Friday, January 19, 2018

When Twitter shows a kid is not being recruited well

It is offer season, so it is time for me to address one of my hot buttons again...

At the Early Signing Day press conference, Addazio mentioned that for a school like BC, constant contact and relationship building is key to recruiting. This makes sense. BC is not a typical Power 5 school, nor does it have an Admission's Office that will rubber stamp every coach's decision. In theory, our coaches do a little more homework on a prospect than they would at another program and this extra work pays off when fewer kids flip on their commitment. But what's clear from Twitter is that Addazio and Co. clearly still throw a lot of offers out to prospects even if the kids are never seriously considering BC. The biggest tip off is when the recruit thanks "Boston College University" in his remarks.

Not knowing the school's official name is a sign the kid (and presumably his parents and high school coaches) are not thinking about BC, haven't done any research on BC and are not familiar with BC.



I know there are some BC fans who laugh at prospects who do this. I don't. I shake my head at the assistant coach assigned to recruiting this kid. Clearly this was a bit of a shot in the dark. He just got offers from Louisville and Miami, so BC threw one his way too. Where is the homework and relationship building Addazio talks about?

I understand that you have to throw some stuff against the wall in any sales type environment. I know something can come of it sometimes. But if the kid doesn't care enough (or know) to get our name right in his response, then the odds of him ever wearing maroon and gold are long.

18 comments:

Unknown said...
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Geezer eagle said...

If he got offers from Louisville and Miami he's probably academically ineligible anyway. I stand by the admissions office and it's standards.

Tim said...

Should be “an offer,” not “a offer.” Trouble indeed.

Unknown said...

There was a kid in Daz's tenure who first said BCU on twitter and ended up coming to us. Yiadom? Sorry I can't remember who.

Knucklehead said...

Looks like a tweet Yeaster would distribute.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

I agree with the point. I can't think of any highly recruited kids in this category that came our way simply because we threw out an offer. On the other hand - I suspect we got a few good kids by dumb luck over the years who we may not have recruited at all who just wanted to come here. I think Ray Smith and Connor Wujciak may have been in that category.

HUGE said...

I still get confused whether to put Boston College or Boston College University in forms because it’s technically not a “college” but a “university.” This is a little nit picky ....

Eagleytics said...

I've seen kids make this mistake in commitment tweets. I think this is a bit of a reach.

JBQ said...

It is a well known axiom in recruiting that you don't recruit the kid. You recruit the mother.

Lenny Sienko said...

Isn't any tweet with "Blessed" in it not from the kid directly; but from BCAA.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

They all seem to say they are Blessed to have received an offer. I'm waiting for some kid from New Jersey to tweet "Fuckin' A - I got an offer from BC!"

knucklehead said...
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knucklehead said...

Any quote with blessed in it is what it is . . . A statement of thanks for a free ride to a good catholic school. Any disparaging comments about that are a sad cry for help.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

But if any kid says "Jumping Jehosaphat - I got an offer from BC!" - we should call Homeland Security and have his computer checked before letting him on campus.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

knuck - I think I may have met you once at a party - we were all laughing, joking and having a good time and you came over and asked whether anyone wanted to talk about Jesus. Everyone then moved into the kitchen and said goodnight.

knucklehead said...

Don't be so dramatic. You are silly.

knucklehead said...
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Lenny Sienko said...

The "Blessed" comments sound rehearsed and not genuine.

Our BC student-athletes do a wonderful job of community service and good works. They don't need "canned" responses.