Well-Known NBA Reporter Exiting ESPN To Manage His Alma Mater's Basketball Team
Whoever said “you can’t go home again” apparently didn’t talk with journalist Adrian Wojnarowski.
The well-known NBA reporter for ESPN announced Wednesday that he is leaving the network, where he has been employed since 2017. He has agreed to take on the newly created role of general manager of the men’s basketball program at St. Bonaventure University in New York.
Wojnarowski, who graduated from the private Franciscan university in 1991, expressed excitement about his new job and its familiar surroundings.
“It is a thrill of a lifetime to be able to return to a university and community that I love in a role of service to our student-athletes, coaches and institution,” Wojnarowski told ESPN. “I am hopeful that I can bring value in a lot of areas to our basketball program and open doors for our young men’s futures in ways both professionally and personally.”
On social media, he wrote, “After all these years reporting on everyone’s teams, I’m headed back to my own.”
As general manager at St. Bonaventure, “Wojnarowski will serve the coaching staff in managing a wide range of responsibilities including name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities and as a liaison with collectives; transfer portal management; recruit, family and alumni player relationships; professional player programs; and program fundraising,” according to a press release.
“Woj is the perfect person to fill this new role, combining his intimate knowledge of St. Bonaventure and our Franciscan values with a deep network of relationships he has built across the worlds of professional and intercollegiate basketball,” Bob Beretta, St. Bonaventure University’s vice president and director of athletics, said in reference to Wojnarowski.
“The fact that the preeminent journalist in his field is willing to walk away from a lucrative media career to serve his alma mater in a support role is a testament to his love and passion for Bona’s.”