The Early Offer is RecruitingNation's regular feature, giving you a daily dose of recruiting in the mornings. Today’s offerings: Snapchat is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of social media around, but college football coaches won’t be able to use it as a recruiting tool; keep an eye on Indianapolis, because the city again will be one of the top spots in the Midwest for recruiters; and one of the top 2015 prospects in Missouri has a busy spring on tap.
No social media changes
The University of Texas compliance department caused a minor stir Tuesday when it tweeted that the NCAA says it’s permissible to use Snapchat for recruiting correspondence in basketball and most other sports beginning on Aug. 1. Snapchat is a form of social media which allows people to send pictures and notes to each other that "self-destruct" after a certain amount of time.
The NCAA, however, confirmed that none of the rule changes or interpretations that involve Snapchat affect football or football recruiting. A deeper investigation into the topic revealed another tweet, this time from TCU’s compliance department, about how Snapchat can be used by basketball and men’s hockey. Yes, schools can use the social media platform, along with others such as Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram, but it is not permissible to include information about or directed toward a specific student athlete or post video or audio materials directed toward a recruit unless such content is produced and available to all students. So rest easy fans, football coaches can’t send inappropriate or illegal recruiting pitches to prospects that self-destruct after a few seconds.
Indy has quality 2015 talent
Indianapolis has long been thought of as one of the top spots for recruits in the Midwest, and the 2015 class looks to continue that trend. ESPN Junior 300 prospect Darrin Kirkland Jr. (Indianapolis/Lawrence Central) is the top prospect in the state and is the 203rd-ranked player overall. Kirkland already has more than 15 scholarship offers, but he doesn’t seem to be in a big rush to make a decision. Other Indy prospects to keep an eye on are three-star offensive guard Brandon Tiassum of Park Tudor School, three-star safety Wykelti Williams of Warren Central and three-star running back Levante' Bellamy of Brebeuf Jesuit.
Ofodile making rounds
Many consider 2015 Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge four-star receiver/tight end Alex Ofodile a heavy Missouri lean, especially since his father played football for the Tigers and he lives right down the road from the school. However, the four-star prospect and No. 2 player in the Show Me State plans to see a number of schools this spring with an open mind. He’ll be at Missouri this weekend, followed by visits to Ole Miss on Feb. 28, Tennessee on March 8, Michigan State on April 26 and Penn State on June 6.