12-25-2021, 03:17 PM
It’s a chicken/egg question. How much did ESPN hype contribute to UConn’s rise, and how much did UConn’s rise merit ESPN hype? While I think that UConn would have been good regardless, I can imagine that ESPN raised UConn’s salience among recruits, and UConn could use its media exposure as a way to lure recruits, especially those from far away. Come to UConn, they would say, and your parents and friends will be able to watch you on TV.
I think the PAC-12 network (and other conference networks) have mitigated that somewhat, though it will always be an advantage to say that they will be able to get exposure. Still, for the parents of an east coast kid, being able to subscribe to sling and get the PAC-12 network and be able to watch most games mitigates the availability of UConn games on ESPN. Consequently, we have seen recruiting really tick up in the PAC-12.
BC
I think the PAC-12 network (and other conference networks) have mitigated that somewhat, though it will always be an advantage to say that they will be able to get exposure. Still, for the parents of an east coast kid, being able to subscribe to sling and get the PAC-12 network and be able to watch most games mitigates the availability of UConn games on ESPN. Consequently, we have seen recruiting really tick up in the PAC-12.
BC