Ole Miss, Freeze 'surprised as anyone' about fake Twitter user catfishing recruits

[jbcarol]

John Talty @JTalty  ·  Mar 14
Ole Miss officials, Hugh Freeze "as surprised as anyone" about catfish situation http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/03/ole_miss_officials_as_surprise.html ...

Michael Thompson was in Nashville for the SEC men's basketball tournament on Thursday night when he noticed a discussion on Twitter about "FinsUpAP," a popular account run by an Ole Miss fan named "Analesa Presley."

"Presley" was an attractive young blonde woman with a heavy interest in Ole Miss football and recruiting. She frequently tweeted at coaches, players, recruits and other fans. She even got a birthday shoutout from Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze. She was well-known in the Ole Miss online fan community.

There was only one problem: She wasn't real.

"Presley" had actually been using a young Georgia woman named Bailey Mills' photos for years. The woman told Scout.com she's actually an Auburn fan.

Thompson, Ole Miss' senior associate athletic director for communications and marketing, said the revelation caught everyone in the Ole Miss athletic department off-guard.

"We are just as surprised as anyone," Thompson said. "Coach Freeze is just as surprised as anyone. Fans these days will do a lot of different things. We've been reading about it just like everybody else has. It's unfortunate."

[jbcarol]

The influence of "Analesa Presley" was strong enough in Oxford that "she" got birthday shout-outs from head coach Hugh Freeze. Many have alleged she was the creation of radio hosts Make It Rain Sports, which hosted her articles and, twice, featured "her" on the air:

Hugh FreezeVerified account@CoachHughFreeze
Happy birthday to one great Rebel @FinsUpAP
7:28 PM - 12 Aug 2014

Bailey @baileyboo357
People are weird af. Apparently my sister and I have been catfished for 4 years now on various social medias
4:40 PM - 12 Mar 2015

[NoNC4Tubs]

There was only one problem: She wasn't real.

"Presley" had actually been using a young Georgia woman named Bailey Mills' photos for years. The woman told Scout.com she's actually an Auburn fan.

Not surprised. The NTYF does this all of the time...........

[jbcarol]

Not surprised. The NTYF does this all of the time...........

Auburn organization?

[Rzbakfromwaybak]

Freeze better be careful.  Article says she was an attractive, young blonde.  Those young blondes can be pretty hard on coaches.  Ask BP.....

[jbcarol]

http://mississippistate.scout.com/story/1526883-coming-undone-a-cautionary-tale

Possessed of enough facts to push the issue, I contacted the account supposedly associated with Analesa Presley.

After several rounds of denials, I put trump cards on the table and illustrated all I had found from Ohio to Tremont. Faced with the facts, the architect behind these social media accounts admitted that the pictures and persona were not their own. And, now, that they were ready for this entire episode to be over.

The afternoon wasn't over before Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat and Instagram accounts belonging to Analesa Presley were all gone. Once labeled an "Icon", the person nicknamed "AP" was no more. Before deleting the final account, AP asked me not to write this story. Needless to say that request was not honored.

On the other side of this equation, Bailey Sims was adamant about me writing it in hopes that the publicity around the incident would protect her and her sister from a future run in with a person who has twice looked to use their images to perpetuate some self esteeming exercise without their consent.

So in the end who is at fault here? Presley found herself with a by line as a writer of sorts and as a radio guest. She claims that those parties sought her out, which brings up a new angle entirely. Should there not be a vetting process in place to ensure that people are who they say they are prior to publication? I would say so.

At the end of the day, it is impossible to create a back story good enough and strong enough that will hold up to scrutiny when the whole deal is a house of cards. All involved hold some sense of responsibility, which is a indictment on what we consider media these days.

By now you are surely wondering: why so much effort over a tale that is twisted but unlikely to impact any school, football program, anyone? This. Our business is built on personal contacts with high school and junior college players, their coaches, their families, local media. The internet has made recruiting coverage a source of information and entertainment to hundreds of thousands of college sports fans, far beyond what print magazines and newspapers could provide.

But we recruiting reporters are only as informative and entertaining as our sources make possible. That requires a level of trust. When individuals passionate to 'help' their school inject themselves into the recruiting process, nothing good happens and sometimes bad things do. That is why schools and conferences provide information on what boosters can and moreso cannot do. It is why compliance offices keep an eye on those covering their school's recruiting.