Alumnus named Sportswriter of the Year

The National Sports Media Association (NSMA) named ESPN NBA Insider Adrian “Woj” Wojnarowski, ’91, 2017 Sportswriter of the Year on Jan. 15.
According to its website, the NSMA is an organization intended to honor excellence in the sports media industry and passes along knowledge and history through the generations. Past award winners are inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame inductees for this year are Thomas Boswell, Woody Durham, Bryant Gumbel and Dick Weiss.
“To me, the award is a validation of the tremendous opportunities and mentors that I’ve had in my career, as well as the amazing support and sacrifices that my family has made for me along the way,” said Wojnarowski, who studied journalism during his time at St. Bonaventure.
He is the first ESPN employee to win the honor and believes his success can be attributed to collaboration.
“While it may be only my byline on the stories, there are so many other people responsible for the recognition of the work,” said Wojnarowski.
He said the award is humbling.
“I have never aspired to be anything but a sportswriter, and the list of past winners is truly a ‘Who’s Who’ among many of my idols,” Wojnarowski said. “I am not sure that I measure up to their talent and accomplishments, but I do hope that I cherish the profession and craft as much they do and did.”
The NSMA is an organization of more than 1,000 members that honors excellence in the sports media industry. David Kassnoff, interim dean of the Jandoli School of Communication, added that alumni achievements are a source of pride in the Jandoli School.
“When any of our alumni earns recognition as Woj has received, it speaks not only to his or her achievements – but to the impact our Jandoli School graduates have on communication, culture and public discourse,” Kassnoff said.
Wojnarowski will be honored along with Kevin Harlan, NFL and college basketball broadcaster for CBS and play-by-play announcer for the NBA on TNT, who was named the 2017 National Sportscaster of the Year at the 59th annual NSMA Award Weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C. from June 23 to 25.
This is not the first award for Wojnarowski, a two-time recipient of the Associated Press Sports Editors’ Columnist of the Year award and author of The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball’s Most Improbable Dynasty, a New York Times best-seller.
He’s also no stranger to controversy and pushback, having been listed No. 1 in 2010’s Sports Media Watch’s Worst of Sports Media, after he criticized LeBron James.
Throughout his career, Wojnarowski has consistently called picks and trades in the NBA Draft ahead of time on Twitter, earning him a reputation as one of the best “scoopers” in the business.
He has previously written for The Record in Bergen County, N.J., Fresno Bee, Waterbury Republican-American and Yahoo! Sports, but Wojnarowski got his start in The Bona Venture newsroom and at the local paper, the Olean Times Herald.
“My years at Bona’s were the most influential of my life and career,” said Wojnarowski.
He even met his wife, Amy, a ’92 Mark A. Hellinger Award recipient, at The Bona Venture.
“Bona’s helped me shape my belief systems, challenged me to think critically and surrounded me with great teachers, mentors and classmates who were instrumental in my growth,” Wojnarowski said. “My love and devotion for Bona’s has carried through my life, and I fall back every day on the lessons I learned there.”
From friars to friends, Wojnarowski expressed his gratitude to the people at St. Bonaventure University who helped him along the way.
“Mike Vaccaro told me the time of the first BV meeting as a freshman, and nurtured me all the way through school. Kevin McNamee taught me about sports’ greater values and helped me understand how to evaluate the effectiveness of a coach,” Wojnarowksi said. “Fr. Dan Riley was always there to lend an ear to a homesick freshman on fourth east Devereux.”
Current students and faculty are also grateful for alumni achievements like Wojnarowski’s.
“It’s nice to see because it validates the idea that you don’t have to go to a big-name journalism school to become a big name in sports journalism,” said Isaiah Blakely, a sophomore journalism major who is interested in sports writing.
Kassnoff added, “Woj’s National Sportswriter of the Year recognition proves that a degree in journalism today serves as a launch pad to a career that encompasses digital, print and broadcasting, and that excellence can shine in any medium.”
He realizes his experience at St. Bonaventure was invaluable to his current contentment and success.
“Missouri, Syracuse, Columbia all have great journalism schools, but I’d do Bona’s all over again without hesitation,” Wojnarowski said.