I guess that we really meant it when we said, “Recruiting, Recruiting Everywhere”.
After spending a few minutes on Chris Wright this weekend, the N&O makes it easy to spend a few minutes on Jamelle McMillan today. (See McMillan’s Scout.com Profile)
One thing that I did NOT like reading was the following part about fans emailing the kids:
With disappointment lingering over Wright’s rejection of State and Wright’s interest in Georgetown growing, Wolfpack fans are doing what they can to convince McMillan to choose their school.
McMillan said he has been hearing from State fans — he isn’t sure how they got his e-mail address — for months. They all want to know if he’s still interested in State. His answer is yes. In fact, when McMillan saw Lowe watching him at the Nike camp, it eased his mind.
“They definitely kept their promise so it’s pretty exciting,” said McMillan, who is ranked 98th by Scout.com.
Why would any fan ever risk turning a recruit OFF by bothering them? Why would any fan ever risk some kind of ridiculous NCAA infraction by contacting a recruit?
Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think that this is the worst thing in the history of the world…but that kind of behavior has never been for me (or SFN).
You can spin such behavior in both a negative or a positive manner – it really depends on the personality of the recruit. Negatively, a fan could risk alienating and turning off a recruit; especially if a recruit is barraged with hundreds of emails. Positively, does a recruit really have any doubt regarding the support of such a program by its fans? As many NC State fans have probably emailed Jamelle as total Arizona State fans exist who know his name.
But, wouldn’t it just be a little less risky for fans in aggregate to roll out the red carpet for recruits when they visit? Jamelle McMillan won’t need any fans helping him make a decision once he visits Tempe, Arizona and sees the ‘atmosphere’ in a Sun Devil Basketball game or learns that the basketball program has to share their practice court with the woman’s volleyball team.
Of course, the problem with email is that you really never know if the person is whom they represent themselves to be. A Wolfpack fan could just as easily email some Carolina football recruits bugging them to come to Chapel Hill. Who would ever know the difference?
