Players banned from tweeting??

Looks as if the St. John's coaches have shut down twitter for the players for the season.  A number of them tweeted yesterday that it would be their last day of tweeting for the rest of the season.  I tweeted to Harkless and asked whose choice it was to shut down the tweeting and he responded with "coaches".  What do people think??  I'm of the belief that tweeting doesn't cause you to lose games, and it's also a phenomenal way to connect with fans and it only takes a few seconds a day to send out tweets/respond to fans.  However, I do understand that sometimes twitter can be a venting spot for frustrated players and can cause issues that would be previously handled internally to be publicized.  So, I'm kinda split on the decision.

Twitter is a power that college basketball players are not mature enough to wield. That should be completely obvious to everyone.

Twitter is a power that college basketball players are not mature enough to wield. That should be completely obvious to everyone.

Broad brush stroke there.  Some can, some can't.  The ones who can't are the ones you see and hear about.

That being said if I was coach I wouldnt ban them but I cant argue with Lavin and his decision.

I think that tweeting ban is fine.  It's too public.  Bad for the school and bad for the kids if something gets out that shouldn't.  There are plenty of ways to communicate, like text etc.  I think it is great to keep em off social media.  Ask Scoop Jardine amongst others.  While it is a "broad brush" tactic, it IMO is necessary.

Hasnt this always been the case? 

"St. John’s coach Steve Lavin and former Missouri coach Mike Anderson, who is now at Arkansas, both banned their players from posting on Twitter last season."

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-king_schools_should_ban_twitter_083011

Hasnt this always been the case? 

"St. John’s coach Steve Lavin and former Missouri coach Mike Anderson, who is now at Arkansas, both banned their players from posting on Twitter last season."

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-king_schools_should_ban_twitter_083011

I think the players started the season tweeting but then by January they dropped off a lot.  However after the Duke win I remember players tweeting back to fans who were congratulating them.

I think that tweeting ban is fine.  It's too public.  Bad for the school and bad for the kids if something gets out that shouldn't.  There are plenty of ways to communicate, like text etc.  I think it is great to keep em off social media.  Ask Scoop Jardine amongst others.  While it is a "broad brush" tactic, it IMO is necessary.

This here is wisdom.
Agree and agree again.

  I think it's a great idea.  The kids should be focused on academics and hoops.  All this social media stuff is a giant distraction for 18-22 year olds.

 I mean, there a bunch of grown men and women reading into everything these kids post or tweet.  It's actually creepy IMO.

 Great job out of the staff.

  I think it's a great idea.  The kids should be focused on academics and hoops.  All this social media stuff is a giant distraction for 18-22 year olds.

 I mean, there a bunch of grown men and women reading into everything these kids post or tweet.  It's actually creepy IMO.

 Great job out of the staff.

I love the 'creepy' discussion.  They are public figures.

  I think it's a great idea.  The kids should be focused on academics and hoops.  All this social media stuff is a giant distraction for 18-22 year olds.

 I mean, there a bunch of grown men and women reading into everything these kids post or tweet.  It's actually creepy IMO.

 Great job out of the staff.

It's true. We do read into everything they tweet, and they do not think before they tweet. It's an unhealthy combination for everyone.

Spontaneous blurts from a college kid can embarrass them their family and their team. The ban protects players from themselves and avoids unnecessary distractions without stifling other means of communication.

So the players are banned from tweeting, but they can use facebook. Strange.

Hasnt this always been the case? 

"St. John’s coach Steve Lavin and former Missouri coach Mike Anderson, who is now at Arkansas, both banned their players from posting on Twitter last season."

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-king_schools_should_ban_twitter_083011

Yea the players were told to not use social media last year. Don't know if they followed

Quote from: boo3 on October 14, 2011, 11:47:04 AM

  I think it's a great idea.  The kids should be focused on academics and hoops.  All this social media stuff is a giant distraction for 18-22 year olds.

 I mean, there a bunch of grown men and women reading into everything these kids post or tweet.  It's actually creepy IMO.

 Great job out of the staff.

It's true. We do read into everything they tweet, and they do not think before they tweet. It's an unhealthy combination for everyone.

How true. On the other hand it is amusing to see the way in which some posters psychoanalyze teenage blurts as if they were the equivalent of a prophecy from the Delphic Oracle.

Can we really call these individuals "kids" anymore?  I'm assuming that all of the players are 18, or at the very least almost 18. They should be considered young adults(which is what they are) who are expected to act in a certain manner, with a certain level of maturity. Like someone said earlier, they are public figures, and should be held on higher standards than most college students. And I understand that they are still college students, and should be allowed to act as such, but to a certain extent.

Personally, I think its a shame that the coaching staff feels that they have to ban twitter.  It almost shows a lack of trust by the staff...like they have to "babysit" the players to make sure they don't get into trouble.  I would hope that the players would be aware enough to know what they should, or should not post.

Can we really call these individuals "kids" anymore?  I'm assuming that all of the players are 18, or at the very least almost 18. They should be considered young adults(which is what they are) who are expected to act in a certain manner, with a certain level of maturity. Like someone said earlier, they are public figures, and should be held on higher standards than most college students. And I understand that they are still college students, and should be allowed to act as such, but to a certain extent.

Personally, I think its a shame that the coaching staff feels that they have to ban twitter.  It almost shows a lack of trust by the staff...like they have to "babysit" the players to make sure they don't get into trouble.  I would hope that the players would be aware enough to know what they should, or should not post.

  Really?   A shame?  Weekly you hear about a professional athlete who says something stupid on twitter.  What good can come from letting the kids post from twitter, besides satisfying the need for some fans to know everything they are thinking and doing? 

 This team is going to be shorthanded as it is.  the last thing we need is a freshman to tweet about being at a party where there some alcohol or worse. This a smart move by the coaching staff in order to protect the "kids" and the program from themselves.  No brainer IMO.

Quote from: jumbo_peanuts on October 14, 2011, 03:28:22 PM

Can we really call these individuals "kids" anymore?  I'm assuming that all of the players are 18, or at the very least almost 18. They should be considered young adults(which is what they are) who are expected to act in a certain manner, with a certain level of maturity. Like someone said earlier, they are public figures, and should be held on higher standards than most college students. And I understand that they are still college students, and should be allowed to act as such, but to a certain extent.

Personally, I think its a shame that the coaching staff feels that they have to ban twitter.  It almost shows a lack of trust by the staff...like they have to "babysit" the players to make sure they don't get into trouble.  I would hope that the players would be aware enough to know what they should, or should not post.

  Really?   A shame?  Weekly you hear about a professional athlete who says something stupid on twitter.  What good can come from letting the kids post from twitter, besides satisfying the need for some fans to know everything they are thinking and doing? 

 This team is going to be shorthanded as it is.  the last thing we need is a freshman to tweet about being at a party where there some alcohol or worse. This a smart move by the coaching staff in order to protect the "kids" and the program from themselves.  No brainer IMO.

Ok. But where is the trust/faith in the students by the staff?  You treat them like 'kids' and thats how they are going to act....and if a player was at a party and was drinking or something, and then goes and tweets about it, well then that is their own fault....

And why just twitter?  You can pretty much do the same exact thing on facebook as you can on twitter......if they staff feels the need to ban social media, they should ban all social media.

Quote from: boo3 on October 14, 2011, 03:35:53 PM

Quote from: jumbo_peanuts on October 14, 2011, 03:28:22 PM

Can we really call these individuals "kids" anymore?  I'm assuming that all of the players are 18, or at the very least almost 18. They should be considered young adults(which is what they are) who are expected to act in a certain manner, with a certain level of maturity. Like someone said earlier, they are public figures, and should be held on higher standards than most college students. And I understand that they are still college students, and should be allowed to act as such, but to a certain extent.

Personally, I think its a shame that the coaching staff feels that they have to ban twitter.  It almost shows a lack of trust by the staff...like they have to "babysit" the players to make sure they don't get into trouble.  I would hope that the players would be aware enough to know what they should, or should not post.

  Really?   A shame?  Weekly you hear about a professional athlete who says something stupid on twitter.  What good can come from letting the kids post from twitter, besides satisfying the need for some fans to know everything they are thinking and doing? 

 This team is going to be shorthanded as it is.  the last thing we need is a freshman to tweet about being at a party where there some alcohol or worse. This a smart move by the coaching staff in order to protect the "kids" and the program from themselves.  No brainer IMO.

Ok. But where is the trust/faith in the students by the staff?  You treat them like 'kids' and thats how they are going to act....and if a player was at a party and was drinking or something, and then goes and tweets about it, well then that is their own fault....

And why just twitter?  You can pretty much do the same exact thing on facebook as you can on twitter......if they staff feels the need to ban social media, they should ban all social media.

 I don't think its a trust issue at all.   These young adults are under an enormous amount of pressure to perform in the classroom and on the court.  There are times when they are going to be angry and frustrated.  With twitter out of the picture, you no longer have to worry about someone saying something stupid out of frustration for the world to see and over analyze. Next thing you know, its in the newspaper how player X said player Y is an ass and a ball hog.  These things happen all the time, best to keep it internal.  Plus, its just during the season.  I think facebook is banned also FTR. 

Also they don't want it to distract from school work, which they have limited time to do with all the practices and games

I have no problem with the ban, however I really think the women's team needs it more. I follow several players on the men's and women's team, none of the guys on the mens team have said anything that would make me say "damn, he probably shouldn't have tweeted that" but several of the girls say some things that just make me scratch my head. A few months ago one of the girls tweeted that Nadirah Mckennith (starting PG) was pregnant and was gonna miss this upcoming season, which was obviously not true. One of the girls constantly tweets really personal stuff about her sex life and I just always wondered if KBA was aware of the stuff these girls are saying on there. These are still kids and the last thing we need is for the guys to get caught up in something because of a stupid tweet.