Welcoming Nubyjas Wilborn to Auburn sports - AL.com

My name is Nubyjas Wilborn, and I’ve joined AL.com to cover Auburn sports alongside Tom Green. Before we get started, the correct way to say my name is New Buy Us. Think of it as going to Publix and buying something new for us.

With that out of the way, let’s get into why I’m moving to the Plains during a pandemic to cover Auburn. Before, AL.com I had stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Marietta Daily Journal, Fox Sports South, Cleveland.com, plus bylines in Sporting News, the Athletic, and Boston Globe, to name a few.

All good, right? Not so fast, my friend. I wasn’t always highly regarded.

I made mistakes. I failed. I was ready to get out of journalism.

Thankfully, so many people never stopped rooting for my success. One of my biggest supporters was my brother James Wilborn. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many people who let me sleep on their couch on road trips or bought me a meal, but if I named everyone here, I’d crash the servers at AL.com.

I wanted to focus on my brother because when I was going through what I believed was the most tumultuous year of my life, he had two strokes in a six-month time frame. The roughest part is my brother was only 31 with a daughter, a son, and another son on the way. My brother’s resolve to fight congestive heart failure forced me to challenge myself. If he can overcome a heart operating at 10 percent function, I can continue to pursue storytelling.

MDJ editor and UAB alum John Bednarowski called me. He needed a reporter to cover the Atlanta Braves. Yes, the job didn’t pay a lot, but you take it when you get a chance to cover a pro ballclub. I met Bednarowski through Tommy Deas, who I met through Tim Stephens. I met Stephens because I applied for a job when he was the sports editor at the Orlando Sentinel that I didn’t get. Stephens connected me with Deas, who was working as a sports editor in Tuscaloosa.

Through those connections, I’d eventually meet Larry Graham and Lisa Wilson. Graham runs some excellent programs to help connect newsrooms with journalists from diverse programs. Graham has worked as a sports editor in San Diego and several other places. Wilson is an NFL editor at the Athletic and president of Associated Press Sports Editors.

What does all of this do with why I’m covering Auburn football? I’m here because of people like Tyler Batiste, who gave me a chance to cover the Pittsburgh Pirates for a major outlet. Batiste helped me transition to reporting on Penn State football, which reignited my passion for college sports.

I’m here because the best college athletics are in the SEC. No offense to my old friends in State College. I’m here to honor the craft and all the people who’ve poured into me.

I’m here to learn from top-flight reporters such as Mike Rodak, Michael Casagrande, Roy Johnson, Joe Goodman, Izzy Gould, and Shauna Stuart.

I’m also here because my brother is still in Atlanta, recovering from a heart transplant. Getting an opportunity to be closer to him and my niece and nephews matters, especially as we all try to figure out what’s next.

I’m excited to learn more about head football coach Bryan Harsin, hoops coach Bruce Pearl, and athletic director Allen Greene. I want to learn everything I can about Auburn sports. I’m not an alum or a fan. I have no emotional investment in wins and losses. That’s what happens when you grow up watching Atlanta teams break hearts. However, I am passionate about the stories.

Auburn fans deserve unbiased truth. If the team is good, I’ll tell you why. If they’re bad, well, some readers may not like me as much. It’s okay, we’ll learn together. I’ll be at the games and covering the press conferences, but the press passes belong to the people. The Alabama Media Group hired me. However, I work for the readers.

My email is nwilborn@Al.Com, and my Twitter is @nwilborn19. Feel free to reach out if there’s a story you feel should be told. Reach out if I get something wrong. Reach out if you have a restaurant recommendation.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as an Auburn beat writer. Next Saturday, I look forward to meeting some of you as the Tigers take on Ole Miss in a pivotal matchup at Jordan-Hare.

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group

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