The world of college recruiting is about to get very interesting and a bit more personal.
Now that the NCAA is allowing college coaches to communicate with prospects via Snapchat, getting a “selfie” from Duke University men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski could be in the cards for potential student-athletes.
And if that happens, you better take a screenshot.
This policy will officially start August 2014. According to the NCAA’s educational column regarding electronic transmissions, social media platforms and recruiting, college coaches will have the opportunity to send snapchats to the players they’re recruiting.
[quote]“In basketball and men's ice hockey, any type of electronically transmitted correspondence (e.g., e-mail, facsimile, instant message, text message, SnapChat, etc.) may be sent to a prospective-student athlete, provided the correspondence is sent directly to the prospective student-athlete (or his or her parents or legal guardians) and is private between the sender and recipient. Once a prospective student-athlete signs a NLI or an institution's written offer of admission and/or financial aid or after the institution receives a financial deposit from the prospective student-athlete in response to the institution's offer of admission, the institution may communicate publicly with that prospective student-athlete.”[/quote]
The NCAA is doing everything it can to keep up with the times in terms of communication. Snapchat is a photo messaging app for smartphones that allows users to take photos or videos and add text or drawing and send it out to their friends — or a six-foot, six-inch potential swingman — that will only appear for up to 10 seconds and then be eternally erased. But, the sender does run the risk of a screenshot by the receiver, which saves the photo forever
Snapchat is one of the most popular apps out today, especially among younger generations. It has stirred up some concern, though, as it has been criticized as a means to distribute sexually explicit material in correspondence with “sexting.” Considering how Snapchat operates, there is a lot of potential for some inappropriate conduct and a potential scandal down the road. But, that issue bound to come up with any private messaging system and it shouldn’t be one that’s involved with any recruiting tactics.
The idea of coaches snapchatting with recruits seems odd considering the reputation of this app, but in reality it isn’t much different from any other social media outlet. I’m not sure how useful this device will be in terms of recruiting a player. And I have no idea how coaches would use it to their advantage, other than to show off their sense of humor. Nor how they could do it in a different way that Instagram, a Twitter picture or a Facebook message doesn’t cover.
Coaches are going to have to get creative. Maybe take a short video of a pregame speech or a victory celebration in the locker room and send it out to recruits. Or give them a taste of the social scene and have players capture a postgame victory celebration at big party. On that note, since it can’t be saved, there’s nothing that can be incriminating, right?
We’ll have to wait and see how this method of recruiting develops, but issues will arise, bragging rights will be up for grabs, and personal stories will escalate.
We’ll just have to sit back and wait to see what coaches’ creativity steps into the spotlight in the Snapchat arena and seals the deal for a five-star recruit.