“The girls at the party were much better than the farmer girls we’d see all day around campus. I was kind of worried all Auburn had to offer was those farmer girls that talked funny. But the girls at the party weren’t farmer girls at all. I thought they must have bused them in from Miami”
~ Willie Williams, former five star recruit, University of Miami player, and America’s first “celebrity” recruit, on his recruiting visit at Auburn.
With the advent of social media and the launch of sanctioned name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsements, more and more of college football’s elite prospects in 2023 are celebrity recruits.