“Full Court Press,” the annual United States Basketball Writers Association sportswriting seminar and scholarship competition, will take place on Friday, April 1 in the football press box at NRG Stadium in Houston.
The session will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and will be followed by the presentation of the Oscar Robertson Trophy to the USBWA Player of the Year.
The 16th anniversary event provides opportunities for students interested in a career in sports journalism to meet leaders in the industry and compete for a $1,000 scholarship. Students may enter a writing competition for a scholarship in honor of the late Larry Donald, the only two-time USBWA president and the founder and long-time publisher and editor of Basketball Times.
The seminar is being organized by the Sports Capital Journalism Program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and will be moderated by its director, past USBWA president and Hall of Fame member Malcolm Moran.
At the center of the seminar is a panel discussion featuring:
- Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports, USBWA president.
- Nicole Auerbach of USA Today, USBWA District II representative.
- Jim O’Connell of the Associated Press, past USBWA president and a member of its Hall of Fame.
The discussion, which will include a question-and-answer session, is expected to include topics such as the influence of social media, the state of the job market, navigational skills in a 24/7 digital era and survival tactics to deal with increasingly difficult deadlines.
Students electing to participate in the writing contest will cover events surrounding the men’s championship, including press conferences and practices on April 1.
To register: Students should send an email to Sports Capital Journalism Program graduate assistant Zach Wagner (ztw277@gmail.com).
The subject line should read: Full Court Press 2016.
Please give your name, university, email address and cell phone number.
Please note: The deadline to register for the event is Tuesday, March 22.
