NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Sacramento Kings

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your merry way to spread the gospel.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the Nets, Timberwolves, and Wizards. Our full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Sacramento Kings (link here, image above). Here's 5 things to inspire you, along with a Plus One to make each better.

1. Celebrate what you have.

Not everyone does this, but the Kings definitely did. Hit their home page and you get stopped with a message of success. There's a splash page (shown above and you can find it here) for Tyreke Evans and his 20/5/5 rookie season... side note, wow.

This features a 4 minute highlight reel, that lets you feel the excitement the Kings have for the future. Doing this not only paints the team around success, but also shows the team that they will elevate the successes!

Plus One: Could they connect fans to this experience? Perhaps it's as simple as asking others to voice a word of congrats for Tyreke? The Kings have elevated him, but could let fans join in on the fun.

2. Full Court Press Blog

The Kings deliver a blog that features a network of 9 people close to the squad: 3 Dance Squad members, 2 team reporters, a strength coach, a VP of Basketball Operations, and 2 players into one feed. Smart, as taking 9 contributors and bringing them together makes you feel like the site is alive.

Naturally, the star of this show is rookie Tyreke Evans (shown below)...

This likely worked out even better than anticipated. The Kings signed up rookie Tyreke Evans to give insight into his season on their site. This has been an ongoing feature that you can see here. And, as his season grew, the significance of his role on the site definitely rose!

Plus One: I like this strategy a lot. Where I think this could go is for someone to moderate this conversation -- to keep all 9 of the contributors on the same topic. Rather than feeling like a feed of 9 experts, can you imagine the power if it felt like these 9 were all weighing in with different perspectives on the same topic?

3. The Kings Photo Blog

I am a big fan of photos. And I've never seen anything like this one! The Kings created a photo blog, which publishes new photos every Thursday. See this here. You can then click in and share any photo you want, as you can see below.

Plus One: The description of this blog includes this line, "Most of the images come from the Kings New Media Team, local photo bloggers, Rocky Widner and Getty Images, who license them to the Sacramento Kings for our use." So essentially, these pictures are licensed for the Kings from many sources. But how could we get fans to participate? Could we create a weekly contest, where the top fan images get posted alongside these? Seems simple but uniting!

4. The Dance Team's on Facebook

As you can see here, the Sacramento Kings Dance Team (SKDT) is on Facebook. This is pretty smart. The opportunity of jumping into the conversation with males and young girls by elevating a dance squad is big. And Facebook is a great forum to do just this. It's a different way of getting the Kings to the top of the conversation.

To top this off, they are pretty active. They treat their 1,200 fans to a deep YouTube video collection and photo galleries (see below).

Plus One: Pictures. Can the SKDT create an opportunity for fans to get their pictures taken with their favorite dancer and then grab it from Facebook? I think there is quite a bit of buzz for having yourself tagged inside an SKDT album. And buzz = more eyeballs.

5. Kings Facebook Live.

The Kings Facebook page has over 27,000 fans (link here). And they have set up Facebook to become a point of uniting the fans around topics. While there are no events scheduled now, you can see just how easy they make it. Come to the Facebook page, click on "Live", and join in the chatter.

Plus One: Schedules. I'm guessing there'll be a live event around the NBA Draft in June. There should always be updates on when to come back. If the Kings can take this foundation and build upon it with a plan for the upcoming season.... Wow.

Hope you enjoyed this. Tune in tomorrow (here) as Peter Robert Casey breaks down the 76ers. And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Minnesota Timberwolves

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your merry way to spread the gospel.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the Nets (over on Peter Robert Casey's site - check that post here). The full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

The Timberwolves season didn't come out as they'd hoped. But that doesn't stop them from creating a great experience online, where there is energy coming at you from all directions.

Here's 5 things to inspire you, along with a Plus One to make each better.

1. Wolves Twitter Pumps Through the Home Page

This is the key to the site feeling alive -- check the image below. You can see not only the latest Tweets from the Wolves staff and roster but, as you see here, all of the fan chatter around the team. Anyone hashtagging "#Twolves" gets elevated to the home page feed. Hot.

And, as you can see at the very bottom (or here), it is synched up for a mobile experience - meaning it is really easy to track the chatter on the squad wherever you go.

Plus One: How can we bring these worlds together? You have the Featured tab of TWolves players and experts and you have the chatter tab. Can we find a way to actually drive some of the chatter by interaction? Maybe it is hosting chats and having people use custom hash tags (like #AskJonny) to steer both the tab and the conversation?

2. Wolves Nation

Wow I'm digging this. A LOT. As you can find here and in the images below, Wolves Nation is the hub of all things social media and really the destination many programs could learn from. First, they elevate the latest pictures from Flickr, Tweets, Forum posts, and YouTube videos. If it is current, it gets elevated here. And second, they give you quick links to other sites that cover the Wolves -- news sites, blogs, and fan sites.

It's this area, the Blogroll, that leads to my Plus One: What if there was an incentive for people to pump into the site. What if bloggers actually got hyped on this site? What if each of them played a role in the lead story -- the traffic that'd drive would be monstrous for them. And the level of energy that'd give to the Wolves Nation site... Wow.

3. Flynn's Playoff Tweets

Rookie Jonny Flynn is active on Twitter, shown here (and below).



He's got just over 23,000 followers. The Timberwolves have an innovative way of keeping the dialogue going when their squad is out.

The Wolves are using Jonny as a Twitter source to cover the playoffs -- shown here covering the Thunder vs Lakers series. I like seeing this, as it shows the fans there's something to learn by hitting the site even after the games are over. Nice work.

Plus One: What if there was a schedule of times to interact with the players all summer long? Each player and coach could take the stage, rotating day by day. That gives us the same "gotta be there" feeling, while keeping it close to the current squad.

4. The Wolves on Flickr

I'm a big fan of seeing the Wolves Flickr stream hit the home page. You can check it out here, or below. This is great for a few reasons: 1) you can sign up for updates by adding the Wolves as a contact. 2) you can easily browse through these pictures by album and then take the ones with you that you want, and 3) just going through these photos makes you feel more connected to the Wolves.

Plus One: What if there was an incentive for posting the best pictures to the Wolves Flickr gallery? (Or to Flickr with the Wolves as a tag?) Perhaps the best fan photo each month shows up as the home page image for a day? Or gets turned into wallpapers for others to take with them?

5. Top 5 Plays of the Week

I'm a big fan of this. Elevate your strengths, and that you are an exciting brand of basketball. Week in, week out, the T-Wolves pump the best highlights right to the home page, shown below.

Click in and you get a pretty solid video player, along with access to previous weeks of highlights.

Plus, at the end of the video, you can easily share this to your friends. I'm not sure why you can't share this via email or Twitter, but at least we have Facebook!

Plus One: Bring the fans into the conversation. Ask fans on Facebook what their favorite plays were (or ask the players) and then roll those out as the final highlight packages. This is a chance to create a conversation -- take advantage of that!

Stand by tomorrow as we keep moving. (Here's a link for our full schedule of team breakdowns).

Digital Hoops Blast & Peter Robert Casey NBA Digital Disciple Series

It's time.

Starting today, Peter Robert Casey (link here) and I are going to begin diving deep on every team in the NBA and how they connect with fans.
Here's the simple storyline: 30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings on how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine -- 5 takeaways per team: a starting 5 of things you really should take notice of. Then we'll give you 1 suggestion on how to make it even better.

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way to apply and spread the gospel.

This is pretty sweet stuff, and it's an honor for me to work alongside Peter. Since I'm out in Oregon and he's in NYC we divided up the squads. (With me getting the Western Conference and Peter taking on the East).

Here's the schedule. Teams initialed AP will be here on Digital Hoops Blast. Teams initialed PRC will be at Peter Robert Casey. Don't worry, we'll remind you. Or you can follow us on Twitter: I'm up here, Peter is here.

WEEK 1
Monday, Apr 26 - NJ Nets (PRC)
Tuesday, Apr 27 - Minnesota Timberwolves (AP)
Wednesday, Apr 28 - Washington Wizards (PRC)
Thursday, Apr 29 - Sacramento Kings (AP)
Friday, Apr 30 - Philadelphia 76ers (PRC)

WEEK 2
Monday, May 3 - Golden State Warriors (AP)
Tuesday, May 4 - Detroit Pistons (PRC)
Wednesday, May 5 - LA Clippers (AP)
Thursday, May 6 - NY Knicks (PRC)
Friday, May 7 - New Orleans Hornets (AP)

WEEK 3
Monday, May 10 - Indiana Pacers (PRC)
Tuesday, May 11 - Memphis Grizzlies (AP)
Wednesday, May 12 - Toronto Raptors (PRC)
Thursday, May 13 - Houston Rockets (AP)
Friday, May 14 - Chicago Bulls (PRC)

WEEK 4
Monday, May 17 - OKC Thunder (AP)
Tuesday, May 18 - Charlotte Bobcats (PRC)
Wednesday, May 19 - San Antonio Spurs (AP)
Thursday, May 20 - Milwaukee Bucks (PRC)
Friday, May 21 - Portland Trail Blazers (AP)

WEEK 5
Monday, May 24 - Miami Heat (PRC)
Tuesday, May 25 - Utah Jazz (AP)
Wednesday, May 26 - Boston Celtics (PRC)
Thursday, May 27 - Denver Nuggets (AP)
Friday, May 28 - Atlanta Hawks (PRC)

WEEK 6
Monday, May 31 - Phoenix Suns (AP)
Tuesday, June 1 - Orlando Magic (PRC)
Wednesday, June 2 - Dallas Mavericks (AP)
Thursday, June 3 - Cleveland Cavaliers (PRC)
Friday, June 4 - LA Lakers (AP)

WEEK 7
Monday, June 7 - Eastern Conference Wrap-up (PRC)
Tuesday, June 8 - Western Conference Wrap-up (AP)
Wednesday, June 9 - Who would win the Eastern Conference based on Marketing (PRC)
Thursday, June 10 - Who would win the Western Conference based on Marketing (AP)
Friday - June 11 - Finale (Both)

NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from #5 Seed Texas A&M

We continue our evaluation of this year's NCAA Tournament field, from a marketing point of view. We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. And, for fans, of each team, that's a look into what makes you special.

It's time to check out the South Region.

Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke, #2 Villanova, #3 Baylor, and #4 Purdue.

Let's go.

South Region #5 Seed Texas A&M (link here)

What's Inspiring about Texas A&M Athletics Marketing?

We've broken down the Aggies marketing efforts previously (defined as the best in the Big 12, here). Today I'll call out 3 things we can take as serious inspiration from A&M...

1. Coach Turgeon on Facebook

There is something magical about your head coach on Facebook. Coach Turgeon's page (linked here) has roughly 2,300 fans. The posts here are daily and each one ignites a series of comments and thumbs up -- which shows us something. Putting your leader into a community of fans and then having an active presence can have a big effect on your program. This is great stuff.

How could this be better? I was a little surprised by this text, posted on the page:

"Coach Turgeon is the man and deserves a fan page.... We'll be mostly posting quotes from his Twitter, press conferences, and radio shows."

So... if that's right, it implies Coach isn't actually maintaining this page. And that's a miss. The foundation is here for him not just to leverage Facebook as a place to push out information but to connect with his fans and lift up the program along the way. Coach Turgeon needs to take ownership of this and then we'll see it ignite.

2. The Aggie Fastbreak blog

Another school with a fantastic insider blog. Texas A&M's Aggie Fastbreak blog is great for reasons we've seen before -- consistent posts with a point of view you can't find just anywhere. Linked here and shown below, this also brings a nice design to it and (as you can see in the bottom right hand side of the page), you see the Aggie Twitter feed pumped right into this blog.

How could we make this better? The last post above, March 21, signals the end of the season. But fans don't stop being fans (and recruits don't stop being recruits) when the season ends. How can we evolve this to have not just an in-season but an offseason point of view? You can't get that info anywhere else which only adds to the allure of this blog!

3. The Virtual Guide to Aggie Athletics

We just saw a virtual guide yesterday with Purdue. A&M also has a version, shown below and linked here. Like Purdue, the Aggie guide takes a print guide and inserts relevant video content. It's really a fantastic piece, especially at the start of the season as you hear Coach Turgeon talk about his team, what excites him, and you can even check out a video of their offseason workouts (which is smoking hot!)

How could we make this better? The biggest challenge with this format is it quickly becomes dated. It's an amazing guide but now we look at it and wonder how fast the new version can get up. And that's an opportunity to re-look at these things. Could they be built in a way that actually updated as the season did? If you see the image above you'll note the Twitter and Facebook icons. Those take you out of the guide and into the latest on the Aggies... But what if it was the other way around? What if the latest on the Aggies was the starting point and the fixed content supported it? That could be powerful stuff!

Hope you've enjoyed this ride. Come back on Monday as we unveil our latest project!

Earth Day Special: Are Apps becoming wasteful?

I was peering at my iPhone this morning as I'm hit with the messages of Earth Day. Take a look at the image above (yes, I have a lot of email to read!)

The things I want to call to your attention are Madden 10, CBS March Madness on Demand Lite and CBS March Madness on Demand Pay. Those 3 apps all gave me great joy for awhile. And they all 3 will no doubt be replaced with 2011 versions that I'll end up redownloading as I throw away these.

There has to be a better way.

Rather than hit us up with a chance to buy a one-time thing, why not let us buy a lifetime subscription? Why not let me download "Madden" or "March Madness". No guarantees how long they'll be around, but I personally identify with both and would be proud to have them as a part of my phone... which means a part of my identity.

This longer term thinking will result in deeper connections between the app maker and the consumer, make more money, and eliminate some of this "virtual waste."

Thoughts?

NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from #4 Seed Purdue

We continue our evaluation of this year's NCAA Tournament field, from a marketing point of view. We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. And, for fans, of each team, that's a look into what makes you special.

It's time to check out the South Region.

Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke, #2 Villanova, and #3 Baylor.

Let's go.

South Region #4 Seed Purdue (link here)

What's Inspiring About Purdue Athletics Marketing?

We broke down the Boilers marketing efforts previously, here. Today I'll go into 3 things we can take as serious inspiration...

1. Basketball virtual guide

Purdue offers a series of virtual publications, shown below and linked here. These publications take the place of the traditional media guide. At their core, they take the standard print media guide and then lay video elements and music over the top of it. I covered this a bit in my description of the impact the iPad will have on college athletics marketing (here), and this is an example of something that will no doubt evolve as technology does.

First, check the menu -- virtual pubs are available for just about every sport.

Then, as you can see here, these are available for multiple years -- an archive of content. That's pretty cool as you have the potential to see things evolve over time. But that will require us to think through what we want to compare over time...

Here's how it all unfolds in the hoops guide -- Coach Painter's video over the top of the print guide. Cool.

How could this be better?

• Do we need both? Why not eliminate the print media guide and focus only on a video and image driven experience? Or perhaps we could flip this -- instead of starting with a print guide and adding video/interactive components, what if we started with video/interactive components and then developed a print guide from it?
• How do we want to compare over time? Could we develop topics that define Purdue Hoops and then having them defined, via this guide, season-by-season. For example, if effort and defense define the program, let's have a feature each year devoted to this topic!

2. Why I became a coach.

This is a fantastic statement. And Purdue puts this into their video guide. Why did Coach Painter become a coach, and what does he like the most about his job? Very insightful things, and the video (illustrated below) is heartfelt and gives you a good feel at what he believes in.

How could this be better? Break this out of the guide! This is great content, but it needs to be elevated and easy to find. The more potential recruits who understand Coach Painter's motivations, the more connected they will become to the Boilers!

3. The Cliz Blog

Purdue elevates the voice of the Boilermakers, Larry "the Cliz" Clisby to his own blog on the program. Linked here and shown below, this gives you inside access to the program, including posts on the summer/offseason outlook for the program. I love seeing the access, and info on the program in the summer is something we have trouble finding elsewhere.

How could this be better? Keep it going. Could Purdue start to become the source of content in the summer about the program? How hard are the guys working? What are they doing? Clinics, camps, weights, and in the community? Building on this starting point could be very impactful stuff, and create a destination that fans (or recruits) simply can't find elsewhere.

That's it. Come back tomorrow as we keep moving through the region!

Andy

NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from #3 Seed Baylor

We continue our evaluation of this year's NCAA Tournament field, from a marketing point of view. We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. And, for fans, of each team, that's a look into what makes you special.

It's time to check out the South Region.

Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke and #2 Villanova.

Let's go.

South Region #3 Seed Baylor (link here)

What's Inspiring about Baylor Athletics Marketing?

We previously broke down Baylor, here. Today I want to elevate three things we can take as inspiration from the Bears.

1. The Baylor Athletics Experience

One thing you are quickly drawn to on the Baylor site is the word "Experience." I love that word. It's what we are all about. What is the experience your program stands for. The link is here, the image is below.

Clicking in, you get access to highlights team info and the Game Day experience, shown below. I'm a fan of elevating the environment you play in, and by portraying the "Bear Pit", you get just that. If you don't know about Baylor basketball, this image and copy gets you a feeling that the program is Big Time.

How could this be better? Well, for starters this experience needs to be updated. It still reflects 08-09 highlights as of now. And this squad just went deep in the NCAAs, nearly making it to the Final Four. I believe putting something out around the experience needs to be updated in real time, as the season goes. As you'll see later, Baylor has great tools to enable this. I also believe the Bear Pit should be portrayed via sounds or video... Let us feel how crazy it is!

2. Strength and Conditioning, in video.

Strength and Conditioning is a key to athletes hitting their potential. And Baylor elevates this in a big way. Not only do they go into the philosophy in words and pictures, but you get a chance to watch their head strength and conditioning guy (who as you'll see below is pretty piped himself!) in video. That's impactful stuff.

How could it be better? I'd love to see strength and conditioning broken out by sport. Show us how your basketball philosophy differs from your football or track philosophy. And then build in success stories. There's no coincidence that the athleticism of Baylor's basketball team helped drive the success of the program. And we should elevate this on the site.

3. A great blog network

I love what Baylor does via blogging. There is literally a network of blogs piped into the home page, shown in the image below.

Clicking into the Baylor Basketball Full court press blog, here, shows us a look at a ridiculously good Basketball blog. This blog is updated often, and comes at it from an authenticly excited tone, which I believe draws fans in. There's talk about the success of the program and the athletes (including the post below on their lottery bound athlete!) The blog gives you a look around the sports world for articles on the Bears and shares them right here. And, if you want to follow their postings, simply follow them on Twitter, here.

How could this be better? My only ask would be to find a way to elevate other writers who are covering the Bears -- be it local media beat reporters or non-Baylor athletics bloggers. Bring them into one space and amp up the energy to a new level.

Hope you dug this... Tune in tomorrow as we keep moving through the region. Or click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from #2 Seed Villanova

We continue our evaluation of this year's NCAA Tournament field, from a marketing point of view. We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. And, for fans, of each team, that's a look into what makes you special.

It's time to check out the South Region.

Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke.

Let's go.

South Region #2 Seed Villanova (Link Here and Here)

What's Inspiring about Villanova Athletics?

We previously broke down Villanova, here. Today I want to elevate three things we can take as inspiration from the Wildcats.

1. Life after Basketball

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you know I absolutely love this. But I feel the need to re-elevate this feature as it is just plain fantastic on many fronts. The Nova Nation basketball site allows you to navigate the tradition of the program. And, as you see in the image below, the top thing listed under tradition is not the tournament appearances (or last year's Final Four bid)... It is life after basketball.



Wow. Now, when you drill in, you are taken to a page where we hear from Coach Jay Wright. He puts it directly:

"This is Villanova Basketball -- excelling as a player, student, and a man."

That's powerful.

And click on in and you get the image below - a 4 page PDF that shows you all the Nova hoops alumni, their degree, and where they are working, sorted by industry. I love this because it shows the program cares about more than what you do on the hardwood. And I love it because it helps show you that your education and degree at Villanova can literally take you anywhere. It's so simple, but wow this is fantastic.

So how could this be better? If this is our roster of alums, let us click in and see what their basketball experience was like, and how they got to where they are. Let us know how Villanova athletics, can help leverage this alumni base to get you a job. And show us how you stay in touch with players even after their eligibility is up. Fantastic start here!

2. Strength & Conditioning Clinics

I'm a believer in the notion that you can define a role for yourself in the world by creating a vision and then aligning as much as you can against that very vision. And Villanova does this via their Strength & Conditioning programs.

Many programs devote space on their sites towards the development of their student athletes. But Villanova takes this to another level -- actually hosting clinics for other teams' coaches to come and learn from them (HS and College coaches). As a player, that signals one big thing: the Nova staff absolutely knows what they are doing and will help you reach your potential.

Here's the agenda:

How could this be better? Like conferences in the business world, publish your findings online. Let us see the curriculum. Doing this won't take away from your clinic but rather encourage more people to find a way to attend! And you'll win over future student athletes along the way...

3. Video Blog with the squad

The ease of taking a FlipCam and arming a staff member or player with it gives programs a chance to create unprecedented access to the team. As you can see in the image below, Nova gives fans a chance to see the latest video blog entries via NovaNation.com. Nice.

So how could we make this better?

• Consistency. The image above was from a video posted in September 2009 -- the last time they uploaded one. This has potential that will only be reached if fans (and recruits) understand what's coming and when.
• Subscriptions. Let people sign up to get these -- or release them via Twitter and Facebook and drive fans to sign up there. In any case this combination of predictability/consistency and notification is what will build the following.

Come back tomorrow as we keep plugging through the South Region!

NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from #1 Seed Duke

We continue our evaluation of this year's NCAA Tournament field, from a marketing point of view. We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. And, for fans, of each team, that's a look into what makes you special.

It's time to check out the South Region.

Up first, top seeded (and National Champ) Duke. Note, I previously profiled the Blue Devils, ranking them the best in the ACC (here).

South #1 Seed Duke (links here, here, and here)

What Inspires me about the Duke Blue Devils Athletics Marketing?

Duke Athletics Home

Coach K.com

Duke Blue Planet

As you can gather from the 3 links and images above, it's tough to take a program like Duke and boil it down to just three things that inspired me. So I've chosen to elevate my favorite thing in each of the 3 Duke sites, which I'll discuss here.

1. Duke Blue Planet Live (link here)

This is one of my favorite features, anywhere. I'm going to spend a little time talking about this here, because there's a lot we can learn from here. And, you really need to check out Duke Blue Planet (here), as I could do a top 10 list of features here. (one day!)

OK. So if you click into Duke Blue Planet Live, you come to the image below. Duke has done a lot amazing here. First, they are aggregating all "Insiders" here. And insiders are coaches, current players, former players, and Duke official sites. That's hot. Seriously, it is everything as a Duke fan you might want. I don't know why you'd go anywhere else!

Now, if you look closer (I zoomed in below), you see that Duke has made it very easy to retweet or reply to any of the comments. Wow. So now you the Insider get more love for your comments because Duke has made it easy. Fantastic.

But it doesn't stop here. Click on "Our Fans" and you are able to see all the chatter from people on Twitter who have identified themselves as a Blue Devil fan. Again, the easy retweet and reply buttons are here. You'll also notice in the upper right the ability to grab the Duke Twitter widget. So you can take this content and put it into your blog -- meaning Duke fans can now take all of this with them, to their site. Crazy.

Finally, the image below shows how easy they make it to share links on the squad. (nothing below, but I'm sure that changes in the heart of the season). I also like the call to action on the right -- Are you a Tweeting Duke fan? Sign up to appear on our Fans page. Hot.

So how could we make this better? That's a tough one. But I have 2 thoughts.

• I think finding a way to elevate bloggers or sports beat writers who cover the squad could be interesting. Maybe that's a way to make the Links page a bit more relevant? That way we could include links to every post bloggers and journalists are writing on the team in one spot, much like the Tweets have been aggregated. Make them easy to Tweet and share via Facebook + email. That'd be incredible!
• Could we make it easy to follow any of the insiders on Twitter? (either as a list or individually?) I'd love to see a simple "subscribe" button that allows me to get access to all of these insiders!

2. Twitter Hits the Athletics Site

This is fantastic. Duke does a great job on Twitter (link here), and I find it shocking they "only" have 3,500 followers. But they take the Twitter feed and pump it right into the basketball home page (shown below). This is great, as they take the basketball action and bring it right to the fan (or recruit) who is looking for it.

How do we make it better? I'd love to see the Insiders from Duke Blue Planet infiltrate this site. Find a way to elevate the Duke MBB Twitter as the "hero" or host of this content, but bring everything together. That way you elevate not just one Twitter feed but all the great stuff. And then, come game day, you have a stream of content hitting fans who are ready for it!

3. Coach K's Quotes

Coach K. He's a legend, I wanted to add this one to show that you don't have to go to big extremes to make a big impact. Every coach has quotes that define their philosophy of basketball, player development, relationships, and life. And through Coach K's site, those are all elevated in one spot, linked here. You can't read these without getting a better feel for who Coach is as a teacher and a leader.

How could this be better? Let us sign up for a quote of the day. (or week) That'd be incredible - to have an easy way to get motivated and inspired from a legend. And it would connect us deeper to Duke in the process.

That's it. Come back tomorrow as we keep moving!

Andy