Atlantic 10 Best Practices: Be a Billiken

This blog is all about inspiration. We're going to spend 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the Atlantic 10 Conference.

You can stay plugged into this journey via this blog, via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

What makes something a best practice? This isn't about the most intricate experience. It's about looking at the world from your consumer's point of view and delivering something that hits it right smack on the head. In the case of colleges, I'm treating the primary consumer as that prospective student athlete.

Cool?

Let's move.

Hit the Saint Louis University home page and scroll down. You'll see a button for "Being Billikens, Inside the Lines."

I'll zoom in, in case that's a bit tough to see:

Intrigued, I click in.

And what we are hit with is a extremely insightful. Saint Louis University created a blog that gives us a look to student athletes at SLU, away from their court or field or pitch.

"Saint Louis University athletes win Atlantic 10 Conference Championships, attain regional athletic and academic honors, and claim All-America Honors. What you don't hear about are the countless hours of community service put in by the Billikens, or the fact that SLU student athletes are leaders in their fields of study. Check back periodically for more notes highlighting the Billikens off the playing field."

Check the blog out here.


Here's what I love about this.

1. This taps into being a part of something bigger -- Saint Louis U, rather than an individual team. When you become a student athlete, there is something powerful about the shared experience you have with members of other sports teams that wear your school's jersey. This hits it home.
2. Photos. You see a candid look at what the players are doing -- and you get a subtle hint that it isn't just sports and books that you get when you head to SLU. There was community service, marathon training, and diverse ways of connecting together.
   
3. Family. There's an interesting mix of current student athletes and alumni here. Showing that you will get to interact with former student athletes as you go through the experience of being a Billiken.

How could this be better? The description should become a mission. It's not about the countless hours (that doesn't sound too uplifting!), but rather about what you do in those hours. Then, I would love to see a little more of the full view of life on campus. Being a Billiken isn't just about community service, just as it isn't just about books or athletics. It's that combination, and to portray that combination in words and pictures could really deliver something unique to the prospective student athlete: He or she would better understand what they could become if they signed up.

Lastly, it's small and simple but I'd love to see it: get testimonials. Text, pictures, video from current student athletes and alumni on how this combination has helped shape them.

Fantastic stuff.

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the A-10! Don't forget, you can stay plugged into this journey via this blog, via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.