Recruits Caught in the ‘Net of Coaches

A technology revolution is underway in college recruiting, with letters and phone calls headed the way of the Pony Express, replaced by computers, e-mail and instant messaging.

The days when college athletic programs spent large sums on mass mailings could be ending thanks to the simple idea of sending out messages, promotions and recruiting pitches via e-mail.

High school athletes who signed letters of intent on Wednesday are part of a new generation comfortable communicating with college coaches via computers instead of just telephones.

Schools can send out as many e-mails as they want to recruits who are seniors and juniors. In most sports, they cannot contact juniors by phone.

“I like it because a coach can only call once a week,” said Newhall Hart shortstop Chris Valaika, who ended up signing with UC Santa Barbara.

Valaika saved money by not having to place long-distance telephone calls to coaches at Santa Barbara, Nebraska, Baylor and Fresno State. He just e-mailed them. And the coaches didn’t have to keep calling at all hours hoping to find Valaika at home. They, too, e-mailed him. It’s faster, cheaper and easier to respond.

College coaches are barred from making phone calls to juniors, but not from sending e-mail.

Mindy Kolani, the mother of junior basketball player Jordan Farmar of Woodland Hills Taft High, receives close to a dozen e-mails from college coaches a week.

“It’s almost a second job for me,” she said. “I’m trying to respond to everybody. I’m answering them much quicker and trying to be receptive. I think it’s real effective. It gets us talking.”

Even coaches have come to appreciate the changes in technology.

“You can communicate to a lot of people in one message,” UC Irvine baseball Coach John Savage said. “They can get back to you quicker.”

But the potential for abuse also exists. Coaches aren’t permitted to initiate unlimited phone calls. Some schools believe the instant messaging component available with Internet services can be used to violate the spirit of the NCAA rule.

All a recruit needs to do is get on a coach’s so-called “buddy” list. As soon as the coach is online, the recruit is notified and can legally initiate a conversation. Coaches could have e-mail conversations with ninth and 10th graders, which they aren’t supposed to do on a telephone. And monitoring coaches on the Internet would prove difficult.

Delise O’Meally of the NCAA said schools are asking questions and seeking a consensus on how to respond to the changes in communication technology.

“One of the discussions has centered around technology and instant messages,” she said.

One recruiter says e-mail conversations have become particularly popular with female athletes.

“I use it often,” said heavily recruited Torrance Bishop Montgomery basketball player Noelle Quinn, who signed with UCLA. “It’s right there, easy access.”

Florida was sending softball player Jaisa Creps of Valencia a “thought of the day” via e-mail.

But her mother, Julie, didn’t mind receiving letters.

“It’s kind of fun to go to the mailbox,” she said.

Veteran college coaches are having to learn new skills to communicate via computers. Or they are turning to their young assistant coaches to keep pace with the changing technology.

“I’m still old school, pen and pencil, letters and telephone calls and go watch them,” USC baseball Coach Mike Gillespie said. “It is a changing world. This whole technology thing has sure changed the face of [recruiting], and I suppose we can’t get left behind.”

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com