Welcome back to our journey through the Pac-10, from a digital point of view.
The internet has leveled the playing field. All schools have an equal opportunity for their coaches and teams to share what it means to be a part of the program. To get you fired up. And to connect with other fans. There is no window of time that coaches can't connect to prospective players (or their families) online. And it's even better, since the control is fully in the hands of the prospective athlete. They reach out to connect whenever they want (or don't want).
So far our journey through the conference has shown us #10 USC and #9 Arizona State. Let's keep moving...
The internet has leveled the playing field. All schools have an equal opportunity for their coaches and teams to share what it means to be a part of the program. To get you fired up. And to connect with other fans. There is no window of time that coaches can't connect to prospective players (or their families) online. And it's even better, since the control is fully in the hands of the prospective athlete. They reach out to connect whenever they want (or don't want).
So far our journey through the conference has shown us #10 USC and #9 Arizona State. Let's keep moving...
#8 Arizona
The Digital Scouting Report
Strengths: Arizona has a bold, prominent Recruits tab in their main navigation. They also show off the energy and passion of their crowd -- playing on the fact that every athlete wants to be a star.
Weaknesses: No Twitter presence to be found, nor any easy way to keep in touch with the program. Video content isn't free or easy to check out. No history of the program to speak of.
Clicking into the Arizona site, here, brings you to a lead feature (football right now, naturally), with some bold callouts for their All-Access area (Comcast videos). These aren't free, mind you, so if you want to check out the videos on the Wildcats, you need to sign up and enter in your credit card info...
But let's keep our attention to what you can explore. I absolutely loved seeing the Recruits Tab, and really like the callouts beneath it. Simple but powerful.
OK, so the set up is there. Cool. So I clicked in. I'll show two of the images below for "Becoming a Wildcat" and "Athletics Tradition."
Is it just me, or did this leave you wishing for more? Arizona has been in the NCAA Tournament 27 times. Twenty-seven. They hit the Sweet 16 last year as a 12-seed (and busted my bracket along the way!), but right now they could be hitting us with the tradition in a big way. And I honestly believe they will, in time...
Moving on, you'll see the Inside Athletics Tab. If you click here, you'll see "Arizona Athletics Videos." Cool. But click in and you'll just see a list. Everything thrown in. It seems to me like there is potential here, but again if you click in, it takes you to CBS Sports All Access (where some videos are free and others require membership to view). OK, just not the world's best experience.
Moving along, I really dug the next area, Zona Zoo. It's a pretty solid area, as it shows you a program out there to support the programs in a big way. (Nice name too!) As a player, you want to play in front of a passionate group of fans, and this is a cool thing to have. I'd love to see them blow this out over time -- let us feel what it's like to sit in the Zona Zoo!
On to the Men's Basketball section, shown below. The information from the home page carries through to the hoops section. I want to call your attention to the link in the middle, Inside Arizona Basketball (cool)!
This is what I'm talking about! See the navigation - Academics, Coaching Staff, For Recruits, Arizona Life, and Nike Basketball. Nice. Really nice. I can't wait to dive in!!!
But, first, I clicked on one of the videos on the left. And I got this below.... (not exactly what I had imagined seeing!) I'd love to see these videos inside the same area!
Moving along, I really dug the next area, Zona Zoo. It's a pretty solid area, as it shows you a program out there to support the programs in a big way. (Nice name too!) As a player, you want to play in front of a passionate group of fans, and this is a cool thing to have. I'd love to see them blow this out over time -- let us feel what it's like to sit in the Zona Zoo!
On to the Men's Basketball section, shown below. The information from the home page carries through to the hoops section. I want to call your attention to the link in the middle, Inside Arizona Basketball (cool)!
This is what I'm talking about! See the navigation - Academics, Coaching Staff, For Recruits, Arizona Life, and Nike Basketball. Nice. Really nice. I can't wait to dive in!!!
But, first, I clicked on one of the videos on the left. And I got this below.... (not exactly what I had imagined seeing!) I'd love to see these videos inside the same area!
Arizona Life gives you some interesting facts on the school, but really doesn't show what it means to be a Wildcat. Interview the players or coaches (or former players!)
And, last, I loved seeing the Nike Basketball tab. This is a big area of the program and very important to players. I was a bit surprised though that clicking on the Nike link takes you here, to a store. The opportunity is to show off your gear. Your kicks. Your uniforms. Even the history of that uniform. Someday.
The thing I didn't see at all here (or anywhere really) was any form of Twitter on Arizona Hoops. In fact, the only thing I could find was Coach Miller's Xavier twitter feed, here.
I show this for a reason, because Coach Miller's posts are really good and relevant. I'm expecting we'll see some of this evolve as he settles in and begins to build the program at Arizona.
Check out the blog next week as we move on to #7!
Thanks for reading!
Andy
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