Tyler Luatua has never met @Block_Saibot.

But the person behind the Twitter handle tried to convince Luatua, the nation's No. 3 tight end from La Mirada (Calif.) High, to pick USC through tweets that sounded right out of a recruiter's playbook.

The day before Luatua was to announce his decision, @Block_Saibot tweeted to Luatua, "I know the Lord was whispering USC in your ear." Then as the day progressed and it became clear Luatua was about to pick Notre Dame, the tweets turned in a different direction.

Notre Dame commit Tyler Luatua encountered some interesting people on Twitter when he was making his college decision. Tom Hauck for Student Sports

"He said, 'Come to USC, or I will kill myself,'" Luatua said. "He eventually said he was just kidding. He said he's got kids at home and would never do that, but I thought he was serious at first. That really freaked me out."

Luatua isn't the only one freaking out because of the interaction between recruits and fans on social media. According to NCAA rules, fans are not allowed to contact prospective student-athletes -- a rule that is rarely, if ever, enforced. In the past, the line between the two groups was pretty clearly defined. Fans would show up at prospects' games decked out in their favorite school's colors, and they would bump into prospects when they were on campus for visits. But Twitter allows fans to insert themselves directly into the process.

"Because of social media, fans know where recruits are at," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. "They know where they're going to a movie or where they're going to hang out that night, and more people are getting involved. I don't think any of us like that. We like to recruit guys like we always have, and that's with building great relationships with people and getting to know everybody that's important to that young man.

"All those outside influences, I don't think any of us are comfortable with that. They're getting a lot of people breathing down their necks and putting undue pressure on them and sending them the wrong messages about your program. They have enough pressure on them from the coaches. They don't need some guy with a computer or cell phone stalking them."

And in some cases, that's what it's turned into.

One recruit said a fan saw his post about going to eat ice cream and appeared minutes later at the same place, shook his hand and snapped a picture with him. "It creeped out my girlfriend," the recruit said. Another told a story about going to see "Thor" with his friends and having a fan show up and sit right behind him decked out in his school's colors. The fan said hello, mentioned he followed the recruit on Twitter and encouraged him to come to his favorite school.

It's gotten so bad that schools such as LSU and Miami have, ironically, gone to Twitter to educate fans about NCAA rules.

Att. fans/boosters,we have 45 ov's and many more unov's this wkend. If u c a recruit, please leave them alone. Let coaches do the recruiting — LSU Compliance (@LSUCompliance) October 11, 2013

Dear fans tweeting recruits: please stop. It's creepy. And sending hate tweets is unnecessary and immature. Have some class. @UCompliance — Chris Yandle (@ChrisYandle) January 10, 2014

"Twitter is the Wild West of recruiting," five-star cornerback Adoree' Jackson (Gardena, Calif./Serra) said. "I've had some weird things tweeted at me, crazy things. Some I can't say. It does get to the point where fans will tell you, 'If you come to my school, I'll give you this.' 'I'll throw a party for you.' 'I'll name my kid after you,' and stuff like that."

Darryl Revels is a 50-year-old former assistant high school basketball coach in Phoenix. He works as an electronics technician and is also a huge USC fan. He believes Jackson is the key to the Trojans' returning to greatness under Steve Sarkisian.

That's why Revels, under the Twitter handle @DarrylRebs50, has made it a goal to do everything he can to make sure Jackson feels the love from USC fans. He's got only about 140 tweets since he launched his account in early December, but more than 80 of them have been recruiting pitches to Jackson.

"I'm not sure if it impacts him at all," Revels said. "But I believe fans feel like they're helping their schools out. I'm an emotional and intense person who has seen USC get the shaft, so that's why I tweet to Adoree'. I don't believe I've upset him with anything I've said. His L.A. swagger and personality is tailor-made for USC, not LSU or these other schools. I feel like SC has a better education, immediate playing time, a great track and field program and great new staff."

Revels is aware it's against NCAA rules to interact with recruits and would stop immediately if asked to. He also understands the concern from coaches that the wrong message about a program could be passed along by fans through social media to prospects.