For those who only know Adrian Wojnarowski as an NBA insider, Twitter news breaker, draft pick exposer and ESPN personality, his last “Wojbomb,” a true-but-outside report that became famous, may not make sense.
On Wednesday morning, Wojnarowski, 55, tweeted that he was leaving his high-paying and powerful position at ESPN as the NBA’s most influential and well-known reporter and retiring from sports journalism.
Chaser: He’s leaving to become general manager at his beloved alma mater, St. Bonaventure University, where he’ll lead recruiting and NIL efforts and help his good friend, coach Mark Schmidt, lead the proud Bonnie program to relevance and ultimately a return to the NCAA Tournament.
“I am excited and honored to return to St. Bonaventure University with the opportunity to contribute to the institution,” Wojnarowski said in a statement.
Once again, a man at the pinnacle of reporting and breaking news ability, with a job and salary that any sportswriter in the country would dream of, voluntarily resigned with three years remaining on his contract, choosing to run a mid-major college basketball program in a small town in the snow-covered countryside of western New York.
If Wojnarowski had wanted to leave journalism for the more competitive side of business, his connections and experience could have easily landed him a spot at a sports agency or NBA front office. At least one other major college program caught wind of Wojnarowski’s transfer and offered him a similar position and the allure of a shot at winning a national title.
He said no.
Instead, he had the freedom that comes with making enough money, and he didn’t need any more money to land his dream job, and it couldn’t get any better.
“I’m really excited,” he said.
All of this speaks to two traits I’ve come to know about Wojnarowski through our 30-year friendship, our conflicts and collaborations with each other, including more than a decade here at Yahoo Sports.
First of all, Woj is a talented writer and reporter with a penchant for sports journalism, but the secret to his success is his insanely competitive spirit.
Second, the thing he loves most, outside of his family, is St. Bonaventure, the school where the boy from Bristol, Connecticut, found his footing, his confidence, and his wife, Amy.
In sports journalism, Woj was driven not by the thrill of reporting the news or writing a great column, but by the drive to beat others. Starting out as an intern at the Hartford Courant, working as a college reporter in Waterbury, Connecticut, and a columnist in Fresno, California, and North Jersey, he was driven to work his way up in the industry.
He eventually became a hard-hitting NBA columnist at Yahoo and then an unparalleled newsbreaker, before earning fame and fortune through his work at ESPN.
But it’s never been about the money or the attention. He and his family still live in the same house he did when he was a suburban newspaper columnist. He’s always preferred simple meals. He never changed under the bright lights of television, because they were simply a means to an end (more broken news) rather than a destination.
Winning was always the most important thing. It was always a zero-sum game for him. It was important to know what kind of competition was in front of you every night. And he beat it in every way possible.
So he’ll stop chasing rumors and behind-the-scenes news and focus instead on acquiring better players and ultimately bringing victory to the Bonnies. He’ll use his connections and talents to try to bring a championship to his favorite team.
This wasn’t about becoming a reporter, any more than it was about landing a high-profile NBA job, going to ESPN (he turned them down multiple times over the years before finally accepting).
This is about competition.
Not a Woj bomb, but a better rookie.
Absolutely true, and good luck to the rest of the teams in the Atlantic 10. The Bonnies may never be good enough to win a Final Four, but this guy can’t lose once he makes up his mind.