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.