer them to Geno.

This is why I try to never be negative on this board. It could influence their decision. Some comments Ive read on this board about recruits and their playtime make me cringe. This is Geno and the coaching staffs job. They are the professionals in recruiting and building the team and they have alot more information then this board has.

Look at the comments on this board about schools being investigated? Would you want that for UConn because of you?

Do you know whether recruits or current players actually read the comments on this board? I would be interested to know because if they do, perhaps that would temper some of the comments that are made here.

 

[Ozimoto]

I think you should operate on the assumption that they do.

 

[CajunHusky]

Actually Geno called someone else not aware that the player was there and that person put the player on the phone without Geno asking to talk to her.

bags27 said:
This is what I remember:
"Over the last 24 hours, the University of Connecticut, the American Athletic Conference and the NCAA have been working together to determine whether a violation occurred when head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma spoke with Mo'ne Davis over the phone during the 2014 Little League World Series," Manuel said in a statement. "The NCAA has determined a secondary rules violation of bylaw 13.1.3.1 did occur and while UConn accepts this decision, we do not agree with it.

"Prior to attempting to reach Davis, Coach Auriemma checked with the UConn compliance department and was advised such a call would be permissible since Davis is not considered a prospective student-athlete by the NCAA and the call was to be congratulatory rather than recruiting in nature.
NCAA Hits UConn With Violation For Geno's Call To Mo'ne Davis

CajunHusky reply:
from the same article:
"... even though it was not Auriemma's intent to speak directly to Davis, the fact that he initiated the call simply to express support and congratulations obviously did not sit well with NCAA compliance"

"Before her team's semifinal game against Nevada, which Davis started, Auriemma placed a call to the Little League's administrative office, on behalf of a request from the Philadelphia 76ers, to say hello......"

"The conversation between Auriemma and Davis was witnessed by those in the Little League's administrative office, where Davis was standing when the call came in. It was reported that nothing more than small talk took place between Davis and the Hall of Fame coach, who encouraged her to get a few hits."

 

[BroadwayVa]

I think the Boneyard logo can be added to the picture below... you can easily say "message boards" are social media, they all do the same thing. (create profile, post topics, share info, post pics, share videos, "like" comments etc.)

Without question Message boards, like the Boneyard, while at times anti-social--they are definitely SOCIAL media--people of like interests converge--while it's not necessary on the standard Social Media --they too congregate on specific topics. There are several UConn and Uconn WBB Facebook specific sites.The Key is that no one on the Boneyard can directly use that means to contact a Student Athlete--I'm sure any attempt would be deleted.

However, no one has Quoted me so I haven't seen any feedback on my request to know if the NCAA has in fact sanctioned or threatened to sanction any College/School/University who they have the agreement with for fans contacting potential recruits????? If no threats have come from the NCAA apparently they know it's not possible to police Social Media.

 

[BroadwayVa]

A lot of interesting dialog here. I think the best thing a recruit can do is get off of social media.completely. Unfortunately, for most of them, it's part of their social being and personality. Most of them don't feel they could live without it. I would guess the percentage of teenagers that have cellphones, and indulge in at least one (usually several) social media outlet is very high, like 95-98%.

It's interesting that there are fans, boosters or whatever you want to call them, think that they can persuade a recruit to go to a particular college or university by bombarding them with tweets, etc. I would not be surprised if a recruit was turned off by the constant barrage of said tweeters, boosters, etc., that become down right obnoxious.

You don't miss something you never had. I don't do social media, and life is good!!! I know I'm missing out on a lot of news and information, but that's OK.
I don't have " the need to know" mind set. I'm a Trekkie, but I would never dress up (like a character), and go to a science fiction convention.

No disrespect to those that do. I'm too old for that. I love Star Wars and Star Trek, but not THAT much. I joined face book (under an assumed name of course) so that I could sign-on to various chat rooms. Believe it or not, but Carnac is not my real name. LOL Just a name/character I chose because I realized I could have some fun with it!

I visit the boneyard daily for entertainment and information only, and because I get news about the UConn women's program here I can't/won't get anywhere else.
The UConn women's basketball program is NEVER mentioned out here in the Southern California media market by any of the local outlets.

This is UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans country, especially in football. We have a lot of small state colleges and universities in the southland. These two are the only MAJOR universities in the area that are recognized nationally. Now that the Rams are back (yeaaa!!), We have a professional franchise in every major sport. Unfortunately, the UCLA & USC women's basketball programs get very little media attention, very little. The men's programs get the bulk of media coverage.

Apparently Geno and Christine agree with your "get off of Social Media" for their players! They prohibit the use of Social Media during the Season--for obvious reasons--it keeps the kids, the team , Geno/staff/Admin from protecting them from a ravaging Media who are greater NITPICKERS than those on the BY. A single word can be reworked to a point that Uconn would be spending more time fending off than practicing..

 

[BigBird]

I wonder, is Big Bird a Louisville Cardinal or a South Carolina Gamecock booster?

I am a proud graduate of Illinois State University. Our teams are called The Redbirds. I am a large human. I will leave it to you to unravel the rest of the moniker mystery.

 

[BigBird]

Apparently Geno and Christine agree with your "get off of Social Media" for their players! They prohibit the use of Social Media during the Season--for obvious reasons--it keeps the kids, the team , Geno/staff/Admin from protecting them from a ravaging Media who are greater NITPICKERS than those on the BY. A single word can be reworked to a point that Uconn would be spending more time fending off than practicing..

As important perhaps, is that is encourages athletes and others within the program to actually be in each other's presence and have real conversations. A wise coach, like ours, would pretty quickly surmise the greater value of that communication as a key part of team building.