Pac-10 Conference Best Practices: Stanford's Player Intros

This blog is all about inspiration. Today we start with 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the Pac-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've checked out how UCLA builds a case for recruits (here) and how Washington connects recruits to the power of all sports (here).

Let's keep moving.

Hit the Stanford Basketball page and Hover over Recruits. You'll notice the first thing you see, Cardinal.Red.Sports, which is where we are headed.



We arrive here, at the home of Stanford Basketball Recruiting. I say the home of recruiting because that's a clear target for this area. You find it right in the top of the Recruiting Navigation. And I love this. It's a funnel to get prospective athletes to your storytelling. Smart.


At the bottom of the page, you'll find the callout for Meet the Team. As you'll note below or by clicking here, this is an interactive roster page that allows prospective athletes (or fans) to dive deeper on any player.


Clicking into a player, as I did for Jarrett Mann (see it for yourself here), allows us to see an intimate video on the player. Why they chose Stanford. What they think about Coach Dawkins. What they think about playing in the Pac-10. It's a simple video but wow it makes you feel connected to the program.


In addition, you can get to know the player in a more personal way than usual (see the questions below... "Best Meal You Can Prepare? Favorite Class? Dream Job Besides Basketball?)


All of this section is really designed to help you get to know the squad. Many times this isn't a focus area. A roster is treated as just that, a roster. And it misses the opportunity to create an emotional bond between prospective student athlete (or fan) and the team. Nice work here.

How could this be better? The videos are great, but if they could be shared, the reach would really expand. This could be done by using YouTube or by adding share links to each of the videos.

That's it.... for now. Tune in next week as we move on to our next conference!

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

Andy