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View Full Version : Social Media Becoming A Problem With Recruiting & The Rules



Newton_14
04-18-2011, 10:59 PM
DBR has this story linked on the front page and I felt it was worth discussing in a thread.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700128045/Social-media-and-the-NCAA-2-A-recruits-friend-a-teams-fan-and-a-headache-for-colleges.html


In the "Sticky" Thread at the top of the EK Forum, there are a few NCAA Rules outlined concerning fans and boosters contacting recruits. Since that thread was written however, the NCAA has created new rules and guidelines concerning all of the new Social Media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

I find that some do not realize there are rules, others do not understand them, and others disagree with and unfortunately dismiss the rules as silly and unwarranted. Interestingly enough, the article mentions our fanbase as one of the problem childs in this area.

This is however, quite serious, whether we agree with the rules or not. Following a recruit on Twitter is one thing. Sending messages to the recruit is another thing altogether. Same for sending a recruit a friend request on Facebook. Unless we already know the recruit personally, it is a really bad idea to befriend them on Facebook or talk to them via Twitter or Facebook. Doing so could actually jeopardize the recruitment of the kid and worse case could cause Duke to not be able to sign the player. It would be really bad for Duke to lose a recruit due to the actions of an overzealous fan begging the recruit via Twitter or Facebook to choose Duke.

A very hard thing for any school to enforce of course, but I have to wonder how far away we are from a school actually being hit with violations or worse losing a recruit due to an inappropriate Social Media contact.

uh_no
04-19-2011, 12:44 AM
"If a school comes across an instance of this happening, it is expected that they would reach out to those athletics personnel, fans and boosters and reinforce the ground rules related to communicating with recruits," Cameron Schuh, an associate director for public and media relations for the NCAA, said in an email.

This is the key part of the article. "IF a school comes across..." This implies that the NCAA would likely not hold a school liable for any infraction about which they did not know. As far as I know, when Duke comes across an instance of violation (perhaps such as the one described in the article), they would do something. There is already precedent for making students remove banners from quads, taking away signs at games, and shutting down groups. Again, it would thus seem unlikely that the NCAA would come after duke, since they had 'reached out to those fans to reinforce the ground rules."

Then again, you never know with the NCAA.

I'm not particularly worried....unless jim calhoun is actually friending recruits on facebook...

Starter
04-19-2011, 12:46 AM
Really good post, and definitely worth bringing up for the benefit of board members who use Facebook and Twitter.

The frustrating part is that nobody really knows who's who on the Internet. One of our players recently had an issue with a "Duke fan" harassing them with a fake Twitter account. I feel like this happens all the time, as rival fans want to give Duke, or whoever, a bad name by impersonating one of their fans. That's one thing that I have no idea how a school or the NCAA would handle -- some guy impersonating a fan of another team in order to harass a recruit or a player currently on a team.

uh_no
04-19-2011, 01:15 AM
That's one thing that I have no idea how a school or the NCAA would handle -- some guy impersonating a fan of another team in order to harass a recruit or a player currently on a team.

Well, technically, the fan of the opposing team is not a 'booster' for duke, and thus the school has no responsibility to regulate them. Unfortunately there is no way to tell who is a true fan and who is an imposter (either for the school or the NCAA), so the school's action would likely be to inform the individual that they are in noncompliance, and the NCAA would see that the school notified the individual, and that would be that.

Acymetric
04-19-2011, 02:55 PM
Well, technically, the fan of the opposing team is not a 'booster' for duke, and thus the school has no responsibility to regulate them. Unfortunately there is no way to tell who is a true fan and who is an imposter (either for the school or the NCAA), so the school's action would likely be to inform the individual that they are in noncompliance, and the NCAA would see that the school notified the individual, and that would be that.

Well right. Problem is it isn't always that easy to determine whether someone is actually a fan or just an imposter.

Newton_14
04-21-2011, 10:47 PM
Well, technically, the fan of the opposing team is not a 'booster' for duke, and thus the school has no responsibility to regulate them. Unfortunately there is no way to tell who is a true fan and who is an imposter (either for the school or the NCAA), so the school's action would likely be to inform the individual that they are in noncompliance, and the NCAA would see that the school notified the individual, and that would be that.

I agree the rules around this are very difficult for any school to manage. But, the rules are there and are real. Some fans still choose to blatantly ignore them, and in most cases they are actually real fans and not imposters. I think the real fans that do it are a much greater threat than an imposter trying to get a rival school in trouble...

dukebluesincebirth
04-22-2011, 11:02 AM
I'm glad someone started a thread about this topic as it seems to be gaining steam lately. I just got directed to the sticky about fans/boosters by a moderator the other day after asking someone to clarify how tweeting could be a violation. I must say I'm shocked and confused. I guess since I don't do facebook or twitter I've been in the dark up until now about the seriousness of this situation. I can't understand how fans could fall into the same category as boosters/alumni. As hard as I've rooted for my Devils the past 25 years, I've never considered myself a booster of Duke University basketball. I guess under NCAA rules I am. There's just something not right about including fans as a factor in rules for college basketball programs because there's no consistent, accurate way to enforce rules aimed at fan behavior. I could never imagine doing anything online or otherwise to jeopardize Coach K's recruiting of Duke bball players, but there's plenty of people out there who hate Duke and Coach K. Under current rules, what would stop them from trying to sabotage (actually surprised it hasn't already been attempted)? I think the NCAA needs to better consider who they want to hold accountable for improper recruiting and how they can accurately enforce their rules. As the thread title suggests, social media is becoming a problem, so something needs to change. Social media isn't going away anytime soon, and likely will grow in coming years, so the change must be made by the NCAA. Will the NCAA be able to handle their changing landscape gracefully or will the game be negatively impacted by a changing social world?

dukelifer
04-22-2011, 11:20 AM
The NCAA cannot really regulate the fans but they can regulate the athletes once they are part of the NCAA. I cannot see how schools can control fans and fans contacting recruits. If the schools use "fans" knowingly as their agents to get around the rules- then that would a problem. The place where the NCAA could step in is regulating the use of social media by players on teams under the NCAA. The could make teams prohibit players from using twitter or facebook etc.. Despite what some kids think- you can live and function without these visible social media outlets- if only for 1-4 years.