Atlantic 10 Conference Best Practices: George Washington's Ideal Recruit

This blog is all about inspiration. We're spending 5 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the Atlantic 10 You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (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.

Thus far we have seen George Washington put faces to skill development (here), Dayton celebrate success (here), and U Mass give recruits access into athleticism development, here.

Let's move.

It's time to return one more time to the George Washington Athletics website and then enter Coach Hobbs' site, here.

Today, we turn our attention to the middle callout, Hobbs Coaching Philosophy, here, shown below...

As you can tell, there's quite a bit of information laid out in front of us. I've written before on how important it is for coaches to take the time to describe their beliefs and style of play -- and not to assume that "people know and don't care." It's critical. Here's what Coach Hobbs says about his system:

“As a coach my motto is 40 HARD. That means during the course of the game, we are committed to playing as hard as we can for as long as we can because every ossession has an impact on the outcome of the game. I am committed to full-court pressure defense to dictate the pace of the game and a fast break up-tempo style of offense to take advantage of our athleticism and mismatches as we attack on the offensive end…."

But then, he goes a step further where most (or really all) coaches seem to stop. He takes that style and then connects with it. He applies it to who he wants as a student athlete, here:

"I look for athletes who are committed to outwork the opponent and who want to improve all facets of their game as well as develop their basketball IQ”

So we see not just a style of play but also what that means in recruiting. And as a recruit we feel a deeper connection and a sense of whether we fit or not, based just on that point. It's something we can all learn from -- what do you stand for, and what does that mean in terms of the team you want around you?

How could this be better? Add a little bit more to this. I'd love to have Coach Hobbs take that style of play and give (or show) examples that he feels are representative of what he's after. It could be from a big game, or it could be from practice. Show us what embodies the program!

What's up next? Atlantic 10 week continues for one more day, tomorrow. We will continue unveiling peaks into things I found fantastic across the 14-team Atlantic 10 landscape.

And, don't forget, you can follow along via this blog, or hop over to Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Atlantic 10 Best Practices: U Mass and the Recruiting Section

This blog is all about inspiration. We're spending 5 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the Atlantic 10 You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (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.

Thus far we have seen George Washington put faces to skill development (here) and Dayton celebrate success, here.

Let's keep rolling!

Hit the UMass basketball page and scroll down to the bottom. You can kind of see a box for Minute Matters in the bottom center of this image. Don't worry, I'll zoom in for you...

You'll see that UMass lays out content for their three most important groups of consumers: Fans, Recruits, and Alums. We'll go right into the For Recruits box, here.


There is a LOT of information lobbed out here, everything from Compliance and Rules to Directions to Campus or Visitor's Guides to Twitter. But what intrigued me inside this section was the Strength & Conditioning area, which I now dive into...

As you'll note below, this information is extremely deep, but what they do well is specify how they will make you a better athletes. Workouts include a pretty extensive overview.

Program details include speed endurance (designed to help you endure a lack of oxygen), intervals (to improve anaerobic capacity), hill training (for running mechanics and power), speed training (for speed of muscular contraction), and plyometric training (which I hated, but builds strength and footwork). The information is great, as it not just tells you what they do, but why they do it. So many times in life we share what we are doing, but often times it is the why we do it that helps people connect.

How could this be better? I'd love to see this broken out, specifically, for basketball. Give us the picture of what the Hoops team workouts are like and then connect it to the style of play that UMass employs. Would make the workouts not feel like workouts, but more a part of a master plan.

What's up next? Atlantic 10 week continues tomorrow. We will continue unveiling peaks into things I found fantastic across the 14-team Atlantic 10 landscape.

And, don't forget, you can follow along via this blog, or hop over to Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Thanks for reading.

Andy

Atlantic 10 Conference Best Practices: Dayton Tells the Story of Success

This blog is all about inspiration. It's about sharing what's amazing, and discussing how to make the amazing even better. And it's about sharing best practices so that we can all learn from the best.

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.

This week, we will share 5 new, never before elevated A-10 Conference best practices this week. Thus far we have seen George Washington put faces to skill development, here.

Let's go.

Go Dayton Hoops.

We've been here before, sharing two best practices from this site -- first, how they bring testimonials into the concept of Skill Development (here) and second, how they transformed their Blog into a Lethal Recruiting Weapon (here). But there's more.

Normally I'm not a fan of video intros. Or maybe I'm not a fan of the style of most video intros -- because they don't serve the right purpose? They need to be quick loading, which often times takes away from quality. And they need to tell a story that connects us to the brand.

Dayton entranced me with theirs. Hit GoDaytonHoops.com and you are hit with a cinematic trailer on last year's season. And, as you'll see in the storyboard slides below, they build the Dayton brand. They show intense defense, attacking offense, togetherness amongst the guys on the court, the guys on the bench, and the coaches. And they show fans who love the Flyers. Oh, and all this adds up to success, as in the 2010 NIT Championship.

Here's the storyline, in case you can't pick it up from my screen grabs below: "There were those who doubted, and those who believed. And the believers were rewarded." Those are the only words, and that simplicity is powerful. Naturally you see all the scores and venues along the way (Dayton went on the road and took care of business, then played in Madison Square Garden and finished the task!)

How many of us would have been in Dayton's shoes and said, it's only the NIT. We haven't done the job yet. And that's precisely the point. Success isn't only about winning the NCAA Tourney, or else only one team could market itself each year. It's about getting the most out of who you are. About coming together as one. And about having fun along the way.

Well done on this one Dayton. To the rest of us, what is it about our team that pumps us up? And how can we make sure that permeates everything we do?

How could this be better? This video is great. It's addicting and unobtrusive. And it lives in the background. Why not find ways to share this. Turn the video loose in YouTube and Facebook. And bring in player testimonials on their experience through the NIT... and in how that prepares them for what's next, be it the 2010-11 NCAA season or be it the "real world".

I'm pumped.

What's up next? Atlantic 10 week continues tomorrow. We will continue unveiling peaks into things I found fantastic across the 14-team Atlantic 10 landscape.

And, don't forget, you can follow along via this blog, or hop over to Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Atlantic 10 Best Practices: George Washington Gives Skill Development in a Collage

Each week we break down a different conference across the D-1 landscape, giving you a look into how they are connecting with fans (and recruits) across their website and social media. We choose conferences based on how they fared last season. Thus far we've broken down the ACC, Horizon, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, and SEC. You can follow along on Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm@pawlow34.

This week: The Atlantic 10 Conference, thanks to Xavier's run to the Sweet 16.

Haven't we been here before?
Yes. We had already profiled the Atlantic 10 site (here) and social media (here). We also profiled 3 great practices from the A-10: Dayton's Skill Development Testimonials (here) and Blog Becomes Recruiting Weapon (here), and Saint Louis' Away from the Court Blog (here).

But that doesn't mean there isn't more goodness. This week, we will share 5 new, never before elevated A-10 Conference best practices this week.

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.

Let's go.

Hit the George Washington Athletics site and you'll see a callout for Coach Hobbs' site, linked here and shown below. I want you to turn your attention to the first menu, Coach Hobbs at GW. My cropping isn't world class, but this menu gives access to Skills Development. That's where we're going to click.


Clicking in takes us to the image below (linked here). That old adage of a picture is worth a thousand words is very evident here. The text says it all, "Karl Hobbs Recruited or Developed these Current or Former NBA Players." But the image blows that text away.

Behold.


If you had any doubt about the potential of getting to the next level by attending GW, that picture erases any doubts. It's powerful, and it is incredibly effective. Wow.

Now you'll note in the top of this screen the message, "Click here for Coach Hobbs Player Development videos..." Oh my. I click on, getting even more excited. Could we get the secret to the success?

Well, maybe. But it'll cost us. As you see below, clicking in takes us here, to the chance to pay $29.99 and learn. (It is on sale at least).


How could this be better? Well this one won't surprise you. I don't think there's anything wrong with Coach Hobbs selling DVDs on getting better. But I do think there's a problem with not giving the secrets to how the players who Coach Hobbs has helped get to the next level did so. Coach Hobbs has us all ready to see how he can help get you to the league.... but doesn't yet give us any access. So, for now, we get the what and not the how. The facts, but not the emotions. Hopefully we'll see this soon!

That's it.

What's up next? Atlantic 10 week continues tomorrow. We will continue unveiling peaks into things I found fantastic across the 14-team Atlantic 10 landscape.

And, don't forget, you can follow along via this blog, or hop over to Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Southeastern Conference Best Practices: Alabama's Players Showcase Facilities

This blog is all about inspiration. We're spending 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the SEC. You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (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.

Thus far we have discussed how Tennessee gives us a 360 degree view of Coach Pearl, here, and how Kentucky connects fans & players via interviews on Facebook, here.

Let's go...

Alabama surprised me. They are part of the reason I love doing this blog. Hit the Bama Hoops page, here, and note the 94 Feet button on the right...

That takes us to the Crimson Tide Hoops home, here, which makes quite an impression. Immediately you'll notice the featured videos in the middle, where we will turn now.

Coleman Cribs, Facilities, is not just your regular tour of the building. It is so much more. (see it here) Student athletes walk you through the facilities, sharing their perspective on what is important and, more importantly, showing their personalities along the way.


I'll scroll through some of the pictures, as I couldn't embed the video (which is worth a click, here). Walking into the gym below...


Talking about the floor, the emotion that touching it brings.


Hitting the Equipment Room -- I loved both seeing this room and the interaction of the players and the Equipment Manager. That's a person who will play a big role in your life as a student athlete...


And speaking of equipment, they walk us through the closet. They talk through all the Nikes they get. And it is a powerful, powerful moment in the video. (I wish they would have opened a couple of the boxes!)


The Weight room, of course.


And, while they are here, they chat with the Strength Coach -- a person monumentally important in your development.


Finally, they run into other players on the tour. Loved this as you see what appears to be a candid, not planned interaction between the guys. You see the camaraderie and can get a sense for whether or not you would fit. Nice!

How could this be better? Make it sharable. And a series. This video should be something recruits can take and email. (Or fans) Then extend the concept to the season -- giving a peak into the team as they travel, practice, and mesh. The interactions are really amazing -- we just need more.

That's it.

Tune in Monday as we hit up another conference... And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Southeastern Conference Best Practices: Kentucky's Facebook Video Series

This blog is all about inspiration. We're spending 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the SEC. You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (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.

Thus far we have discussed how Tennessee gives us a 360 degree view of Coach Pearl, here.

Let's roll...

The Coach Cal website, here, is always good for inspiration. Coach Calipari is known for his domination of social media (1.1 Million followers on Twitter, just under 200,000 fans on Facebook). But it wasn't the presence in social media that stood out to me as a best practice. It was what they did with this knowledge base.

Through Coach Cal.com, Kentucky brings fans and former players together through videos. Here's how. Click into Coach Cal.com and you'll see the image front and center -- former player Patrick Patterson and the handy Facebook icon.

Each video then plays a Q & A with the player, conducted through Facebook. As you can see below, they simply elevate the question with the person who asked it's name and Facebook profile picture. The video then shifts to the student athlete to answer...

This concept was extended to Eric Bledsoe and John Wall. Solid stuff. I love it because it reminds prospective recruits that they are on a big stage, but it does it in a forum (Facebook) that they are no doubt familiar with. It takes something you already know and makes you a star. Love it.

How could this be better? This may be in the works, but I'd love to see this extended to current players and the coaching staff during the season. It could be a regular feature after every game -- kind of a new way of doing postgame press conferences. Open the Q & A up to fans, rather than the media. Cool concept!

That's it.

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the SEC! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Southeastern Conference Best Practices: Tennessee's Recruits Get a View of Coach Pearl

This blog is all about inspiration. Today we start with 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the SEC. You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (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 go...

Hit the Tennessee Men's Basketball page, and click on "Sports Links" (you'll note that on the right hand tab of that orange box below.

Clicking in, you'll see this outlined below, in a beautiful way: For Recruits all we offer are: Camps, CoachPearl.com, and Coach Pearl on Twitter or Facebook. I loved this step, as it isn't throwing a lot off the jump at a recruit. It is a narrow filter to get them the inspiration and content they need.

Clicking into the Coach Pearl home page, here, takes us to the image below. Now we're ready to get to today's inspiration. Within the Coach Pearl Tab is a section called "Quotables." That's where we are headed...



This takes you here, to a complete view of Coach Pearl from Players, Coaches, and Experts. It's kind of like those 360 degree performance reviews many corporations have, where you see how you are doing as a product of the opinions of those who you work for, next to, and that you manage. Except in this case, those reviews come from the likes of:

• Players BJ Armstrong, Kevin Gamble, Brad Lohaus, Acie Earl, Chris Lofton, CJ Watson
• Coaches Lute Olson, Steve Lavin, Pat Summitt, and Tom Davis
• Analysts Clark Kellogg and Jay Bilas

But it isn't just the depth of the lineup that got me. It was the passion and frankly the emotion within those statements. There's so much packed into these quotes. You'll feel authenticity and compassion. You will feel that as a recruit you will be valued as an individual. And you will make a lifelong friend. Powerful stuff.

I'm trying to enlarge this below, but (just in case you can't see this on your browser and don't want to just click here, I'll give you a taste.

"From the time I met him he was able to get the most out of me as a player. He understood my personality and knew how to motivate me. He believed in me when others did not. He stays in touch, offering his friendship and advice." -- Brad Lohaus, former Milwaukee Buck.

How could this be better? Talk to current players. We have a great view of those who are now on in their lives. But as a recruit, you want to know what the current guys think of their leader. Deliver that combination and you will have something that is both incredibly important and incredibly relevant.

That's it.

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the SEC! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

The Southeastern Conference's Social Media Footprint

Today we'll continue our look into the SEC. We will review their social media presence -- what they do and where they could improve. And I'll plot it all in one spot on a Social Media Report Card.

Then, we'll finish the week out by looking into the 12 member institutions and elevating the best digital features I've uncovered.

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.

Let's start.

Social Media Exposure

The journey always begins with the conference's weight to social media. There are always stories, teams, and schools weighing in for home page worthiness. But the question I start with is... how easy is it to follow the conference? That doesn't necessarily mean quantity of places. But it does mean exposure to ways to follow the conference.

Hit the SEC site, here, and mouse over the main menu. Underneath "News", you'll find Twitter and Facebook. While it's good to see social media positioned as official and authentic, it feels like it gets a little lost here... I'd love to see these icons break free from the confines of the News menu.

Social Media Roster Depth

Clicking on either the Facebook or Twitter icon and you come to the image below... where Twitter is the clear priority. You'll see three ways to follow the conference on Twitter, which we'll check out now.

The SEC Sports main Twitter feed is here, with 20,538 followers. I think it's even more impressive to see that they are a part of 959 Twitter lists. They are pretty active (over 4,500 tweets now) and do a nice job in hashtagging #SEC to their posts.

SEC Hoops is on Twitter, here, with 4,219 followers. They do a solid job here, sharing updates on alums and current players on SEC properties and on other sites. It's worth a follow if you're into SEC basketball.

The SEC then packages academics and community service through the Twitter site, MoreSEConds, here, with 201 followers. Cool idea, but not solid execution. They've been really inactive here, with no posts since last November.

Putting some numbers to this....

1. 4.6% of the time that a fan subscribes to the main SEC feed, they put the conference into a list. With the SEC basketball feed, this rises to 5.3%.
2. The Twitter equivalent of student-to-teacher ratio: Tweets per Subscriber. The conference has tweeted just over 4500 times -- or 0.22 per subscriber.
3. Activity is inconsistent. There's a personality and a tone to their coverage, but they range from very active on the SEC Sports Twitter site to nonexistent in the More SEConds Twitter site.

How could they be better?

Consider merging the More SEConds and SECsports accounts together. Then work together across the main SEC site, the SEC hoops site, and conference sites -- through use of a common hashtag (#SEC or #SECBB?) and retweeting each other.

Let's turn next to the SEC on Facebook, here, with 71,500 fans. (That's quite a total). Their wall is pretty active, sharing updates and recent postings on the conference and conducting trivia contests to their active fans.

I was impressed to see the SEC leverage the Events tab, allowing fans to join a "Guest List" for any of their Championships. (Link here)

Buzz.

To gauge buzz, I did a quick search for #SEC on Twitter. There were 60 mentions in the past 5 hours, along with 3 references to the government feeds. In fact 4-5 of those 60 mentions were related to the government -- meaning that hashtag to own might be #SECBB.... Still, a lot of energy here!

Intangibles

Synergy. I'm looking for the total impact the conference has across social media to be higher because the pieces work well together. In this case we need it badly as these pieces are great but need to work together. I see this as an opportunity area for the conference and one that could be delivered via the SEC Sports Twitter account if they can position it as the heartbeat of everything.

Report Card

Strengths: Twitter. Buzz

Weaknesses: Intangibles, Exposure

Neutral: Facebook, Depth of Roster.

That's it for now... But come back tomorrow as we start elevating the 3 best practices I found through the 12 SEC member schools!

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.

Andy

Breaking Down the Southeastern Conference Online

Each week we will break down a different conference across the D-1 landscape, giving you a look into how they are connecting with fans (and recruits) across their website and social media. Along the way, we'll elevate a few things in each conference that are best-in-class: what we can learn from the schools that make up each 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.

As a reminder, we break down leagues based on how squads finished last season. Thus far we've checked out the ACC, Horizon, Big Ten, Big East, and Big 12. It's time to keep moving... The SEC came close to the Final Four, losing Kentucky & Tennessee in the Elite 8, so we'll pick things up there (linked here and shown below)...

Today, we'll start with a look into the SEC Official Website. What's to love about the SEC?

Hitting the site, you find a very cinematic experience, with big and bold visuals drawing you in. Digital is a big part of the conference. And it starts with each school. In fact, at its core, the SEC builds a great video infrastructure and then architects the site to make it easy for you to find things.



The SEC provides infrastructure that elevates the latest content on each school. Mouse over any of the school logos and you'll see a slick drop down.



These drop downs not only give you quick access to the school athletics site, but they also give single-click access to the latest video content on the school.


How could this be better? Allow fans to customize this navigation by sport. That'd be insane, to have only Hoops and Football content here, for example.

The SEC gives us access to a wealth of video for each member school. Mousing over the Video Tab at the top of the page gives us a single-click access to video for each school. Thus, you can get to your favorite school's library of content with only one click from the home page. Nice.



Here's access to a wealth of video for Alabama, for example. Click on a tab and watch high quality videos of your favorite team and sport.



How can this be better? Let us sign up. Feels like there's an opportunity for fans to simply raise their hands and be a part of the latest updates on your team. This should also be customizable by sport, so that fans aren't required to wade through additional content to get what they want.


Championships don't stop at the SEC level. Click into the men's basketball championships section, here, and you'll find not simply a recap of the SEC tourney but feature stories about how teams did in the postseason. It's a nice subtle reminder that the SEC title, while good, is not the end goal. It's about what you do from here!

Of course, your SEC Tournament info is here as well and, as you might predict, there's plenty of video highlights from last year's tourney.

How could this be better? I feel we still need to elevate the SEC Championship here. Yes, it's great that teams go on to better things. But building the SEC Title Game as a big deal seems like a smart thing that showing that next step hides. Perhaps they could add a new header for Post Season and have that up in addition to Championships?

That's it for now!

SEC week continues tomorrow. We will take a peak at how the SEC is leveraging social media. Then, we'll wrap the week up with 3 peaks into things I found fantastic across the 12-team conference landscape.

Don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Big 12 Conference Best Practices: K State's Personal Brand Statements

This blog is all about inspiration. We're spending 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the Big 12. You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (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.

Thus far we've seen how Kansas Gets You Better (here) and how Kansas State Wins (here).

Let's keep moving...

It will say something that for the final of 3 installments in Big 12 Best Practices that we return to the Coach Frank Martin website (here). K State has another best practice for us to consider...



The lower right hand side of the page is going to take us to the Roster. But it isn't titled "Roster". We see "Players Lounge: Every Man a Wildcat." Energy. Energy. Energy!



Clicking in, here, and we get the opportunity to meet the team via a poster-like spread shown below.

Now, as you dive into each player you will see their brand defined. The Wildcats have taken each player and created a scouting report of why they love that player. What makes him amazing and a good fit on the squad? I'll paste a couple of these here...







These mantras are then taken and elevated, as it fits, here, on the K State Athletics site...

This is fantastic stuff. What we've done is helped us learn about the team via a powerful, easy to digest soundbyte about why they are great. I love it because it shows a love for the team that only a program can have. It makes the players feel like they are a part of something. And as a recruit, you can only imagine what yours will say. I even wonder if they mock this site up with a statement about prospective recruits when they visit? (That'd be nuts!!!) It's the new age version of the style of putting a player's name in the locker room. And we should all learn from it.

How Could This Be Better? Sum it together. We have great individual branding statements. Now take that and create a branding statement on the team, as a sum of the individuals. This wouldn't just be a cut and paste but rather a collection of what these pieces add up to. I'd love to see how these individuals fit together into what makes the K State team amazing!

That's it for Big 12 Week!

Come back Monday for a new conference...

And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy