Fans do play a role in the athletic recruiting process for schools

Last week I spoke about how some overzealous fans will take the time to find the MySpace and Facebook pages of certain recruits and tell them to come to their favorite school.  If that fan is a booster of the school, that is an NCAA violation and something that is not going to help a school land a recruit.

But looking past those crazy fans, there is no doubt that the overall fan base will help you make a decision during the football recruiting process or basketball recruiting process.  If you visit a school, you may be overwhelmed and/or underwhelmed by the fans during the game that you attend.  This is the reason why college coaches want recruits to come for Homecoming or their rivalry games.  If they see the crowd for other games and the fan base, it may actually hurt the school.

As a recruit, you should try and pay close attention to the fan base at a game.  Do they remain positive throughout the course of the game?  If one thing goes wrong, do they quickly turn and start yelling and cussing at their own team?  One thing that high school athletes will certainly remember is if the crowd boos certain players.  As an athlete, do you want to be the one being booed in three years?

The fan base plays a role because regardless of how good or bad the football team is, they are going to be the one creating the atmosphere around the game.  Over 100,000 fans go to games at Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee Ohio State, and schools along those lines.  While the players will be playing no matter how many people are in the seats, these seats help add another aspect to the game.

I have spoken with many recruits following their visits to schools and they will talk about how great the game was and also the atmosphere.  This atmosphere is created by the fans in attendance.  No matter what sport you play, it is much more fun playing in front of a packed house than an empty one.  I myself have played in front of both and it is hard when there are fifty people in the seats to really get into a game, no matter who you are playing.

The more in the stands, the more buzz there is around the game.  And as a recruit, this is something you should pay attention to.  Are there a lot of fans coming early for the games?  Try to come to a game that is not against their rivals and not Homecoming.  If you can go to a “big” game and then another less meaningful game, how do the crowds differ?  Does the student body get into the games?

If you decide on going to that school, these are the fans that will hopefully be supporting you through the next four or five years.  I would also check out message boards of the school and see how the fans are then.  I talked with a recruit who was considering an in-state school but he hated the way that the fans treated the players on message boards.  If a player on the team had a bad game, then someone on the boards would attack the play of this person.  It was not a surprise that the recruit choose another school, even with it still being in the same conference.

The NCAA may hate it but fans will play a role in the recruiting process for every sport you can play.  So keep that in mind when you are taking visits.  These fans may like the team more when it is winning but they are as likely to turn on you as they are doing to current players.

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