Young Recruits Buying Their Own Hype

ESPN conducted a survey of women’s college basketball coaches and recruiters to uncover what they are really looking for in recruits. WomenTalkSports.com caught my attention by highlighting the below comment from that survey. The comments were all posted anonymously.

One coach or trainer said, “…This generation right now likes to be told what to do. … Four to five years ago there were more kids who understood that accountability piece. It was more about looking for talent because kids were much more disciplined. Technology and media attention have changed kids tremendously. Kids aren't as invested to work in the gym every day. They need to Facebook, and Twitter, and check out what all the media outlets are saying about them. It didn't used to be like that. Kids want instant gratification. And so do their parents. There seems to be no long-term investment into working hard, being accountable and letting natural progression happen."

Upfront, I have never played college basketball, nor have I recruited for it. Perhaps it is true that kids do not like to spend time at the gym. Maybe they do need to be told what to do and act more accountable for their actions. However what, if anything, does that have to do with social media?

Is this recruiter implying that social media has inflated athletes’ egos? That is an interesting statement. Today there are websites completely devoted to high school sports. Maybe the issue is that the best players of today actually know they are the best (where before they could only speculate). Before the internet, local newspapers would cover top talent. However games did not stream on-line, and the stakes (college scholarships-especially for women) were not as high. Years ago the best athletes may not have known they were the best, because it was hard to compare a kid in Maine with one in southern California.

There are two ways to think of this. Perhaps this is just some cranky, old coach who does not ‘get’ social media and likes to look back on athletes of yesteryear through rose-colored glasses. “Back in the day, athletes lifted weights for 6 hours straight, every day…” OR perhaps this is an observant recruiter who is realizing that information overload on an unprepared subject (whether they be student-athletes or, as recent news has taught us, even small time politicians) is a dangerous thing. Maybe there is a little Narcissus in us all, and it rears its ugly head worst in those delicate high school years.

I disagree that technology is making young athletes unaccountable and obsessed with instant gratification. However it is a very real possibility that talented young athletes are buying into their own hype, a hype that has only become possible in a virtual world. Ref. espn.com, womentalksports.com