Guys and gals, we should give Brant Wilkerson-New an honorary MMB award for his work, so far, in covering Mountaineer athletics. Many of us were concerned that coverage might tail off after Tommy Bowman's departure. That certainly hasn't been the case. Kudos to Brant for keeping the coverage flowing.

Players look for fresh start at walk-on tryouts
Posted: Tuesday, August 18, 2015 12:15 am
By BRANT WILKERSON-NEW Winston-Salem Journal

BOONE — The chance to earn the moment they’ve always dreamed of came down to a 30-minute audition on Monday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Dressed in yellow practice jerseys, 15 hopeful students went through walk-on tryouts with the goal of extending their football career beyond their final high school snaps last fall or looking for a fresh start at Appalachian State.

Scott Johnston, a sophomore from Greensboro, recently arrived in Boone after playing linebacker his freshman season at UNC Pembroke, recording nine tackles in 11 games for the Braves.

App State was where he wanted to be coming out of Grimsley High, but a torn MCL the week before Mountaineers coaches were set to see him play derailed that dream.

Offered a preferred walk-on spot by App State, Johnson said it made financial sense to take the opportunity at UNCP.

This spring, he realized his heart was still in Boone... http://www.journalnow.com/sports/asu/fo ... ba0d4.html

Agree 100%. A very pleasant surprise.

I didn't want Tommy to go, but I'm not going to hold that against a young and hungry journalist. Doing an excellent job thus far and a very good follow on twitter.

Based on my observations, Brant has not only matched Tommy but actually stepped up our coverage from the Journal's perspective. I see 2-3x the number of articles coming out now vs Tommy. Tommy was great but Brant is definitely doing a great job.

And the quality is also excellent. Thoroughly researched and written articles.

Always go to Journal site and click the recommend article button and add a shout out comment. They track that kind of stuff for future content coverage.