Nebraska's College of Journalism and Mass Communications held its third annual Basketball Media Days, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola of Lincoln, with Nebraska high schools on Tuesday, Nov. 11 and Thursday, Nov. 13.
On day one, players and coaches from eight Lincoln-area girls basketball teams came to Andersen Hall for the event and six boys basketball teams from across the state attended day 2.
Students from four different CoJMC classes and four different Experience Labs participated in the event. Many of the college's sports media instructors incorporate Media Days into their syllabi by giving students class assignments that put their sports writing, producing and reporting skills to the test.
In Assistant Professor Jason Stamm's sports writing and reporting course, students spend the afternoon with one team to learn their story and write a feature. Stamm's Unlimited Sports Experience Lab students were also assigned various multimedia assignments.
This semester, senior sports media and communication major Lindsay McMullen is enrolled in both of Stamm's courses. In an interview with 10/11 News, she shared how Media Days is preparing her for life after graduation next month.
"It just gives us a great opportunity to explore different realms of writing, print, photo and video and get that experience here at Nebraska," McMullen said.
Stamm launched the first Basketball Media Days in 2023. His goal was to give students the chance to practice the multimedia skills they'd been learning in class on a larger scale and also to gain a stronger connection with Nebraska's high school sports community.
"I'm so thankful to be in a college that truly appreciates, values and promotes events like this," Stamm said. "Few places exist where so many people help each other out and drop everything to do so, and in featuring so many small schools and towns, I believe this to be another event that helps us serve our land-grant mission."
One of the main events for Media Days was the press conferences held in the college's Meier Studio.
Both days were livestreamed by students in a video production class taught by Associate Professor of Practice Alan Eno, as well as students in the Nebraska Nightly Experience Lab.
Watch a recording of the girls' basketball press conference here and the boys' basketball press conference here.
Nebraska Nightly students also recorded and produced individual interviews with players and shared live Media Days updates on their Instagram.
Assistant Professor of Practice Bill Doleman's class, Beginning Sports Writing for News and Promotion, interviewed players for print pieces and students in his sports broadcasting course interviewed teams in the podcast studio.
In the Pepsi Lab, students in the Production House Experience Lab produced social media content for each team by recording players doing social media trends. Over the next few weeks, Production House students will edit the videos, then share the final versions with teams for use on their social media channels.
Players and coaches also spent time in the 90.3 KRNU Studio, doing on-air interviews with students who regularly broadcast for the KRNU Sports station.
On the third floor, students in the Buffett-Mangelsen-Sartore Chair in Photojournalism and Assistant Professor of Practice Shoun Hill's sports photojournalism class took team photos.
Prospective students also had the opportunity to participate in High School Basketball Media Days. A combined 41 high school students attended one or both days to produce content, learn more about careers in media and experience what a Media Day looks like firsthand.
The high school student reporters also connected with CoJMC faculty, staff and current students. The college's student ambassador team, led by Assistant Director of Recruitment Alex Fernando, helped organize the high schoolers' schedules and take them around the building.
In her interview with 10/11, sophomore Izzy Lewis talks about the college's experiential focus. In addition to her Media Days duties as an ambassador and Unlimited Sports student, she also took over the college's Instagram stories to highlight what the event is like for high schoolers and show the behind-the-scenes from a current student's POV.
"The College of Journalism's motto that they always tell us is ‘do from day one' and I think Media Days is a really great example of that," Lewis said.
