The world of college sports is heavily influenced by the never-ending media scope that surrounds it. When consuming sports content, it becomes easy to view players as forms of entertainment rather than actual people. The expectations bestowed upon young adults who play sports are nearly unimaginable to people who are not athletes. Those with the talent to compete in Division I college athletics are susceptible to living under a microscope from a young age.
College recruiting is an incredibly competitive process where the nation’s best young talent is scouted and sought after by premier athletic programs, such as the University of Oregon. Players can be recruited to attend and play for college teams from a very young age. Even middle schoolers receive scholarship offers, which positions young kids in the public eye. Committing to the next phase of one’s academic and athletic career is a life-altering decision. Making this decision at too young of an age can be detrimental for a young person. One high schooler’s decision will likely invoke a strong reaction from the public, which places extra pressure on the athlete.
Additionally, the spotlight placed on recruits is remarkable, as social media gives fans, coaches and anyone interested a look into their personal lives. This means that high profile recruits are constantly on display, unable to avoid scrutiny and external noises. This also gives the ‘audience’ a voice in the recruiting process, and opens the door to dehumanizing harassment from onlookers.
Recruiting will always exist, as it is an absolutely essential part of college athletics. But the circus that surrounds college recruiting, particularly basketball and football recruiting, needs to be adjusted. There’s no problem with closely following recruiting news and voicing one’s opinion, but it is necessary to remember that the subject of our attention are just kids. I am not innocent in the matter by any means. I enjoy keeping up with recruiting updates by following potential UO recruits on social media, recruiting news accounts and by receiving Bleacher Report notifications whenever a top recruit does seemingly anything.
I scroll through high school athletes’ profiles and judge their college decisions like it somehow personally affects me. I continuously need to remind myself that these are kids around my own age. Growing up, I viewed college athletes as professional role models. Now that I am 21 and older than the majority of the athletes at UO, I have examined how I view my fellow college students. I have no business judging the choices of a high school student. Of course, I always want a top recruit to sign with UO. But I need to remind myself to take a step back and remember that the recruit is a human being, simply deciding where to go to school. I can still follow the news and be entertained by the process, but I recommend that onlookers remember to treat young athletes as young people rather than objects of entertainment.