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Sports have been a part of our lives since we were born. We have suffered with our favorite teams through the agony of defeat. We have also celebrated alongside them when victorious. Sports share many similarities of life with ups and downs and all, and many of us will continue to root for our teams until the day we die. Our teams are like part of our family.

Adam Gorney, a 1999 graduate of GNA was an avid sports buff when he roamed these hallways. He wore the Trojan basketball uniform and contributed many seasons for then head coach Ken Bartuska, our current athletic director. With his accurate jump shot, his quick ball handling skills, and his knowledge of the game, Gorney was more than a great player, he was a coach on the floor.

Those who knew Gorney understood his passion for sports. Combined with his brilliant mind and his love of the game, it did not come as a surprise that he ended up pursuing a career in athletics. Currently, Adman Gorney is a 13 year veteran of one of the most well-known college journalism organizations in sports. Rivals is “powered by more than 300 writers, reporters, and publishers. Rivals is the most respected name in team-specific college sports coverage and the country’s No.1 authority on college football and basketball recruiting. Rivals is often sourced in major newspapers across the country as well as frequently appearing on ESPN, FoxSports, and many other national and regional sports programming” (Rivals.com).

Gorney currently has new podcasts on Rivals.com. Keep up to date with all high school recruiting and college athletics with Adam!

The GNA Insider had the opportunity to speak with Adam and ask him a few questions:

What do you remember most about your time spent at GNA?

The fun I had and the lifelong friendships I made. Many of my closest friends are from my time in high school and I know those will carry on forever because we’ve made an effort to stay in touch and care about each other’s lives. Since I moved to California in 2010, I’ve actually grown closer with a lot of people still in Nanticoke and that’s a testament to the bonds we formed many years ago. I also remember how fun high school was for me. Every day would be filled with laughs and that’s something special I’ll never forget.

Did you participate in any extracurricular activities while you attended GNA?

Not as many as I would’ve liked, now looking back. I was so wrapped up in playing basketball and focusing on that whether during the season or AAU season that I didn’t have much time for much else. Some guys wanted me to go out for the football team but I was in preseason conditioning for basketball. Some wanted me to run track but I was playing AAU. And then on the academic side, there weren’t as many opportunities to get involved with groups as there is now. I did some student council and FBLA but never really dedicated much time to it.

Who was your favorite teacher? Why?

Jim Carey. One of the reasons Mr. Carey stands out so much is because I still remember a lot of things I did in his class. English classes can sometimes be monotonous and boring but he always found ways to make them fun. He was also motivating and expected the best out of his students.

Do you have any advice for current GNA students?

The best advice I can give in life is to be a problem solver, not a problem identifier. Whether it’s in your home, on your team, in your school, in your town, whatever it is, anyone can point out all the problems. What makes someone special and valuable is to find solutions to those issues. If you want to be valuable and productive in high school, when you get to college, or when you’re working in society, don’t just identify problems and be slowed by them. Find answers to those problems. Be an asset to your school, your team, your organization and be a leader.

Where did you go to college? What did you study?

Penn State, majored in journalism, minored in sociology. That’s also called “the easy way out.”

How long have you been working for Rivals?

After college, I worked at Newsday in New York for two years and then was hired by Rivals (first owned by Yahoo and now Verizon) in 2005. So I’m in my 13th year at the company.

What is it like working for a company like Rivals?

What I like most about working for a dot-com media company is that my bosses allow me tremendous flexibility to think creatively and come up with ideas that are interesting to me. What’s great about working for an Internet company is that they’re not afraid of failure but they want you to fail quickly. If something is not working, get out of it fast, but they encourage experimentation and trying different things to see if readers are interested. In today’s world, we also have a significant amount of data to see in real-time what readers like and want. Our job is to go out and deliver it to them in innovative ways. Serving your audience is the first priority while also building engagement with new readers.

Who are some of your favorite athletes that you have covered?

I covered Joe Paterno in college and that was thrilling but he is far from my favorite because he just wasn’t engaged like some others I’ve been around in the following years. Urban Meyer was always interesting and from a coaching perspective I’d say former Florida basketball coach (now with Oklahoma City) Billy Donovan was the best. He would actually give thoughtful, insightful answers and was open to all kinds of questions. I also thought former UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun was interesting because he was so straightforward and brutally honest.

As far as players, Tim Tebow stands out. He was interesting for so many reasons, mainly because the spotlight was always on him and he seemed to love it even though he could never have a true college experience. Tennessee Titans cornerback Adoree’ Jackson showed up once to an interview wearing a paper Burger King crown when he was in high school. Now he’s starting on Sundays. Josh Rosen, who will be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft, and I once sat on a bench at his high school and debated the existence of God. He was always a forthright and thoughtful person, even if I disagreed with him.

I’ve always found the favorite athletes I’ve covered aren’t necessarily the biggest names or the most successful ones but the guys who had something to say, had an opinion and weren’t afraid to express it. I’ve covered a lot of guys who made it to the NBA or NFL who were so focused on their sport that they didn’t think about much else. Those guys were interesting in their own right but even when I covered LeBron James when he was in high school, he had a worldview that was unique and interesting as he was experiencing so much as a teenager.

Make sure to follow Adam Gorney on twitter for all updates on college recruiting! https://mobile.twitter.com/adamgorney?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor or check him out at https://n.rivals.com/

Adam Gorney is another fine example of the success of our students!
Go Trojans!