NCAA Says No To Akron Twitter Handle On Back Of Jersey

The NCAA said no to Akron having the team's twitter handle on the back of its jerseys Saturday. (theverge.com)

Social media's presence in college athletics, and across the world, continues to grow, but it may have reached its limit within college basketball.

The Akron Zips are having a social media night for their home game against Ohio Saturday in which the team announced Monday it was planning to have its @ZipsMBB twitter handle on the back of each jersey instead of the player's last name. The Zips first checked with the NCAA to see if it would allow the twitter jerseys and the NCAA said no and that it was not allowed. However, the Zips will still be able to show off the handle on their warm-up shirts in front of a nationally televised audience.

Coaches, players and the programs themselves are all over social media pages, and team hashtags are everywhere, even on the courts. In fact, Akron's court on Saturday will feature the hashtags #ZipsGameday and #ThinkBigger. Yet jerseys look to still be untouchable territory for Twitter.

It was a catchy and smart marketing campaign by the university to garner support. Media members such as CBS Sports' Jeff Goodman and ESPN's Jay Bilas even received customized jerseys with their handles on the back.

It was an interesting move by the NCAA to put its foot down, but as Bilas pointed out on Twitter, Akron is receiving even more attention from the NCAA rejecting the move than it would have if it was allowed to keep the jerseys.


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