HOW HAVE HIGH SCHOOL HOOPERS BUILT A NATIONAL AUDIENCE FOR THEMSELVES OVER THE PAST TWENTY YEARS?

MIKEY WILLIAMS

AZZI FUDD

153,000 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

ELIJAH FISHER

87,600 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

2.9 MILLION INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES LIKE INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER HAVE ALLOWED HIGHSCHOOLERS TO BECOME INTERNET SUPERSTARS

MEDIA SITES LIKE BALLISLIFE, OVERTIME, AND SLAM HAVE TURNED THE TOP HIGH SCHOOL HOOPERS INTO INTERNATIONAL STARS

“THE VIDEO COMMUNITY HELPS THESE GUYS WHILE THEY’RE IN HIGH SCHOOL GET THAT AUDIENCE,” SAYS MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ, THE PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF BALLISLIFE” (LORENZ).

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KIDS ENJOY WATCHING THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYERS THAT ARE THEIR AGE.

“IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL, MAYBE YOU CARED ABOUT YOUR OWN HIGH-SCHOOL TEAM AND RIVAL, BUT LITERALLY 100 MILES AWAY YOU DIDN’T CARE. LOCAL SPORTS WAS REALLY LOCAL,” SAYS DAN PORTER, THE CEO OF OVERTIME, A SPORTS DIGITAL-MEDIA PLATFORM. “WHAT MOST HIGH-SCHOOL PLAYERS USED TO BE KNOWN FOR WAS HEIGHT, WEIGHT, HOW MANY POINTS THEY SCORED, AND IF THEY WERE GONNA GO TO DUKE [UNIVERSITY]” (LORENZ).

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL IS TAKING OVER

“A GENERATION AGO, PRECOCIOUS ATHLETES GAINED COLLEGE AND PRO ATTENTION FROM MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS. NO LONGER. TODAY, PLAYERS CAN BUILD FAN BASES AND GENERATE ENOUGH CLOUT TO CIRCUMVENT THE TRADITIONAL BASKETBALL DEVELOPMENT ROUTE OF HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE TO PRO” (LEE).

THE RISE IN ATHLETES SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO THREE FACTORS

1. MEDIA COMPANIES

2. STYLE

3. HYPE

1. MEDIA COMPANIES

- MEDIA COMPANIES ARE WHAT PUT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES ON THE MAP.

- THESE COMPANIES BRAND AND DISPLAY PLAYERS ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS.

- BOTH PARTIES INVOLVED COME OUT ON TOP BECAUSE THE MEDIA COMPANIES USE SAID ATHLETES TO PULL VIEWERS, AND ATHLETES RECEIVE NAME RECOGNITION IN THE PROCESS.

2. STYLE AND PERSONALITY

SKILL CAN ONLY GIVE A HIGH SCHOOL HOOPER SO MUCH CLOUT OFF THE COURT, STYLE AND PERSONALITY ARE WHAT MAKE GUYS LIKE MIKEY WILLIAMS, WHO HAS NEARLY THREE MILLION FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM, SO POPULAR.

“WHILE THEY’RE ALL GENERALLY AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME, PORTER SAYS THAT THE MOST BELOVED PLAYERS AREN’T DETERMINED BY THEIR RANKING. “THERE’S SOME ALGORITHM BETWEEN THEIR ATHLETICISM, PERSONALITY, AND IMPACT ON SOCIAL MEDIA,” HE SAYS. “THESE ARE KIDS THAT ARE TOP PLAYERS, BUT THEY’RE NOT THE TOP, TOP. THEIR OUTRAGEOUS DUNKS, OR CROSSOVERS, OR THEIR PERSONALITY OR BRAND MAKES THEM SO POPULAR” (LORENZ).

3. HYPE

HYPE CREATED BY A PLAYERS NAME, SKILL, OR PERSONALLY CAN MAKE THEM INCREDIBLY POPULAR ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

“ON THE SECOND DAY, WITH LEBRON IN ATTENDANCE, "WE WANT BRONNY" CHANTS EMERGE, IRRESPECTIVE OF SCORE OR CONTEXT. THE FANS ARE RESTLESS, EAGER TO SEE IF LEBRON'S SON LIVES UP TO THE HYPE, IF WHAT THEY SAW ONLINE IS WHAT THEY'LL SEE WITH THEIR OWN EYES” (LEE).