Du’Shaunte Holloway: How Important is Social Media?
by Joyce Oscar
Today’s competition within the sports environment is stronger than ever. There is a tremendous amount of talent and athleticism and not enough scholarships. Statistics show that for every 30 athletes there is only 1 person who is actively looking to track talent (scout, agent, college recruiter, coach). With all of the talent, it’s impossible for one person to get to as many high schools, camps or combines needed in order to scope out the talent.
So what does an athlete do? How do you let coaches know who and where you are? In this day and time, pretty much everyone owns his own media outlet. Between Facebook, Instagram, You Tube and Twitter it has never been easier for athletes to gain exposure. Implementing the right moves and choices consistently will eventually increase your chances of not being missed!
Du’Shaunte Holloway made his first tweet January 31, 2016. It wasn’t anything elaborate, just simply “Check out my highlight”. Along with those words he attached the Hudl link to his freshman highlights. It was the beginning of what would later become a mega exposure tool.
Experiences from The Adidas Showcase, Rising Senior Camp, Auburn University Camp and many others have been documented on Du’Shaunte’s twitter feed to be shared with friends, family and college coaches. Not only is he documenting his athletic journey, he’s sharing his academic accomplishments also. Du’Shaunte rocks a 4.1 GPA and scored a 1300 on his SAT test.
Fast forward to 2018, 714 tweets, 655 followers and 1038 likes later, it’s Du’Shaunte’s senior year and he says there’s only one thing going through his mind. “The only thing I can think about is going onto the field and showing out every play I can.” He says he wants to dominate everyone that lines up against him.
Du’Shaunte will also have something else to think about this season. He’ll have to decide where he’ll continue his academic and his athletic career. He has offers from schools like Wofford, Furman, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and a host of other institutions. All of which he has shared with his social media community. “Social media is an important factor in gaining extra exposure,” he says. “A lot of my contact with coaches comes through Twitter. If an athlete is looking to go to college but doesn’t have a Twitter they are hurting themselves and not providing themselves with extra support through social media.”
Although social media exposure is not all you need to aid in athletic recruitment, it’s proven to be one of the tools that work. It’s an athlete’s resume to the world, It’s how he advertises himself.
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