Recruiting Horror Stories™ are posted every Tuesday to provide athletes' first-hand experiences of what can go wrong during the recruiting process.

Before the era of NIL, athletes who had built a presence on social media had to choose between their sport and their off-court success. This recruiting horror story stands as a reminder of how far we've come, and what NIL means for college athletes. 

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Ever since I was young, my life has revolved around sports, but what was I to do when I was forced to choose between sports, which have always been a part of my life, and my newfound passion / long shot for a career? 

Senior year of high school was one of the best years of my life, I had the best sports seasons of my highschool career, and I gained the attention from a few small colleges in my area. I had never felt more accomplished, knowing how hard I had worked for years to get to my skill level and to be in the position I was in. However, sports were not my only passion; I was also in love with creating videos and content online.

My Social Media Presence
I had always been in love with social media and creating content on it. Throughout highschool, I used it as something to do because I was not like most kids in my area: going to parties or hunting and fishing. I recorded myself playing video games, my daily life, and even some acrobatics I was teaching myself.

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Mixing the Two Worlds
The summer before college, I decided to mix my love for social media content, acrobatics, and basketball. I recorded myself doing trickshots, ball handling, and other tricks. Since the videos I was creating were, in my opinion at least, impressive, I began to generate a large following online. Once I had the following, I was able to monetize my videos and earn an income. At the time, I did not see any issue with what I was doing. The NCAA did. 

A few weeks into summer, I received an email from the school I had planned to attend. They wanted to set up a meeting to talk about my future. I went to the meeting and they described to me the rules the NCAA [had] against athletes using their athletic capabilities for an income. Basically, they told me I either had to break off my income from all my videos, stop making videos all together, or not play college sports. This was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make: either give up something that had been a part of my life forever, or give up a passion I had only recently taken up but I loved more than anything before.

Related: Navigating NIL Deals: What's Off-Limits?

My Decision
After a week of contemplating, I came to a decision, I was going to not play sports in college. I had only planned to attend a D3 school, so I knew that I did not have a professional future in my sport; I did not know what the future had in store for me with social media though. I decided to change schools entirely and take up social media marketing. Three years have passed and I already know for sure that I had made the right choice. I may have lost my sport, but I have gained so much more.

Have a horror story of your own? Email us at [email protected]

* Originally published on January 11, 2022, by Andrew Streeter