Two Missouri Students Prove There is More Than One Winner at the Final Four
Columbia, Mo. (May 9, 2005) — For Missouri Journalism students Angela Busch and Brandt Merritt, the NCAA Final Four was more than just a basketball tournament. It was an opportunity to improve their sports writing skills and win a $1,000 scholarship.
Busch and Merritt participated in the United States Basketball Writers Association “Full Court” Sportswriting seminar held on March 31 in conjunction with this year’s NCAA Final Four. Students wrote stories based on various aspects of the Final Four Weekend. The USBWA awarded three Larry Donald Memorial Journalism Scholarships.
Busch, a junior from Maple Grove, Minn., wrote a feature on North Carolina basketball player Rashad McCants. Through her story, she explained how every aspect of McCants’ personality reflected his desire to be the go-to-guy when it comes down the final shot in a close game.
Busch said she is honored to receive the scholarship. “Just getting to cover the Final Four and go inside the team locker rooms was an award in and of itself,” Busch explained. “This is just an incredible bonus.”
Merritt used his sense of humor and writing skills to write a colorful story about the Monster Mascot Challenge, an obstacle course tournament involving eight college mascots. The event was part of an interactive fan area called Hoop City. Merritt is a junior from Lakeland, Fla.
Merritt says he enjoyed his assignment and is proud that two of the three scholarship recipients were from the Missouri School of Journalism. “Having two of us from Mizzou win is awesome,” Merritt said. “I’m just excited to win an award for something that was a lot of fun to do.”
Most of the articles that Missouri students wrote for the conference were also printed in the Columbia Missourian as a part of its Final Four coverage.
Updated: April 7, 2020