The Chicago Tribune did a nice piece today on social media and how integral it is to recruiting earlier today, and reached out to Northwestern director of player personnel Chris Bowers for some insight, and Bowers didn't disappoint.
If you're going to use social media to recruit effectively, following the trendy path isn't necessarily the right path to travel down.
"Some schools out there, they're trying to be Hashtag U. Everything they do is built around their hashtag." Bowers explained.
"That's hot and trendy, but at the end of the day, it's like what I say about my wife: I didn't marry her because she's pretty. I went on a first date with her because she's pretty. I married her because of her values and character, and that's the way it is with social media."
"Some kids will take a look at us for (social media) or our cool Under Amour uniforms. But if they marry us, it better be for something beyond that. It's a big commitment."
With coaches hitting the road (and social media) hard to finalize their 2015 class, Bowers provides an interesting perspective and with social media playing a bigger role than ever, it's valuable advice.