Even in the NBA, Marquis Teague is helping recruit for Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

Apr 2, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Marquis Teague (25) cuts the net after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 in the finals in the 2012 NCAA men

Not many players had the one year college experience like Marquis Teague did. All Teague did was help guide his Kentucky Wildcats basketball team to their eighth national title and then ended up getting drafted by a storied franchise like the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the NBA Draft. I know that a lot of people like to criticize John Calipari’s ways and say that his players are just interested in the NBA, but Marquis Teague is continuing to help his Wildcats. Teague is one of the first professional players to join the InRecruit Sports Network.

The site was formed by former Villanova star Malik Allen who helped start the Recruiting Social Network that has been called a “LinkedIn for Sports”. Everyone knows who the Rivals Top 150 players are and those players have their own network to get advice and such from in making a college decision. The InRecruit Network is designed for the players that may fall outside that category and can be a very valuable tool to help guide them.

"From the beginning, they focused on making productive relationships available, not only to the mega-talented one percent, but also to kids who might not be on anyone’s radar. Their goal: to open up the lines of communication that would not only allow blue-blood programs to keep track of the big name recruits, but also help connect lower-level athletes with the right schools, be they DII, DIII or junior college.“We have the eye of the top schools and the top recruits, and that’s good for us as a company,” Rocco said. “But at the end of the day, this platform is built for those kids outside the 1 percent. That’s most of us.”Allen and Rocco made sure to design the platform to appeal to all stakeholders in the recruiting process: fans, athletes, journalists, coaches and even parents. Including parents was important for both men, who serve as godparents to one another’s children.“There is no platform out there that recognizes parents as an integral part of the process,” Rocco said. “It’s their child’s future. You can’t even join inRecruit if you’re under 14 years of age without a parent’s approval. You have to involve parents or it’s not going to work.”"

Just recently, Teague signed up  and thinks this type of service is exactly what is needed for a lot of players and their families struggling with the whole recruiting process.

"“inRecruit is a difference maker. I totally see how inRecruit could change the sports scouting and recruiting landscape forever,” said Marquis Teague, NBA guard with the Chicago Bulls.“Marquis Teague has such a unique perspective on the college recruiting process as he was one of the top recruits in the nation coming out of high school. He will be a great resource for youth athletes on inRecruit who have multiple college options but have a hard time ultimately making a decision on which school to choose,” said former NBA player and inRecruit co-founder Malik Allen."

It;’s an interesting concept and it’s good to have a former Wildcats in on the service from the beginning. You never know how much impact Marquis will continue to have as an ambassador for the Big Blue Nation.