NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from #15 Seed Morgan State

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.

Thus far, we've reviewed top seeded Kentucky, #2 West Virginia, #3 New Mexico, #4Wisconsin, #5 Temple, #6 Marquette, #7 Clemson, #8 Texas, #9 Wake Forest, #10 Missouri, #11Washington, #12 Cornell, #13 Wofford, and #14 Montana.

Let's check out #15 Morgan State.

East #15 Seed Morgan State (Link Here)

What's Inspiring about Morgan State Athletics?

1. A very approachable leader

When you hit the home page, the right hand side greets you with the tout for AD Floyd Kerr. It's bold, yet the image here makes it feel welcoming. This is up there with the West Coast Conference and Commish Jamie Zaninovich, who makes himself very approachable on Twitter, here. I like that style of leadership -- make it obvious to your fans that you are willing to connect with them. (In fact, I'd be wrong to not point out you can follow me on Twitter, here!)

But back to this.

You can click in and, in the traditional/non-Twitter sense, just post a question for the AD.

When I clicked in, you'll see the wall of questions. Which to me segways nicely into the question, "How could this be better?" Simply put, we need more questions. If you aren't getting any, perhaps you should take questions you get in other venues (Facebook, Twitter, phone, email, or in person) and post them here. I think there's a certain degree of value in having the dialogue from the leader front and center. Tell us what's on your mind -- it'll only connect us more deeply to you.

2. Strength Training, in words

We all know that most freshmen don't come into college with NBA ready bodies. And, especially at the mid-to-low major, your strength & conditioning coach is going to prove critical to you hitting your athletic potential.

Morgan State does this by developing a deep content base including the philosophy of their staff as it relates to overall strength training, diet, and development. Check the image below.

So how could this get better? I'd love to see this broken apart by sport. I'd love to hear from student athletes on how they got better. I'd love to see pictures or video of the facility and players at work. Essentially build upon what you have and make it more personalized to the prospective student athlete!

3. Blogging with Boze!

This is just plain ridiculous. I was greeted with this beautiful button on the Morgan State basketball page.

Clicking on it takes you here, to Coach Bozeman's blog (shown below). It is one of the best blogs I've come across, period. Bold statement. Yes. But check this sample, here:

"I tell you what....there is nothing like a packed arena, gym, play ground or court during a basketball game! If that doesn't get your juices flowing you need a transplant! Well all that to say that our game at Coppin State last night was a great college basketball atmosphere! The place was packed, the band was jammin and the hecklers were in full force. As i was walking in the game, i didn't come over with the team, i was standing behind some fans who were ripping da bears up and saying that "yeah they beat us last year but we got them in the tournament"...yeah...i was right there but i didn't say anything and they didn't know who i was either. Funny huh? So needless to say I'm walking into the locker room grabbing my side from that body blow i got comin in. Jump ball baby! C'on...i hate the time before the game! That waitin around kills me...i wish we could walk into the arena and jump it up right off da muscle! That's a B more term ya'll chill wit the confused look! :) lol"

Wow. That is as authentic as it comes. Personal, well written, funny, so fantastic. I felt more connected to Coach from just reading that.

How could this be better? Well for some reason this stopped. Nothing new was posted after March 6, 2009. I know blogging is hard work. Sometimes I wonder if I can keep up my own pace with this site. But wow, he stepped away for some reason. So, my take is to bring him back -- be it via blog, Twitter, or something else. And then hype it, because you need to show off your strengths!

Now he did recently start on Twitter, here. I'm follower #8 (which I wish gave me more status!), but that will no doubt grow. Hopefully Morgan State will hype what he's doing!

That's it. One more team in the East region, coming at you tomorrow.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter if you dig this stuff, here.

Andy