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Top selling points for recruits
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Posted on the Mean Green board by Harry.

Right here, right now

Facilities, meeting of immediate needs are top selling points for today's recruit

By Ray Buck

Star-Telegram Staff Writer


Hallowed halls and campus traditions are becoming less and less a part of the college recruiting scene.

The PlayStation Generation already has traded in Rockne and the Gipper for SportsCenter highlights.

If it hasn't appeared recently on ESPN Classic, please don't expect an 18-year-old to commit the next four or five years of his life based on something that might have happened before the Clinton Administration, second term.

"A lot of student-athletes coming out of high school now aren't aware of even the Wrecking Crew of the mid-80s," said Alan Cannon, Texas A&M's associate athletic director/media relations. "They're interested more in what's happening right now on your campus."

We live in an instant-gratification society.

Today's blue-chip players also are high-tech savvy.

The windows to their world are propped open by Microsoft.

Ways to access information are omnipresent, and often even hand-held.

There is hardly anything that an incoming recruit hasn't seen or heard, either via the Internet or on television.

"The dynamics of recruiting changed in the mid-80s," said Bill Little, former longtime sports information director and now special assistant to Mack Brown for communications at the University of Texas.

That change stems from a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on an antitrust lawsuit filed by the universities of Oklahoma and Georgia, in which the NCAA was stripped of its rights to negotiate all national television deals and determine which college football games appear on TV.

"That lawsuit," said Little, "changed television exposure a whole bunch."

College football telecasts are now as commonplace as fast-food restaurants.

Television execs now influence the recruiting power of all 117 NCAA Division I-A college football programs, with a pack mentality and decisions on what time slot for whom.

"It gets harder and harder to sell your story," Little said.

That's why a winning program is still the best recruiting bait of all.

Recruiting prospects who ask, "What have you done lately?" and "What have you got for me now?" aren't looking to Ol' Nostalgia U. anymore.

And nothing says "We've got it for you now" better than state-of-the-art athletic facilities.

"There was a time when Notre Dame didn't have great facilities," Little said. "But it was still Notre Dame."

Based on Notre Dame's recent recruiting record, that, obviously, has changed.

Pro Bowl middle linebacker Zach Thomas of the Miami Dolphins paid a summertime visit to his alma mater, Texas Tech, to check out the Red Raiders' new football complex, including a 10,000-square-foot weight room and a players' lounge with a big-screen TV.

Thomas was met by senior linebacker Mike Smith, a Lubbock native who challenged his boyhood hero to a race in the new two-man workout pool, which features a driving current for resistance training.

Thomas lost the race.

"Of course, Mike is four inches taller than [the 5-foot-11] Zach, so he had more of his body out of the water," said Joe Hornaday, who is in his 25th year at Texas Tech and serves as assistant athletic director for public relations. "But afterward, Zach called it 'the best workout I've ever had.' "

Someone asked: "You mean the Dolphins don't have one of these?"

"Not yet," Thomas replied.

In the Southeastern Conference, Arkansas has upgraded its athletic facilities to be among the SEC's best, and that has helped the Razorbacks compete against the likes of Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss in recruiting top players.

Another selling point has become an emphasis on academic counselors assigned to student-athletes.

Twenty years ago, Texas Tech had one full-time and one part-time academic counselor for its jocks.

It now has 10, all full-time.

"That's why it's important to get the parents involved [in an official visit]," Little said. "Members of the team will be the first to tell a young recruit just how important the educational side is for him."

There are schools that can recruit just by sending out postcards.

Washington and Hawaii can offer campus scenery that Pittsburgh and Houston cannot, and don't really try.

Buffalo tries. But the fact that Niagara Falls is "just minutes away" doesn't trigger a stampede of blue-chip recruits to the City of Good Neighbors.

Few campuses are as well-placed as Arizona State and Texas.

Few campuses are as remote as Iowa State and Virginia Tech.

But not every recruiting attraction is used by the school as bait.

"We do everything we can to keep kids away from Sixth Street," said Little, beginning his 38th year at Texas.

After all, this is as much about "evaluation" as it is "recruitment" from a university's standpoint.

If a recruit to Nevada-Las Vegas wants to know how far it is to the Strip, and how late it stays open, he might not be the type of student-athlete who should get a scholarship.

Meanwhile, at College Station, there are far fewer temptations, and many recruits find the Aggie Corps of Cadets to be something of an acquired taste.

But not so with the Aggies' 12th Man.

"That's a unique niche for us," Cannon said. "In my 25 years here, I've never heard a coach get booed. We're able to tell a young man being recruited to play football that we have a very loud, but very supportive, group of students and alums."

So some traditions still work.

"Overall, I don't see a lot of gimmicks and gizmos being used in recruiting today," Little said. "That might fit for one kid ... but it's not going to be a factor in developing your program."

So just win, baby. Just win.

And try to get on TV a lot.

IN THE KNOW

Highs and lows

A few recruiting perks and liabilities found among the 117 NCAA Division I-A football programs:

EASY TO SELL


Arizona State Picturesque Tempe, Ariz., campus is barely a golf-cart ride away from Phoenix.
Georgia Keeping its football tradition "inside the hedges," Athens is a sort of little Austin.
Hawaii Except for the road trips ... what's not to like? Surf's up for all home games.
Miami (Fla.) Palm trees and T-shirt weather are a nice way to enjoy five national titles since '83.
Miami (Ohio) So-called "Cradle of Coaches" is a winning little Shangri-La in southwestern Ohio.
Missouri Columbia is a popular Big 12 stop because it's more than just another college town.
Notre Dame You can still feel the presence of Knute Rockne, the Gipper and Touchdown Jesus.
Penn State JoePa's painful last stand has not detracted from the scenic beauty of Happy Valley.
TCU It has charm and character to offer. Just keep the BCS out of recruiting conversations.
Tennessee Fans known as the "Volunteer Navy" arrive in boatloads to cheer on the Vols.
Texas Live music on Sixth Street is one recruiting hook UT officials don't care to use.
Texas A&M New football complex and 12th Man ritual makes you feel less remote than you are.
UCLA Located in Westwood, next to Hollywood, a perfect setting for upcoming stars.
Washington One of the most spectacular settings ... but only if you like lakes and mountain vistas.
Wisconsin This campus might be the Big Ten's best-kept secret, but you'll want to bring a coat.

HARD TO SELL


Boise State Where wild ducks and geese come to die by mistaking blue turf for water. Really.
Buffalo Where "the City of Good Neighbors" meets Niagara Falls ... but it's still Buffalo.
Cincinnati This neighborhood campus doesn't have any of the Queen City's downtown charm.
Colorado Recruiting-scandal backlash put the normally "easy to sell" CU under scrutiny.
Houston If you're looking for fast-food restaurants and no campus ambiance, be a Cougar.
Iowa State Enjoy long drives in the country? Nothing says "remote" quite like Ames, Iowa.
Kansas State This Manhattan is the "Little Apple" because, as JC transfers find, there's little to do.
Kent State "Where the students were shot" is still Kent State's identity ... 35 years later.
Mississippi State It's fitting that this isolated, country campus is located in Starkville, Miss.
Nevada-Las Vegas A fine retreat for the polyester crowd, but it's not a place for jocks on scholarship.
Oklahoma State Even the cheese fries at Eskimo Joe's aren't enough to offset the Stillwater blahs.
Southern Miss The state of Mississippi needs only one Division I football team -- like Nebraska.
Syracuse There is plenty of tradition, but also plenty of snow and a bleak city landscape.
Virginia Tech Fly into Roanoke, Va., then drive 40 miles to Blacksburg. It's just not convenient.
Washington State Pullman is located closer to Moscow, Idaho, than it is to any major city in Washington.

-- Compiled by staff writers Ray Buck, Jimmy Burch and Wendell Barnhouse
02-01-2005 09:27 PM
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