Keeping the score under 140: Former blue devil Jay Bilas twits the NCAA with tweets to win athletes sweat equity.

• Author: Campbell, Spencer
• Position: NCtrend

THE NAMES AND NUMBERS DRIVING COMMERCE IN THE TAR HEEL STATE

The 50-year-old former business lawyer started the New Year by tweeting: "They say, 'Oh, he's so G,' killed that slow. My swag, my flow, swagger jackers, ya'll know." That's Young Jeezy, one of Jay Bilas' favorite musicians. Bilas, better known as an ESPN college-basketball analyst, tweets part of a rap song to begin each weekday. On Jan. 7, it was Young Jeezy again: "Takin' my time, I ain't in no rush. Man, you know the deal, my money longer than a bus." Bilas then added, "I gotta go to work," which he always tags on the end.

The rap references are more than a publicity stunt; he has been a hip-hop fan since the 1980s. But it doesn't hurt that the music is popular with young men, the demographic that makes Bristol, Conn.-based ESPN Inc. one of the world's most popular media outlets. Twitter is also a good format for his irreverent, self-deprecating sense of humor. On TV, he can come off as cocky. On Twitter, he pokes fun at that persona. When someone called his arrogance "ugly," he responded: "Please. My arrogance is more attractive than Giselle Bundchen, airbrushed." Whatever the reason, ftJayBilas has resonated with people. Sports Illustrated included him among sports' 100 most-essential Twitterers, and the basketball publication Dime Magazine ranked him No. 2--behind Shaquille O'Neal--among "bailers" on Twitter. Since joining the site around 2011, he has attracted more than 600,000 followers, including Young Jeezy, who gave him a shou tout ("we goin' to work like Jay Bilas") in the song "Function."

Bilas tweets more than rap and self-directed digs. He has used the social medium as a pulpit to launch a contentious campaign against the NCAA and its refusal to let college athletes profit beyond their scholarships. On Nov. 11: "NCAA nails another 'threat to integrity': A cross-country runner that 'raced' in a recreational fun run." On Dec. 17, he tweeted, "Cue the NCAA: T-shirts are being sold that exploit a college athlete's image and likeness. That's the NCAA's job." On Dec. 21, a day after UNC Chapel Hill announced it had shed P.J. Hairston, the basketball player under NCAA investigation for driving rental cars registered to an ex-convict: "NCAA and UNC haven't forgotten PJ Hairston, still selling his jersey for $75 or $120. Always there for athletes."

Many bash the NCAA's rules on amateurism, but Bilas used Twitter to shame the Indianapolis-based organization into subtly...