How Sports Media Affects College Basketball Recruitment

With the recent focus on high school sports from major sports broadcasters, it’s been speculated that this has had a major effect on the college recruitment process. Supposedly, the decision by broadcasters like ESPN to broadcast perceived top high school players has a major influence on colleges recruitment. The intention of this is to bring previously unknown athletes into the spotlight, allowing them to have a better chance in the recruiting process. But some also say this coverage, that mainly focuses on one or two players, entices colleges to focus on them, leaving other potentially deserving athletes out of the spotlight. This paper will analyze scores and other statistical data from databases to gauge the performance of players featured in this coverage, comparing them in high school as well as in college. Focus will also be given to star NBA and NCAA players that were relatively unheard of in this coverage, to see if they were negatively affected. News stories will also be analyzed to try and reveal any sort of bias towards certain players, which is a common accusation