We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jake Perper a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jake thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
In the sports world, specifically the high school basketball event/media space there has always been a need. The high school space is one where the athletes are not only still learning in the classroom but also on the basketball court. They need all the exposure they can get and with my platform, I make sure it is all encompassing between my high quality events, social media push and articles that are read by college coaches and scouts around the country. Professional sports get all the love with college sports behind as a close second. However, the magic of high school sports is one of pureness and endless effort. It makes it easy to want to be involved in the process and help these athletes get seen and known in order to get to the next level.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
In 2008, I started to write professionally for a then little known website called Bleacher Report. I was a passionate Chicago sports fan, specifically a Bears fan. I connected with someone who set me up with my own site to blog about the Bears called Bears Backer. I took that opportunity to cover the team year round, interviewed nearly 40 former and current NFL players including Gale Sayers, Charles Tillman, Matt Forte and more. I went on to write for newspapers such as the Tampa Tribune, Tampa Bay Times and Naples Daily News along my journey to gain more experience.
A few years after college graduation in 2013, I started at Prep Hoops. I was there for seven years as the lead Florida high school basketball scout and Southeast Scouting Director. In August 2022, I launched my own media/event brand called The Hoop Vibe.
My goal is always to help athletes through my writing on the site, thehoopvibe.com, through social media and run events that assist in their exposure.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Consistency and quality. I truly feel that if you put in the work with social media marketing not only does it help you as a brand/company but it helps build a better following for the people you cover in the business. I’ve always told people that social media is simply free marketing on the platforms. Is it tough to post consistently while you are operating a business solo or with just a few people? Yea, it can be. But again if you are truly passionate about something and want to succeed, it is essential to do just that through social media marketing.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Being able to help student athletes get recognition through social media posts, videos and articles on my site has been truly awesome. Watching the journey of these athletes from freshman to senior year and beyond is a joy. Turning on a college basketball game there are tons of hoopers that I know and had the privilege to not only help but develop a friendship with them along the way. Many of them are excelling at the next level and quite a few have made it to the NBA and other professional leagues. When a former athlete that I covered in high school reaches out saying they can get me tickets to one of their games it is a great feeling. Like I said earlier, helping the kids is the No. 1 goal here and these experiences make it easy to continue to do so.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thehoopvibe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_hoopvibe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehoopvibe
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeperper/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thehoopvibe
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHoopVibe
Image Credits
N/A