Is UConn still the front runner for Megan Walker?

[MikeR01950]

Oh my GENO and company better cancel her official visit in the fall. This is actually funny!! There high school kids who live 100% of there lives through social media which in my mind can be bad. Unfortunately it's the world we live in. I wouldn't read to much into a pic on Instragram. It's actually quite comical. Wasn't it 2 months ago everyone was a sure she would commit to uconn cause they thought she was wearing what they saw was a husky jersey. If she comes awesome if she doesn't the world will be ok and uconn will be just fine. If she's so positive it will be Notre Dame then she would just end the recruiting process and commit to the Irish!!! Let's see what happens in a few weeks when she posts a pic of her with the Virginia coaching staff will we all be ready to throw in the towel. I love my huskies but just because we are uconn doesn't mean we are Intitled to get every player we want. Let the cards fall where ever they may be. There is way more important things in this world and especially in this country to worry about then where a player who still in high school where there going to play college ball!!!

 

[Charliebball]

Oh my GENO and company better cancel her official visit in the fall. This is actually funny!! There high school kids who live 100% of there lives through social media which in my mind can be bad. Unfortunately it's the world we live in. I wouldn't read to much into a pic on Instragram. It's actually quite comical. Wasn't it 2 months ago everyone was a sure she would commit to uconn cause they thought she was wearing what they saw was a husky jersey. If she comes awesome if she doesn't the world will be ok and uconn will be just fine. If she's so positive it will be Notre Dame then she would just end the recruiting process and commit to the Irish!!! Let's see what happens in a few weeks when she posts a pic of her with the Virginia coaching staff will we all be ready to throw in the towel. I love my huskies but just because we are uconn doesn't mean we are Intitled to get every player we want. Let the cards fall where ever they may be. There is way more important things in this world and especially in this country to worry about then where a player who still in high school where there going to play college ball!!!

As a matter of fact MW just started following a UVA assistant basketball coach............from what I see from a social media perspective she is still in the middle of the process, I would be surprised if she doesn't hold off on her decision until after her ND visit in the fall.............

 

[CocoHusky]

I don't know which is more disturbing: A) That so many are so actively checking out at 17 years old social media. B) The definitive conclusions being draw from a few pictures she has posted.

 

[meyers7]

I don't know which is more disturbing: A) That so many are so actively checking out at 17 years old social media. B) The definitive conclusions being draw from a few pictures she has posted.

For reals.

 

[jdubct]

I don't know which is more disturbing: A) That so many are so actively checking out at 17 years old social media. B) The definitive conclusions being draw from a few pictures she has posted.

Agree. Have patience. After her official visits, she'll let everyone know her decision. Until she does, it seems all else is speculation.

 

[j66kicker]

Oh my GENO and company better cancel her official visit in the fall. This is actually funny!! There high school kids who live 100% of there lives through social media which in my mind can be quite bad....... It's actually quite comical. Wasn't it 2 months ago everyone was a sure she would commit to uconn cause they thought she was wearing what they saw was a husky jersey........

I love my huskies but just because we are uconn doesn't mean we are entitled to get every player we want. Let the cards fall where ever they may be. There is way more important things in this world and especially in this country to worry about then where a player who still in high school where there going to play college ball!!!

Whoa, whoa, WHOA!!!! So what are you trying to say here? I was with you up to that point, but.........

 

[Dillon77]

Agree. Have patience. After her official visits, she'll let everyone know her decision. Until she does, it seems all else is speculation.

Third this. Ms. Walker has been pretty consistent about what she intends to do and that includes making visits to the four schools she mentioned. On the other hand, she's also a teenager (and a human), so I fully could see how a change of mind (s) could come into play. I'm a fan, too, but in the greater context of things...que sera sera.

 

[BigBird]

We tend to disparage those who pay attention to the recruit's online communication, unless of course she is announcing her decision to attend UConn, right?

This is a new era of media communication. We are still in the early phase of understanding and using the comparatively newer social media. More importantly, the groundrules, to the extent there can actually be any, are currently still being negotiated. While it's OK to have an opinion about Twitter followings, etcetera, it's a bit odd to insist that others see and use social media the same way we do. It reminds me of telephone party-line ettiquette of the 1950's. There were rules back then - sort of.

I will concede that 17 or 18 year old kids are still kids, and we should not lose sight of that. And while I would like to think that people of any age who post in the Twitter-verse know what they are doing, it's safe to say that experience has so far proven otherwise. But it isn't going away any time soon, so we can chose to live with it, or ignore it.

Moderation in all things?

 

[Charliebball]

We tend to disparage those who pay attention to the recruit's online communication, unless of course she is announcing her decision to attend UConn, right?

Moderation in all things?

Absolutely right.........I never bothered with the social media until Azura Stevens chose UConn and that was first recognized by those on the board that were following her twitter account.........everybody wants to be the person in the know on where UConn stands with their recruits but some disparage the very techniques that can be helpful in determining the recruits attitude or actions.......I certainly don't interact with these kids but I like to play detective now and then to see where UConn fits in their thought process...........

 

[CocoHusky]

We tend to disparage those who pay attention to the recruit's online communication, unless of course she is announcing her decision to attend UConn, right?

This is a new era of media communication. We are still in the early phase of understanding and using the comparatively newer social media. More importantly, the groundrules, to the extent there can actually be any, are currently still being negotiated. While it's OK to have an opinion about Twitter followings, etcetera, it's a bit odd to insist that others see and use social media the same way we do. It reminds me of telephone party-line ettiquette of the 1950's. There were rules back then - sort of.

I will concede that 17 or 18 year old kids are still kids, and we should not lose sight of that. And while I would like to think that people of any age who post in the Twitter-verse know what they are doing, it's safe to say that experience has so far proven otherwise. But it isn't going away any time soon, so we can chose to live with it, or ignore it.

Moderation in all things?

Moderation? No, not in this instance. I'm advocating a thicker, healthier, more distinct separation between the space where adults interact & those where teenagers interact. This should be for all things not just Social Media & regardless of which school this teenager decides to attend, or which decade we are living in.

 

[CocoHusky]

Absolutely right....I never bothered with the social media until Azura Stevens chose UConn and that was first recognized by those on the board that were following her twitter account....everybody wants to be the person in the know on where UConn stands with their recruits but some disparage the very techniques that can be helpful in determining the recruits attitude or actions..I certainly don't interact with these kids but I like to play detective now and then to see where UConn fits in their thought process......

If the only means of knowing where a recruit stands with UCONN is to follow and then try and decipher a teenager's twitter, that is a technique I would disparage and something not worth knowing IMO.

 

[bags27]

Moderation? No, not in this instance. I'm advocating a thicker, healthier, more distinct separation between the space where adults interact & those where teenagers interact. This should be for all things not just Social Media & regardless of which school this teenager decides to attend, or which decade we are living in.

This should be posted as a banner for this blog.

These are kids who live in the bubbles of their early athletic success and often (almost always!) fail to appreciate how their actions and statements can be interpreted by adults. We adults tend to over-interpret what is to them simply social noise. And in that over-interpretation, boundaries are crossed. These are not obscenely paid professional athletes who (along with their highly paid sports agents) intentionally generate media attention to sell tickets and are therefore fair game for sports-obsessed fans to speculate about publicly. They're kids, and they deserve a little less scrutiny by strangers.

To apply the Golden Rule here: do unto these kids as you would have it done unto your own kids, were they similarly blessed with such talent.

 

[DaddyChoc]

wow the shift in attitude/post... imagine how the Irish fans felt as we were celebrating her wearing a UConn jersey. Let's wait and let this play out

 

[ucalum]

Notre Dame probably was thinking they were out of the running when Megan posted that she was on Storrs campus a week after the NC at the year end dinner. Don't read too much into anything. What will be will be.

 

[ctchamps]

This should be posted as a banner for this blog.

These are kids who live in the bubbles of their early athletic success and often (almost always!) fail to appreciate how their actions and statements can be interpreted by adults. We adults tend to over-interpret what is to them simply social noise. And in that over-interpretation, boundaries are crossed. These are not obscenely paid professional athletes who (along with their highly paid sports agents) intentionally generate media attention to sell tickets and are therefore fair game for sports-obsessed fans to speculate about publicly. They're kids, and they deserve a little less scrutiny by strangers.

To apply the Golden Rule here: do unto these kids as you would have it done unto your own kids, were they similarly blessed with such talent.

I'm not on social media of any kind except being a Boneyard groupie.
And I'm not sure there is any more interaction than a bunch of us old folks showing up at games played by these 18 and 19 years old. I think the salient point is our behavior.
I'm not advocating creeping kids out by stalking or gawking at them. And I'm strongly against bullying of any kind including cyber bullying. But I think kids should be the ones to decide if our following them is appropriate or not.

 

[Kibitzer]

I refuse to monitor teenagers' tweets. That's for the FBI, NSA or ardent fans, but not me. Just my old-fashioned notion about privacy.

 

[bags27]

wow the shift in attitude/post... imagine how the Irish fans felt as we were celebrating her wearing a UConn jersey. Let's wait and let this play out

I take your point, DaddyChoc. But where I would disagree is that, as I recall it, there were SOME BYers celebrating and OTHERS cautioning that trying to interpret a kid's tweet is no more accurate than reading tea leaves--and maybe a lot weirder.

I think the distinction that some of us, at least, are drawing is between trying to analyze the basketball skills of 15-18 year old high school athletes--which we like to do--and engaging with their emotional lives--which we think is out of bounds to us.

 

[cbraarj]

If the only means of knowing where a recruit stands with UCONN is to follow and then try and decipher a teenager's twitter, that is a technique I would disparage and something not worth knowing IMO.

Agree with you 100%,Coco.

 

[Charliebball]

A question for those of you on the Boneyard who do not approve of "old folks" checking recruits twitter pages to get a better sense of which school they are interested in.........What do you think we do..........check their messages for inappropriate activity? Send then fan mail? Plead with them to attend our favorite college?

No, No, No..........

Instead of solely relying on the standard recruiting services and gossip for information, I have simply become a bit more proactive by looking for trends from a specific player's social media based on what coaches/schools they are following.....................nothing particularly shocking about that........and to put it into context let me say that I have a 15 year old daughter who plays on some pretty competitive basketball teams......she is most likely not a Division 1 player, possibly Division 2 /3..............ultimately that will be her choice (and the colleges that might be interested)......... She uses social media as much as your average kid at that age and the one rule I have made is that anything she says online should be appropriate and not something that would be frowned upon by anyone who might be reading it..........she should only be so lucky as to have people interested enough in her abilities to want to peruse her twitter page!!!!!!!

 

[CocoHusky]

I'm not on social media of any kind except being a Boneyard groupie.
And I'm not sure there is any more interaction than a bunch of us old folks showing up at games played by these 18 and 19 years old. I think the salient point is our behavior.
I'm not advocating creeping kids out by stalking or gawking at them. And I'm strongly against bullying of any kind including cyber bullying. But I think kids should be the ones to decide if our following them is appropriate or not.

I have to disagree that kids should be the ones to decide if adults following them is appropriate or not because Social media, as was intended, has warped the value and meanings of simple things like friends. For children friends are now someone with who you have established an electronic connection. The more you have the better your "perceived" status-so some kids are not going to say no to an adult friend or follower request. Since some kids are not going to say no, it is left up to the adults to not extend a request in the first place.

 

[CocoHusky]

A question for those of you on the Boneyard who do not approve of "old folks" checking recruits twitter pages to get a better sense of which school they are interested in....What do you think we do.....check their messages for inappropriate activity? Send then fan mail? Plead with them to attend our favorite college?

No, No, No.....

Instead of solely relying on the standard recruiting services and gossip for information, I have simply become a bit more proactive by looking for trends from a specific player's social media based on what coaches/schools they are following......nothing particularly shocking about that...and to put it into context let me say that I have a 15 year old daughter who plays on some pretty competitive basketball teams.she is most likely not a Division 1 player, possibly Division 2 /3....ultimately that will be her choice (and the colleges that might be interested).... She uses social media as much as your average kid at that age and the one rule I have made is that anything she says online should be appropriate and not something that would be frowned upon by anyone who might be reading it.....she should only be so lucky as to have people interested enough in her abilities to want to peruse her twitter page!!!!!!!

That's really three questions and I would NOT answer No, No & No .
I would answer:
I don't know what you do.
Fan mail from an adult to a teenager would be/is inappropriate.
Do you realize that one Boneyard poster actually contacted Megan urging her to go to UCONN and it took several posting to convince that poster how inappropriate and potentially damaging (recruiting violation) to UCONN that was.?

Of course none of the issues above become issues if there is no contact in the first place.

 

[Kibitzer]

Do you realize that one Boneyard poster actually contacted Megan urging her to go to UCONN and it took several posting to convince that poster how inappropriate and potentially damaging (recruiting violation) to UCONN that was.?

At the risk of trespassing on mods' turf, permit a reminder that all (UConn) Boneyarders are subject to being classified as boosters by the NCAA; thus, any form of contact with any recruit is risky. So be very careful.

 

[Charliebball]

That's really three questions and I would NOT answer No, No & No .
I would answer:
I don't know what you do.
Fan mail from an adult to a teenager would be/is inappropriate.
Do you realize that one Boneyard poster actually contacted Megan urging her to go to UCONN and it took several posting to convince that poster how inappropriate and potentially damaging (recruiting violation) to UCONN that was.?

Of course none of the issues above become issues if there is no contact in the first place.

I would agree with you 100% that any contact with anybody's child by an adult without parental permission is wrong............perhaps there is a misunderstanding in how one monitors tweet followers.......all one has to do is to go to the player's site and click on who they are following or who is following them......there is to be no contact with the individual of any kind.........I don't follow any of these players as that would be too intrusive...........this is no different them what the recruiting services do although in many cases they do follow the players and often communicate with them directly...............

 

[Charliebball]

BTW if I do see that MW or another prized recruit is clearly using twitter to signal which school they will be attending would you rather have me not make mention of it on the Boneyard?

 

[CocoHusky]

I would agree with you 100% that any contact with anybody's child by an adult without parental permission is wrong..perhaps there is a misunderstanding in how one monitors tweet followers..all one has to do is to go to the player's site and click on who they are following or who is following them.there is to be no contact with the individual of any kind....I don't follow any of these players as that would be too intrusive......this is no different them what the recruiting services do although in many cases they do follow the players and often communicate with them directly.....

Thanks for the clarification on how one monitors tweet followers, it helps me understand much better and not the intrusion we both agree would be inappropriate.