Saw this article about a recruiting visit gone wrong at William and Mary. It has to do with the track team, but I would be put off if my visit was like that. I think the blame here falls most squarely on the coaches. You pair a recruit with someone able and willing to represent the school. By the sounds of things, this host could care less.

https://www.lockerroomtalk.com/blog/recr...one-wrong/

I'm embarrassed

The old adage, "Don't believe everything that you read".

(01-15-2018 05:54 PM)tribe64 Wrote:  The old adage, "Don't believe everything that you read".

I hear you and you may be right. It is a one sided published piece. I should have said, "if" that is how the host acted, then that is a problem. I hosted many a recruit when I played. Some recruits were engaged and some stand offish. There were some that I swore had a great time and were a slam dunk to commit that went elsewhere. There were some that committed that I thought that there was absolutely no way they want to be here. It definitely takes two to tango though. The host needs to shepherd them through the ins and outs of the university and show them a good time. The recruit needs to be receptive and at least pretend to be interested.

How could this girl make this stuff up? She had praise about the coaches and the school, but was pointing out what happened with her sponsor. She named no names.

When you do a recruiting trip the coaches match up the best players who with match up with the recruit to sell them on the desire to come to the college. This was an embarrassment for our track program.

Why else would the girl post this?

(01-15-2018 05:54 PM)tribe64 Wrote:  The old adage, "Don't believe everything that you read".

(01-15-2018 07:41 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  How could this girl make this stuff up? She had praise about the coaches and the school, but was pointing out what happened with her sponsor. She named no names.

When you do a recruiting trip the coaches match up the best players who with match up with the recruit to sell them on the desire to come to the college. This was an embarrassment for our track program.

Why else would the girl post this?

(01-15-2018 05:54 PM)tribe64 Wrote:  The old adage, "Don't believe everything that you read".

So, you believe everything you read? If not, you are in total agreement with tribe64.

I don't believe everything I read. I should say, I dont believe authors always or even usually provide their audience with all of the facts and free of subjectivity. People have agendas. How many "reputable" media personnel have been exposed? And, their reputation is EVERYTHING.

Maybe someone will see this and contact her. It's worth a follow-up for sure.



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(01-15-2018 08:32 PM)Tribal Wrote:  

(01-15-2018 07:41 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  How could this girl make this stuff up? She had praise about the coaches and the school, but was pointing out what happened with her sponsor. She named no names.

When you do a recruiting trip the coaches match up the best players who with match up with the recruit to sell them on the desire to come to the college. This was an embarrassment for our track program.

Why else would the girl post this?

(01-15-2018 05:54 PM)tribe64 Wrote:  The old adage, "Don't believe everything that you read".

So, you believe everything you read? If not, you are in total agreement with tribe64.

I don't believe everything I read. I should say, I dont believe authors always or even usually provide their audience with all of the facts and free of subjectivity. People have agendas. How many "reputable" media personnel have been exposed? And, their reputation is EVERYTHING.

Maybe someone will see this and contact her. It's worth a follow-up for sure.



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It was written anonymously but they felt it was ok to call out The College though. Not buying it. Sounds like a purposeful hatchet job.

This is an interesting thread.

Hey, at least this story didn't involve drugs, alcohol, dogs, turtles, or ferrets! Just a messy dorm room and a boyfriend.

I met no one associated with W&M prior to coming to W'burg.

In school, I joined a frat and played a varsity sport. If some of my fellow players or frat members had "recruited" me when I was in high school, and I had to stay in their rooms ... yikes!

All I know is that, when I became a parent, I told my kids not to be swayed in any way by the students giving the guided tours when it came time for them to pick a school. Ironically, as I did the W&M tour, my son reminded me of what I said, and I rolled my eyes, as it was the worst tour we went on.

College student influence on high school students, and the decisions of a high school student, is similar to Russian roulette in a lot of ways, IMO. Imagine being an adult coach, and knowing your livelihood depends on 18-22 year olds recruiting 16-17 year olds. No thanks!

While I don't question the story, it would be interesting to know what school was the winner.

As for the midnight stuff, well, I suspect that some folks would have been more receptive. After all, for many of us, some of our fondest memories of W&M happened outside, during the night time hours ... part of the charm of the place.

Sorry, I can't get worked up about this. Simply sounds like it wasn't a good fit ... and that is the purpose of the visit, is it not?

Regardless of the veracity of this tale, and I take it with a grain of salt, we must be doing something right when you look at all the terrific women and men student-athletes we recruit to W&M.

Interesting the host and her boyfriend spend time in the middle of the night practicing the hammer throw. What a bizarre world but it is W&M. Always competitive.

It is still a wake-up call, of sorts, to ALL W&M coaches...all your hard work can be undone, quickly, if you set up a visit with a host who doesn't really want to be a host. Some people are just not comfortable with that type situation and some are.

I don't care if it is all true, part fiction, or someone has an agenda. It isn't good publicity.

When I hosted recruits our coach was very clear about what we should do, how to conduct ourselves, where the kid was going to be at all times, etc. It didn't hurt to take him to a hoops game or to a Sorority. No booze, drugs, etc. And my dorm/apartment weren't trashed with clothes all over the place with a dirty bathroom. We usually had more than one of us involved with the recruit so that if one of us had something else that was important we could do a hand off. The fact that she had to sleep on the floor was crappy.

(01-16-2018 09:37 AM)Tribe32 Wrote:  I don't care if it is all true, part fiction, or someone has an agenda. It isn't good publicity.

When I hosted recruits our coach was very clear about what we should do, how to conduct ourselves, where the kid was going to be at all times, etc. It didn't hurt to take him to a hoops game or to a Sorority. No booze, drugs, etc. And my dorm/apartment weren't trashed with clothes all over the place with a dirty bathroom. We usually had more than one of us involved with the recruit so that if one of us had something else that was important we could do a hand off. The fact that she had to sleep on the floor was crappy.

I will agree with the sleeping on the floor part. Our dorms are small to begin with. Ideally, somebody gives up a bed if the recruits have to sleep there. If true, pretty ridiculous that the boyfriend felt the need to hang around during the kid's visit. Still, in writing this, I don't buy it. Still, it certainly helps in showcasing what NOT to do as a coach or host.

Is this recent?

Would be interesting to see what reputation this website has among recruits/current athletes with regard to credibility and overall usefulness. Hope the AD and coaches are aware of it. These "ratings" sites can be a major detriment to any business, since most reviews tend to be negative. General rule is that you have go out of your way to ask happy recruits to post a review to keep it balanced.