Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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and No. 48 prospect overall na- tionally out of Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey had top-tier col- lege football coaches clamoring for his services, and middle- aged men from all corners of the country drooling at the possi- bility he'd attend their favorite school. He needed no additional attention. But his fingers, wired to an un- Y uri Wright was already recognizable. 247Sports' fourth-ranked cornerback reliable teenage brain, keyed too many controversial keystrokes that were broadcast via Twitter. Wright was eventually busted for saying all the wrong things — sexually explicit, profane, ra- cially insensitive and downright stupid remarks in 140-character form. As a result, the budding star was expelled from school and became infamous in the recruiting world and its media outlets. Frontrunners for his services Modifying Recruiting To Fit A Modern World FIGHTING WORDS WES MORGAN rado staff hasn't already, though, it better have a serious conversa- tion with Wright and institute a no-tolerance policy. Still, let the Buffaloes deal with the problem. It was smart for Notre Dame to distance itself from Wright. Tak- ing him would have contradicted what the program is supposed to stand for, even if Wright doesn't have further issues. "I definitely learned a valu- able lesson, and I promise noth- ing like that will ever happen again," Wright told ESPN. "Ev- eryone that knows me knows that's not my true character or who I really am. "I'm not going to sit here and try and make excuses for what I did. I'm just going to be a man and say I was wrong and I learned from it. … My days with social media are over. I promise." Yet he'll likely be the case included Notre Dame, Michigan, Rutgers, Georgia and Colorado. It is believed that most of those pro- grams other than CU split ties with Wright when the news broke. The Buffaloes, who are no strangers to controversy, opted to face a public relations nightmare and gamble on the youngster. Let's be clear, Wright deserved Yuri Wright, the nation's No. 4 cornerback according to 247Sports and once a Notre Dame target, was expelled from Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey and saw his college choices shrink after making controversial remarks on Twitter. knows that not every recruit that signs to play for the Irish falls into that category. Social media is making it extremely more difficult to defend some of the young men that are on the fence. "It did [affect recruiting], and it's to be criticized for his actions and face the consequences. But teenag- ers make mistakes. Lots of them. And this is a strange labyrinth of in- stant information we live in today, where there are outlets for stupidity to travel quickly and publicly. Even though Wright landed in Colorado, he's the first high-profile casualty of the clash between recruiting and so- cial media. "That kind of flow of information makes it a little more difficult in the recruiting process," Irish head coach Brian Kelly said on National Signing Day. "There's a clear example of that [with Wright]." Notre Dame isn't the only institu- tion that likes to talk about secur- ing the "right kind of guys." Any- one with a shred of common sense www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS dealing with social media is also the biggest lesson he's learned this re- cruiting cycle. "I don't think that there is anything opened up the eyes of everybody, and in particular, what you say tracks you," Kelly said. "That's appropri- ate. Admissions directors are looking at it. I was told by an alum who is a Fortune 500 executive, they don't look at résumés anymore, they look at Facebook. That tells you more. "Social media is definitely a win- dow in which we can see more about a young man. Sometimes it's just be- ing silly, but the recognition that it does track you, it is very important, and it's a point that we made this year. I brought in a specialist this year to talk about social media and the implications of that. We're go- ing to have to continue to teach and educate." And in Colorado's case, forgive. The kid didn't break any laws and de- served a second chance. If the Colo- study when future recruits say idiotic and reprehensible things. Kelly and others, meanwhile, are figuring out how to handle the digital age as they go. Kelly said out there other than maybe the so- cial media and being on top of that, and making sure that that is a point of conversation with your recruits," Kelly explained. "Maybe that affects us relative to the recruiting process, but I still think it's about our mes- sage. It's about being clear who we are and our distinctions so that there is no misunderstanding when you sign up or sign here at Notre Dame — you know what to expect. "We will have to tweak some things relative to making sure that every- body is on board with that, within the family structure, whether it's a guardian, or it's a mom or dad. We will continue to tweak that process." They'll have to, because like it or not, social media is here to stay. ✦ Assitant Editor Wes Morgan has been with Blue & Gold Illustrated since February 2011. He can be reached at wmorgan@blueandgold.com MARCH 2012 5