Should fans tweet at high school recruits?

BillySee58 · September 2, 2020

Luke Walerius randomly retweeted this today. Read into that at your own caution. Also, looking at the replies I’m compelled to remind people, don’t tweet at recruits.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · September 9, 2020

On 9/2/2020 at 5:14 PM, BillySee58 said:

Luke Walerius randomly retweeted this today. Read into that at your own caution. Also, looking at the replies I’m compelled to remind people, don’t tweet at recruits.

???

BillySee58 · September 9, 2020

31 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

???

Technically it’s a recruiting violation for boosters, and since so many on here are technically boosters by being season ticket holders, it should be discouraged. Plus, still yet to hear a UNT commit credit random UNT fans on twitter as a reason they chose UNT in about a decade of twitter being big.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · September 10, 2020

2 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Technically it’s a recruiting violation for boosters, and since so many on here are technically boosters by being season ticket holders, it should be discouraged. Plus, still yet to hear a UNT commit credit random UNT fans on twitter as a reason they chose UNT in about a decade of twitter being big.

Technically not. I've looked and Twitter is not a messaging device, and I'm not DMing the recruit on Twitter. Ya'll are the only people that I've ever heard that says people, even boosters, can't do that. IT'S A FREAKING GIF IN A COMMENT SECTION OF A RECRUIT SAYING HE GOT AN OFFER FROM UNT!

Of course a recruit isn't going to say "Oh yeah those Twitter pages really convinced me", but at least they know that we have some sort of fan base! Plus they love playing the recruiting game. They are kids. If they didn't want the attention, why the hell would they tweet the offer...

Jeez

UNT18Grad · September 10, 2020

Gotta agree with NTSN on this one, tweeting gifs or things like "You will love it here" is perfectly fine, there's nothing wrong with being a fan of your team and showing recruits that we have a presence and a passionate fan base. But, tweeting negatively when someone decommits or commits elsewhere is pretty childish.

BillySee58 · September 10, 2020

1 hour ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Technically not. I've looked and Twitter is not a messaging device, and I'm not DMing the recruit on Twitter. Ya'll are the only people that I've ever heard that says people, even boosters, can't do that. IT'S A FREAKING GIF IN A COMMENT SECTION OF A RECRUIT SAYING HE GOT AN OFFER FROM UNT!

Of course a recruit isn't going to say "Oh yeah those Twitter pages really convinced me", but at least they know that we have some sort of fan base! Plus they love playing the recruiting game. They are kids. If they didn't want the attention, why the hell would they tweet the offer...

Jeez

Very defensive about just a FREAKING GIF IN A COMMENT SECTION.

Either way, definitely not worth hijacking a recruit’s thread over.

Edited September 10, 2020 by BillySee58

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · September 10, 2020

50 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Very defensive about just a FREAKING GIF IN A COMMENT SECTION.

Either way, definitely not worth hijacking a recruit’s thread over.

Oh lord... it's just for fun and the kids like it. Clearly you have never seen recruits in 21st century...

#oldmanalert

Edited September 10, 2020 by NorthTexasSportsNetwork

BillySee58 · September 10, 2020

8 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Oh lord... it's just for fun and the kids like it. Clearly you have never seen recruits in 21st century...

#oldmanalert

I’m not even making a big deal about it. Just threw one caution about it but it’s clear you take this matter very personally and seriously. If thinking it’s lame and unnecessary for grown men to tweet at high school kids to come to their school makes me an old man, move over Austin Aune. There’s someone coming for your title of “oldest man in town who is technically 27.”

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · September 10, 2020

11 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

I’m not even making a big deal about it. Just threw one caution about it but it’s clear you take this matter very personally and seriously. If thinking it’s lame and unnecessary for grown men to tweet at high school kids to come to their school makes me an old man, move over Austin Aune. There’s someone coming for your title of “oldest man in town who is technically 27.”

good for you yes GIF by Brimstone (The Grindhouse Radio, Hound Comics)
lmao

MeanGreen22 · September 10, 2020

Here's my take on the whole tweeting at recruits debate (I know yall are dying for my opinion):

I really don't care as long as it's just a harmless gif about the team or a "we'd love you here" kind of thing. MY issue is when people disparage another school/team that the recruit is considering. It's just not a good look.

But back to the player, this kid is a damn beast and I really hope the crystal ball is right!

greenminer · September 10, 2020

15 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Technically not. I've looked and Twitter is not a messaging device, and I'm not DMing the recruit on Twitter. Ya'll are the only people that I've ever heard that says people, even boosters, can't do that.

You're not looking very hard

If you're a college football fan who tweets at recruits, you're committing an NCAA violation [2013]

Quote

It doesn’t matter that you’re not a donor, a season-ticket holder or even affiliated with the university in any official capacity. You can’t publicly lobby a recruit on behalf of a school.

For example, five-star running back Joe Mixon, one of the most coveted recruits in the 2014 class, tweeted Thursday afternoon, “Where are them Oklahoma Fans at?! #BoomerSooner”

As of 9:30 p.m. Thursday night, 172 people had retweeted it, and dozens more responded with things like “Boomer!” and “Boomer Sooner!”

All. NCAA. Violations.

Social distortion [2014]

Quote

...Revels is aware it's against NCAA rules to interact with recruits and would stop immediately if asked to...

Fans & Social Media [UL Office of Compliance]

Quote

Boosters are not permitted to recruit prospective student-athletes on behalf of the institution. So it would be a violation of NCAA rules for a booster to contact a prospective student-athlete by Twitter or Facebook to encourage them to attend UL.
...
It is not, however, impermissible for booster to follow a prospective student-athlete on Facebook or Twitter, as long as they are not reaching out to that recruit to in any way encourage them to attend UL. Boosters may not contact a prospect even if a prospective student-athlete invites people to contact him or her to advise them about what school to choose.

A Booster’s Guide to Tweeting Recruits

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · September 10, 2020

58 minutes ago, MeanGreen22 said:

Here's my take on the whole tweeting at recruits debate (I know yall are dying for my opinion):

I really don't care as long as it's just a harmless gif about the team or a "we'd love you here" kind of thing. MY issue is when people disparage another school/team that the recruit is considering. It's just not a good look.

But back to the player, this kid is a damn beast and I really hope the crystal ball is right!

Exactly! I knew there would be some reasonable people on here, instead of old men that think it’s a crime that we show a bit of school spirit in a tweet🙄

emmitt01 · September 10, 2020

15 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Exactly! I knew there would be some reasonable people on here, instead of old men that think it’s a crime that we show a bit of school spirit in a tweet🙄

season 4 nbc GIF by Blindspot

greenminer · September 10, 2020

42 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Exactly! I knew there would be some reasonable people on here, instead of old men that think it’s a crime that we show a bit of school spirit in a tweet🙄

not a crime, but an NCAA violation.

There's no way the NCAA can police all of it. So, you're probably fine.

This convo is a perfect representation of what the digital age has amplified, the mantra of "If I can do it and get away with it, then it's okay to do."

Started a couple decades ago (the digital era) when people were copying, downloading, and passing around MP3s/intellectual property without purchase or permissions.

BillySee58 · September 10, 2020

1 minute ago, greenminer said:

not a crime, but an NCAA violation.

There's no way the NCAA can police all of it. So, you're probably fine.

This convo is a perfect representation of what the digital age has amplified, the mantra of "If I can do it and get away with it, then it's okay to do."

Started a couple decades ago (the digital era) when people were copying, downloading, and passing around MP3s/intellectual property without purchase or permissions.

Yeah, it really isn’t a big deal because the NCAA has never really chosen to enforce it. I didn’t even make a big deal about it, nor do I care very much about this topic, especially if the tweets aren’t negative (which I have seen from members of our fan base over the years). We’ve been casually throwing this caution out to people on the recruiting forum for years, usually met with understanding.

Never had someone so staunchly adamant about being able to continue tweeting at high school kids.

greenminer · September 10, 2020

Here's the NCAA language:

Quote

Only institutional staff members are permitted to recruit prospective student-athletes. Generally, NCAA rules prohibit anyone else from contacting (calling, writing or in-person contact) prospects or the prospect’s relatives or guardian for recruiting purposes.

The way I'm interpreting this, is that you cannot in any way influence a recruit's decision. A simple GIF or Go Mean Green could be said to reinforce their excitement for your school...that's an influence

Think of it this way: if you're standing in front of an NCAA panel, the burden would be on you to demonstrate that this interaction would happen if they were not a recruit. That would have to be a pretty compelling statement.

Let's be honest: you wouldn't be reaching out to these kids via Twitter if they were not interested in your school.

1) Yes, I'm guessing I'm 10-ish years older than @NorthTexasSportsNetwork
2) Yes, it is still an NCAA violation. No jabs at our generational gap is going to change that.
3) Yes, you're probably going to be okay if you @ them.

BillySee58 · September 10, 2020

If anyone has anything to add to the great “Should you tweet at high school recruits” debate of 2020, get them in now. Because this is all getting hidden once he commits.

Edited September 10, 2020 by BillySee58

MeanGreenTexan · September 10, 2020

7 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

If anyone has anything to add to the great “Should you tweet at high school recruits on twitter” debate of 2020, get them in now. Because this is all getting hidden once he commits.

My take:
I think lighthearted, "We'd love to have you! Go Mean Green!"-type tweet is fine. If he commits, a "Can't wait to see you in Green!"-type tweet would be fine. Both would make him feel welcomed by the fans.

If he happens to choose a different school, leave him alone. If he commits, then de-commits, leave him alone. Too many times we've seen morons tweet these guys with, "Have fun sitting on the bench..."-type stuff (or worse!) after we miss out on someone. That's just not necessary.

MGNation92 · September 10, 2020

I typically will just like recruits tweets in regards to UNT stuff, choosing to not reply personally.

That being said, I see hundreds of P5 fans tweeting at kids all the time, especially highly contested kids. If it gives us even an inch of an advantage, I want the entire kid's twitter feed filled with mean green fans. Untill the NCAA actually enforces it, go nuts.

Tom McKrackin · September 10, 2020

1 hour ago, MGNation92 said:

That being said, I see hundreds of P5 fans tweeting at kids all the time, especially highly contested kids. If it gives us even an inch of an advantage, I want the entire kid's twitter feed filled with mean green fans. Until the NCAA actually enforces it, go nuts.

Agree 100%. These rules aren't ever enforced and probably never will be.

UNT Texas Hooligan · September 11, 2020

On 9/2/2020 at 5:14 PM, BillySee58 said:

Luke Walerius randomly retweeted this today. Read into that at your own caution. Also, looking at the replies I’m compelled to remind people, don’t tweet at recruits.

Don't tweet at recruits, huh? In this interview, he says a big reason why he committed is because of the love he was getting from North Texas fans on Twitter. Recruits love the recruiting game and the praise they get from it. This is 2020 and we aren't Old Denton anymore. Care to back track now?

https://247sports.com/college/north-texas/Article/VarKeyes-Gumms-247-North-Texas-2021-Football-Commits-Tight-End-151303191/

greenminer · September 11, 2020

26 minutes ago, UNT Texas Hooligan said:

Don't tweet at recruits, huh? In this interview, he says a big reason why he committed is because of the love he was getting from North Texas fans on Twitter. Recruits love the recruiting game and the praise they get from it. This is 2020 and we aren't Old Denton anymore. Care to back track now?

https://247sports.com/college/north-texas/Article/VarKeyes-Gumms-247-North-Texas-2021-Football-Commits-Tight-End-151303191/

One of the articles I dug up yesterday cited an OU recruit that Tweeted, "Where my Sooner fans at?". Thousands of "Boomer Sooner" replies were given. The article stated, "even if prompted by the recruit, it is still technically a violation."

Again, if it influenced the recruit, it is technically an NCAA violation.

Edited September 11, 2020 by greenminer

H-towngreen · September 11, 2020

Jesus...yall are still arguing this? Violation or not the NCAA doesn't give two s***s if you tweet at a recruit.

greenminer · September 11, 2020

1 minute ago, H-towngreen said:

Jesus...yall are still arguing this? Violation or not the NCAA doesn't give two s***s if you tweet at a recruit.

Yes, that has already been established. I'm responding more to the posts that suggest Tweeting them is okay.

It's not. Don't do it. IF you do it, you won't be punished.

BillySee58 · September 11, 2020

39 minutes ago, UNT Texas Hooligan said:

Don't tweet at recruits, huh? In this interview, he says a big reason why he committed is because of the love he was getting from North Texas fans on Twitter. Recruits love the recruiting game and the praise they get from it. This is 2020 and we aren't Old Denton anymore. Care to back track now?

https://247sports.com/college/north-texas/Article/VarKeyes-Gumms-247-North-Texas-2021-Football-Commits-Tight-End-151303191/

You missed out on the conversation yesterday. We aren’t flooding this thread with this again. All I’ll say is I never said it couldn’t be beneficial. Also severely underestimated how defensive people would get about this. Was just a passing comment. Been a pretty standard message relayed on the board for years, and I really don’t care that much, as long as people aren’t tweeting negatively (which has happened plenty in the past). Certainly don’t care as much as some people seem to care about being able to tweet directly at high school kids.