Phone Calls Are So Old School

The distraction of receiving so many messages is another concern.

Stafon Johnson, a star running back from Los Angeles Dorsey High, said coaches have been text messaging him as early as 6:30 in the morning and as late as 11:30 at night.

Fearing exactly such a scenario, the association that represents college women's basketball coaches last year introduced a proposal that would have barred its members from sending e-mails and text messages to recruits.

"Our committee felt coaches were going to contact recruits at 2 in the morning or while they were in class," said Binh Nguyen, manager of events and legislation for the Women's Basketball Coaches Assn. "We didn't want to inundate them while they were in high school."

But the NCAA Management Council disagreed, rejecting the proposal in April.

Some college programs are more savvy than others. USC freshman Brian Cushing, a high school All-American linebacker last season, was the focus of an intense recruiting competition during his senior year at Bergen Catholic in New Jersey. He recalls the University of Miami sending photos of its practices to his cellphone. "Some schools know how to use technology to their advantage," he said.

Even veteran coaches who came up in the era of rotary telephones are learning new tricks, such as Arizona basketball Coach Lute Olson and USC football Coach Pete Carroll.

Olson, 71, sent his first text message last spring. Carroll, whose team is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive national championship, said sending a text message on his cellphone is "my latest accomplishment."

The technology is familiar, though, to the athletes.

A July survey from the Pew Internet & American Life project found that 87% of U.S. youths between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet, about 21 million.

While recruits use websites to study depth charts, coaches log in to recruiting networks such as Rivals.com and Scout.com and within seconds can learn a prospect's height, weight, sprint times and accomplishments.

"Kids are computer literate," said Josh Johnson, a UCLA recruiting assistant. "It's a matter of whether the coaches are. Kids have grown up with computers and cellphones. We hope at least one person on each coaching staff is a point person for modern technology."