Derrick Williams was on a recruiting trip 800 miles from home whenhe met a University of Florida fan in the lobby of a Gainesville,Fla., hotel. After the fan found out whom she was talking to, sheimmediately called her husband, who materialized from his hotel roomin what seemed like "about three seconds" to Derrick's mother,Brinda.
The husband knew what position Derrick played and what part of thecountry he was from. He asked for Derrick's autograph, which wasaddressed "to my best, best friend." He asked for Derrick's father'sautograph. He asked about Derrick's other college choices. And herevealed that he'd been following the 18-year-old's football careeron the Internet "for a long, long time," according to BrindaWilliams.
In the eight years since Derrick's older brother, Domonique, was ahighly regarded high school senior, family members say, therecruiting process has changed in one significant way: the nationalattention focused on prized recruits has increased exponentially.There are more interview requests and photo shoots, more rumors andmore questions, and there is scrutiny of nearly every word theyutter.
The biggest explanation for the change, family members say, issimple: "We got that Internet now, and information gets out so quick,so quick," as Derrick's father, Dwight Williams, puts it.
Two months into his senior year, Derrick -- a 6-foot, 190-poundwide receiver prospect who's considered the top football recruit inthe country -- has already landed several national televisionappearances. He's been a guest on radio programs in Oklahoma andPennsylvania. He's given an ESPNews interview on his cell phone inthe hallways of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt.
On Wednesday, he conducted a telephone interview with Fox SportsNet South's "Countdown to Signing Day," which features an Internetrecruiting analyst. On Thursday, he and his parents traveled to aSilver Spring studio for another ESPNews appearance, featuring adifferent Internet analyst.
And in the past year, Derrick has given interviews to scores ofonline reporters, from HokieHaven.com and USCFootball.com, from PennState's BlueWhiteIllustrated.com and Texas's Orangebloods.com, fromNebraska's HuskersIllustrated.com, Michigan's TheWolverine.com,Oklahoma's SoonerScoop.com, Virginia's TheWagonOnline.com, FloridaState's Warchant.com and Florida's GatorBait.net.
Recruiting Web sites list Derrick's time in the 40-yard dash, hisbench press and his vertical leap. They send videographers toDerrick's games and put the footage on the Web. They rank Derrick'sremaining college choices and assign dates for his official visits.
And they compete with each other for the latest Derrick Williamsnews, calling his house several times a week, sometimes two or threetimes a night.
"It's flat-out ridiculous," said Jamie Newberg, a nationalrecruiting analyst for Scout.com who, like several other onlinereporters, said he is trying to limit the number of phone calls totop recruits. "We stress that at meetings -- there's no reason to becalling these kids 18 times a month, because we're only cutting offthe hand that feeds us."
Fans post their own opinions on message boards: "Derrick,sometimes a place, a situation, and a person come together to createsomething very rare and very special," one Maryland fan wrote thissummer. "The person is you Derrick -- who can bring the nationalchampionship to your home town. So are you in or are you out??"
The Internet analysts say their daily recruiting coverage stillhas room for growth. Rivals.com has 43 full-time employees, more than200 contract writers and editors in its network of affiliated sites,and claims it gets more than 15 million page views a day, accordingto publisher Bobby Burton. Scout.com -- which covers professional,collegiate and high school sports in addition to recruiting -- saysit has 1.8 million unique users a month and syndicates its content tosites that reach 38 million users, according to Editor in Chief GlennNelson.
Longtime recruiting analyst Tom Lemming now provides rankings forESPN.com, and Mike Farrell -- an analyst for Rivals.com and ESPNews -- has been contacted by 15-year-old high school students who want toknow how to get into the recruiting industry.
"It's like the gold rush," said Allen Wallace, the nationalrecruiting editor for Scout.com and publisher of "SuperPrep"magazine. "You've got a lot of people who would like to carve a namefor themselves. They're not even good. Sometimes the questions arebarely answered. [The Internet's] really opened the door for anyoneto get into it."
With so many demands for instant updates, managing the tidal waveof information can sometimes be overwhelming. During an ESPNewsinterview last month, the cable outlet's graphic listed Williams'supcoming visit to Florida State after the trip had already beenscuttled. During the same interview, Williams went through hisfinalists but accidentally left out one of the choices. A few minuteslater, he told a television production crew for NBC's U.S. Army All-American Bowl that he was looking at seven schools and then rattledoff the names of eight universities.
And virtually every mild slip-up, every change of opinion or tweakto the all-important list of finalists, brings a response.
"Everybody's in our lives now," said Dwight Williams, who lastweek received an anonymous letter urging him not to send his son toFlorida. "We can't change our minds on things, because everybodywants to get the story. Like anyone else, decisions are made andtaken back. You go through that same process with any young man who'schoosing a school for academics. Now, if we change our minds, peopleare like, 'Why did you do it this way, why did you do it that way?'Derrick feels like he can't change his mind."
College coaches, too, are adapting to a wired world. Someassistants say they watch videos of recruits on the Web -- Rivals.comhas footage of more than 1,000 high school football and basketballplayers, and Scout.com has footage of every player on its preseason"Hot 100" list of top football recruits.
And since the college coaches can only call high school playersonce a week, they also scour Internet sites for the latest news,searching for official visit schedules and reading about therecruits' up-to-date preferences.
"How accurate the stuff is, I don't ever know -- that's whatbothers you," said one college recruiter. "Somebody who runs thoseInternet sites talks to those kids every night, and they end upposting every day on top of it. Our alumni probably know more aboutwho's on our recruiting board than I know."
The Internet analysts, though, say their sites do more than shovelinformation at the most fanatical fans. They argue that their instantupdates also keep recruiters honest -- "It's made the coaches 100percent more accountable," as Burton puts it.
Before the Internet boom, information was available onlysporadically -- in paper newsletters or magazines and on pay-to-listen 900 lines -- and recruiting was followed primarily by "superfreaks" and major boosters, according to Nelson of Scout.com.
Now, the analysts say, recruiting coverage attracts moremainstream fans, to the point that "people know who Derrick Williamsis -- Derrick Williams can go on an official visit to Oklahoma andthousands of people will recognize him," Farrell said.
And because every visit and every conversation will be reported onthe Web, college coaches can no longer promise the same starting slotto four different high school players, can no longer insist thatthey're not recruiting that other highly ranked quarterback orreceiver.
"If our head coach goes out and sees Derrick Williams, it's allover the Internet and other kids feel slighted -- 'He's going out tosee Derrick Williams, why isn't he going out to see me?' " onecollege assistant said. "You have to think about that now, and younever had to think about that before."
Williams's family members have used the Internet to revise theirchoices, studying college depth charts and bumping Virginia up theirlist when the Cavaliers' early commitments earned positive reviews.But they also read the message boards, where the comments can be lessglowing.
After Derrick sprained his ankle during a loss to C.H. Flowersthis fall, an Internet poster claimed Derrick was using his injury asan excuse and "needs a lesson in humility." Dwight Williams, whoscans college and high school message boards virtually daily, posteda response, asking for an apology, which in turn led to a cyberspacespar.
When Derrick had kind words for Florida and Penn State ininterviews, his family members read message board posts in whichanxious Maryland fans appealed to Derrick's sense of home-stateloyalty.
Dwight Williams had recently been laid off by the University ofMaryland after 21 years, an action that forced the family to limitits expenses and postpone some recruiting trips. (For several months,Dwight Williams worked in a District youth center; earlier thismonth, he started a new job as a government accountant.)
After Dwight Williams lost his job at Maryland, some familymembers -- including Derrick -- wanted to eliminate Maryland as anoption. His father and mother, who still works at the university,resisted. But the appeals to loyalty they read on the message boardwere the final straw, they said, and they officially crossed Marylandoff their list.
Amid the computerized cacophony, Derrick Williams tries to saysomething positive to each of his many Internet interviewers "so theycan feel good," he said. Thus, Penn State's coaches "are great,"Florida State's staff is "great," Nebraska's Bill Callahan is a "agreat coach," Michigan's Lloyd Carr is "a great coach" and Texas'sMack Brown is "an awesome coach."
Williams knows the interviews aren't likely to end. He and hisfather are considering traveling to Atlanta for a live studioappearance on "Countdown to Signing Day" with Scout.com's Newberg. InDecember, Derrick Williams said, he'll likely reveal his collegeselection live on ESPN or ESPNews, an arrangement that would becoordinated by Rivals.com's Farrell.
And Derrick Williams said he hasn't been surprised by the amountof attention showered on 18-year-old recruits.
"Those are the players of the future," he said. "Better jump on'em now."
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