Seriously Fans, Stop It

Ok, UK and UofL fans, it’s time to stop it. Within the past few weeks, there have been a number of instances in which fans have messaged potential recruits, typically via Twitter, in the hopes of apparently swaying a recruit to their school. Each time it’s occurred, it’s mostly made me laugh. However, I came across this gem yesterday and it set me off a bit. On Twitter, an account with the name of UKbluewildcats sent elite 2011 power forward Quincy Miller, a prime target of UofL and UK, this message:

@qmillertime Hey don’t commit to UK bc we’d rather have Anthony Davis (future #1 player in the country) if you commit he might not

As most of you know, I represent the Louisville side of things for this site and any chance to make Big Blue nation look like morons is generally welcomed by me, however this is beyond that. This example shows how fans of many schools, not just Kentucky, take it way too far when it comes to contacting recruits. To be fair, UofL fans have messaged recruits recently as well, so don’t think I’m here to simply bash Kentucky.

I just don’t understand why idiots do this. I posed that question to Guy and he replied with the most accurate statement I have heard yet, “People with severely misguided passion and no sense of personal boundaries.” Sounds right on the money to me.

Recruits these days, particularly the top ranked guys, have so many people around them (parents, high school coaches, AAU coaches, runners, handlers, etc) who influence their decision, will a Tweet from a fan of a school they’re considering be a factor when it comes to making a decision? If you believe so, then you live on a different planet than I do.

In terms of the specific message posted above, let me say this. If it is indeed a UK fan sending that to Quincy Miller, you are a fool. On top of apparently thinking your message will affect Miller’s decision, you actually took time out of your day to contact a recruit on a social networking site, which is a NCAA violation by the way. What a moron.

That said, I’ve had some people offer the thought it could be a UofL fan setting up a fake Twitter account with the hopes of making UK look bad. If that’s the case, then it’s just as bad, if not worse. First, if that indeed occurred, some idiot spent even more time to set up a fake Twitter account, impersonated a UK fan (as a UofL fan, why would you ever do that?), then contacted a recruit, again a violation, with the apparent hopes of swaying that kid’s decision. Let me be clear, M.O.R.O.N.

Having said that, there is really not much that can be done about this from an enforcement perspective. While electronic correspondence with recruits is only allowed via email or fax, other types of contact such as messages via Facebook and Twitter is a complete gray area. On top of that, it is an extremely tough thing for schools to monitor.

Most compliance staffs are small in number. After scouring the interwebs, the most consistent range I found for a compliance staff is four to six, which could include one or two part-time employees. With all the other things compliance staffs are charged with in regards to checking on recruits, as well as the current student-athletes at their school, paying attention to Twitter of Facebook pages to see if a fan or two has possibly tried to recruit for the school doesn’t make the cut. The phrasiology of that last sentence alone should exemplify how complicated a process it would be.

Please do not take that to mean because it’s a gray area, go ahead and keep doing it. Sooner or later, the NCAA will act and like with most things the NCAA handles, they will probably screw it up. But do not be the moron who gets his school a violation because you had nothing better to do than look for recruits on Twitter and send them a message to try to steer them towards or away from your program.

There are so many things to do right now other than contact recruits. For instance, NCAA College Football ’11 just came out, play that. If you are not a video game person, The Office is on about eight hours a day now on various channels, watch those hilarious episodes and laugh at the awesome Dwight Schrute. If you don’t like video games or hilarious television programs, go to a local establishment and pick up some fine young lady. If none of those things appeal to you, I guess you could read a book. I recommend the Babar series, that little elephant cracks me up.

Whatever you do, do not be a moron and contact/harass recruits on Twitter or Facebook. Obtain a life, live it, and leave the recruiting up to the coaches.