Brayden Conover is an up-and-comer in sports journalism. As such, Conover, a journalism and communications major at the University of Oklahoma, has been named the third recipient of the annual Ron Balicki Scholarship Award.
Balicki, a longtime college- and amateur-golf beat writer for Golfweek, passed away in 2014. He is remembered through the scholarship, which is annually awarded to an applicant who shows great journalism skills, a passion for golf and also displays the values that Balicki practiced daily.
“It means the world to me to be a recipient and be linked to Mr. Balicki,” said Conover. “His legacy not only as a golf journalist but as a person are extraordinary. I am beyond humbled and blessed to now be mentioned in the same breath as him.”
Conover played high school golf in Midwest City, Oklahoma, but was always most fascinated by local journalists and weathermen when they appeared on TV during Oklahoma’s tornado season.
Throughout his college career, Conover has also worked other jobs related to sports journalism. Currently, Conover is a beat writer for USA Today as part of the College Wire (Sooners Wire) service and covers Oklahoma football, men’s basketball, golf, baseball and softball as well as producing for a local sports talk radio station (107.7 The Franchise). He is a play-by-play and color analyst (football, basketball, baseball and softball) for high schools across the Oklahoma City metro area.
Conover is also well-versed in Balicki’s coverage style.
“I find that I love the way Mr. Balicki painted the picture,” he said. “When you read his work you can smell the pine trees, you can feel the intensity, you can visualize the putt that the subject of the piece is standing over and you can feel exactly what they’re feeling in that moment. Mr. Balicki’s imagery puts the reader in the place of the subject.”
