Recruiting 101 – Using Twitter as a Tool
I’ve spent 13 years in the world of recruiting and have been able to see it from a variety of different sides. In 2010 I started my own scouting service, the Indiana Recruiting Guide, going into my freshman year of…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingI’ve spent 13 years in the world of recruiting and have been able to see it from a variety of different sides. In 2010 I started my own scouting service, the Indiana Recruiting Guide, going into my freshman year of college. Over the course of three years the service grew to a place I never could have imagined as a 20-21 year old. College coaches at all levels from the Big Ten to the Ivy League, from in-state Division III schools to Junior Colleges in Arizona, and everyone in between would contact me when looking to recruit the great state of Indiana. Then, over the next six and a half years I was on the coaching side of things at IUPUI, Hanover College, Defiance College, and Wabash College. After getting out of coaching, I worked for national recruiting service NCSA helping athletes and their families across various sports reach their collegiate goals. Finally, in June of 2021 I settled back in to the scouting service game when I took over Prep Hoops Indiana from Eric Gardner. Having had 13+ years of experience from all different sides of the recruiting scene has helped me deeply understand the process. I’ve personally recruited student-athletes, helped families with the recruiting process, and work closely with college coaches now to identify potential targets.
For many people, the recruiting process can be overwhelming. Many parents and families have never experienced it before and find it nearly impossible to know how to best navigate it all. Over the next week or so I’ll be doing my best to answer any and all questions to give you a starting point as you pursue your goal of playing college basketball. In this edition, we will discuss how to use Twitter as a tool in your recruitment.
Part of getting ahead of the recruiting process is becoming your own best salesman. There is a level of marketing that goes along with “winning” the exposure game and we are here to share some of those secrets. What do you need to put in your Twitter bio? The importance of a pinned tweet. Making your profile easy to find. We will cover all of that and more below.
- USE YOUR REAL NAME. Make it is easy for college coaches to find you. If your name is Brandon Ramsey then your twitter account needs to be able to be found by searching Brandon Ramsey. Having a Twitter handle of “@bucketgetter23” might seem fun, but it will make it more difficult for you to be found. If your name is taken, try different combinations like “@Ramsey_Brandon” or start adding numbers (preferably your jersey number or graduation year).
- Provide relevant information in your bio. There is no need for motivational quotes or emojis here. This limited space should be treated as your basketball resume. ACCURATE height and weight. High School and AAU team. ACCURATE GPA and test scores. Contact Information (Preferably cell phone number, but if you are uncomfortable sharing publicly then you MUST have DM’s open so coaches can ask directly for your number).
- Pin your highlight video to your profile. We spoke in a previous Recruiting 101 article about how to put together a good highlight video. Here is where that video should live. Pin it to the top of your Twitter profile. Again, your goal should be to make it as easy as possible for college coaches to learn everything they need to know about you.
- Website link. Every Twitter bio has an area where you can link a URL. While it can be beneficial, I don’t think it is necessary to have a personal website. However, if you do, then obviously that should be what you link to in that space. Otherwise, you have three logical options to use for that link. If your Hudl profile is up to date with longer form highlights and/or full game videos that can be a good use of the link. Similarly, if your coach updates MaxPreps after each game you could use this space to link to your season stats. Finally, if neither of those options are available for you, then you should simply link your schedule from John Harrell’s website.
- Don’t be stupid. This should go without saying, but unfortunately it doesn’t. The content of your Twitter feed matters. Admittedly, it isn’t as common for it to become an issue as some people like to act like it does. However, it does still happen that recruitments end due to something that is said or shared on a prospects profile. Again, you should be looking at this as your form of a basketball resume. Therefore, no vulgarity at all. That includes things you actually tweet, but also retweets and even likes. There is just no good reason to introduce vulgarity to your profile.
- DM’ing coaches. As a general rule, I would lean towards emailing versus a Twitter DM, but if a coach follows you a DM is certainly appropriate. In fact, I would encourage you to DM a coach anytime they follow you. If you notice a college coach follow you, a s simple “Hey, Coach, thank you for the follow. It has been a goal of mine for a long time to play college basketball and I certainly am interested in learning more about your program. Please let me know if there is anything you need from. Thanks and good luck this season!”