ATHENS, Ga. — When Rodney Garner became Georgia’s recruiting coordinator in 1998, video clips of high school football prospects were not readily available on the Internet.
There were no comprehensive online recruiting sites such as Rivals.com and Scout.com, nor were players announcing their decisions by wearing various hats. Garner has evolved with these publicity-driven avenues in the recruiting process, but now Facebook.com and Twitter.com have entered the mix.
“I know you’ve got to embrace some of these things, but my job is already encompassing enough,” Garner said. “I’m not going down certain roads right now until I have to.”
As the recruiting passion continues to grow, so have Facebook and Twitter as means to which prospects can give updates or clues about their decisions. In some cases, they intentionally mislead people to see what kind of reaction will occur.
Former Ooltewah defensive end Jacques Smith admitted to that last month after claiming it was “Alabama or LSU” on his Facebook page before enrolling early at Tennessee.