• Loading stock data...
Friday, July 18, 2025

Woj Plans to Go From Dropping Bombs to Being a ‘Giant-Killer’

  • The former ESPN news-breaker calls the return to his alma mater a natural next step.
  • St. Bonaventure is still fighting an uphill battle in a fast-changing college sports landscape.
Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The sports media landscape is still reeling from the stunning departure of NBA news-breaker Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN to become GM of the men’s basketball program at St. Bonaventure. The Woj Bomber himself has shed further light on the decision after a week of public silence, calling the move a natural next step on multiple levels, even amid its surprising nature.

Appearing at his alma mater Wednesday afternoon to detail the career shift, Wojnarowski said the new position in many ways marks a formalization of many of the functions he had already been doing for the Bonnies while still working at ESPN. 

“This has been a role and a conversation that’s been going on, particularly between [men’s head basketball coach Mark Schmidt] and I, for years,” said Wojnarowski, who left about halfway through a five-year, estimated $35 million contract with ESPN to take the Bonnies job. “This has been an ongoing conversation, even while I was at ESPN, trying to rally our program and help keep it competitive.”

Uphill Climb 

Wojnarowski’s substantial and national fame provides a huge lift in notoriety and prominence for St. Bonaventure, one of the smallest schools in all of Division I athletics with a total enrollment of fewer than 2,700 students. That fame and Wojnarowski’s deep battery of contacts across the basketball community will blend with a long history of overachievement by Schmidt, the program’s winningest coach with 302 victories, six 20-win seasons, and three NCAA tournament appearances. 

But all that will come up against a fast-changing college sports landscape that includes a rising emphasis on NIL (name, image, and likeness) rights, accelerating realignment, and a growing dominance of football over other sports. St. Bonaventure’s conference, the Atlantic 10, does not offer football. And like other mid-majors, the A-10 also finds gaining at-large bids to March Madness an increasing challenge, with even automatic qualifiers for smaller conferences perhaps threatened.

“We find ourselves in unprecedented disruption and chaos in the world of intercollegiate athletics,” said Bob Beretta, St. Bonaventure athletic director. “At a place like St. Bonaventure, where our resources don’t always measure favorably to our peers in the Atlantic 10, we must remain at the forefront of change … and consider bold moves at a time where inertia equates to slow death.”

Wojnarowski’s role also spotlights the new level of importance of the GM role for college sports programs—a spot that did not broadly exist until just a few years ago, and is still more of a presence in football than in basketball. At St. Bonaventure, Wojnarowski’s duties will include not only managing NIL opportunities, collectives, and the transfer portal, but also fundraising, aiding in recruiting, and helping oversee the program’s relationships with other basketball organizations. 

“To recruit great players and to retain the great players we have on campus now, you need NIL,” Wojnarowski said. “Since our announcement last week, I have been absolutely blown away with the incoming opportunities from national sponsors and entities who want to be in the NIL business with St. Bonaventure.”

Leaving It Behind

The loss of Wojnarowski from ESPN has produced no shortage of speculation and palace intrigue as to how the sports media giant will fill the NBA news-breaker role. Wojnarowski, meanwhile, said he will still be leaning on many of his existing reporting and storytelling skills in the new role, one he insisted “is no retirement job.”

“We have an incredible story to tell,” Wojnarowski said. “We want players to know that when you come to St. Bonaventure, you are a giant-killer.”

Schmidt put a finer point on that last notion, saying Wojnarowski easily could have pursued similar administrative opportunities at a variety of major-conference schools.

“Guys, we got Woj. If Woj put his name in the portal, it’d be Kansas, [North] Carolina, and Duke,” he said. “We have him, and the relationships that Woj has are something we couldn’t develop in the next 50 years.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

(NCL_OSU_11_SUGAR_LAURON 04JAN11) Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2) slips around the Arkansas Razorbacks defense during first half of the Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, January 4, 2011.

Terrelle Pryor’s Case for NIL Backpay Dismissed in Court

Pryor played seven years in the NFL after leaving OSU amid a scandal.

WNBA Stars Say Zero Progress Made at CBA Meeting

The WNBA and its union had their first in-person meeting Thursday.

Featured Today

Jul 21, 2024; Ayrshire, SCT; Xander Schauffele celebrates with Claret Jug after winning the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon.

The Boozy History and Traditions of The Open’s Claret Jug

The Open awards the world’s most famous wine decanter.
2025 PDC World Darts Championship Final - Luke Littler vs Michael Van Gerwen
July 16, 2025

A Teen Darts Prodigy Is Becoming Bigger Than the Game Itself

Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler is cashing in on his devastatingly accurate shot.
May 31, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sydney McLaughin-Levrone (USA) reacts before the women's 100m hurdles during the Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at Franklin Field
exclusive
July 13, 2025

Track’s New Money Is Running Into Old Problems

The sport’s big-money era has hit some speed bumps in 2025.
Bobbleheads are seen at Vintage Indy Sports, Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Speedway. The local sports memorabilia store opened recently.
July 12, 2025

Baseball’s Bobbleheads Are the Center of the Collectibles Universe

Baseball’s most important keepsake drives long lines—and big business.
Mar 21, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway walks off the court after losing to Colorado State Rams at Climate Pledge Arena.

Memphis Basketball and Softball Placed on NCAA Probation

Memphis has had multiple NCAA issues since hiring Penny Hardaway.
July 16, 2025

Alabama’s New Era Contends With NIL—and Nick Saban Rumors

Kalen DeBoer is entering his second season as head coach.
Sep 28, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump waves flanked by former Georgia Bulldogs player Herschel Walker, recording art Kid Rock, professional golfer John Daily, Alabama senators Tommy Tuberville (R) and Katie Britt (R) during the second half of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
July 16, 2025

President Trump Is Actively Working on an NIL-Related Executive Order

It’s unclear what the executive order would include.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian waits to lead his team out of the tunnel ahead of the Longhorns' game against the Baylor Bears, Saturday, Sept. 23 at McLane Stadium in Waco.
July 15, 2025

Is a Texas Takeover About to Hit the SEC, On and Off..

The Longhorns are favored to win the SEC in their second year in the conference.
Georgia takes the field for the first half of the SEC championship game against Texas in Atlanta, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
July 15, 2025

SEC Lands Starring Role in Netflix College Football Docuseries

Netflix brings its sports storytelling to the heart of SEC football.
May 15, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; United States Capitol seen as People rally outside the Supreme Court before justices hears oral arguments in Trump v. CASA, Inc. At issue in the case is if the Supreme Court should stay the district courts' nationwide preliminary injunctions on the Trump administration’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.
July 15, 2025

Pro-NCAA Bill Takes First Step Toward Being Introduced on House Floor for..

It could be the first bill of its kind to make it to the House floor.