How does a recent high school graduate break the news of one of basketball’s biggest stories?
Well, for Abington High graduate James Madden, it’s never too early to start building his fountains.
On June 10 at 1:38 p.m., ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that UConn men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley was returning to the Huskies, turning down a $70 million offer to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, unbeknownst to most of the country. Madden broke the news 21 minutes earlier in your X account.
Source: Dan Hurley is expected to remain as UConn head coach. Official announcement expected soon.
-James Madden (@Jmadden1632) June 10, 2024
“The first thing I thought was, ‘Please don’t fool yourself,’” Madden said with a laugh.
The post already has more than 9,800 views.
From an early age, Madden was passionate about college basketball. He started an Instagram page, College Basketball News, which closely tracks college basketball recruiting, transfers, game results and more. The page has almost 21 thousand followers.
As his online presence and connections in the college basketball community grew, he developed relationships with many people involved at the Division 1 level.
So much so that he eventually built sources familiar with Hurley’s situation and trusted them enough to break the news himself.
“They are very reliable,” Madden said. “The worst (feeling) is being deceived. You know how fake reports and sources can be. (The source) was very credible and I felt confident in disclosing it.”
With UConn winning back-to-back titles, mixed in with one of the NBA’s most storied franchises, Madden was fully aware of the scale of the situation.
“Dan Hurley and UConn have become a big deal over the last two years,” Madden said. “It kind of became the center of everything. Not even college basketball, just everything basketball related, because it’s the LA Lakers too.”
At Abington High, Madden developed a specific interest in sports broadcasting. He did play-by-play for most of the school’s basketball games, among other sports, through the school’s partnership with Abington’s Community Access and Media television station.
Abington athletic director Peter Serino, who is also the varsity boys basketball coach, said Madden was always extremely enthusiastic and prepared, constantly attending team orientations and practices and asking questions.
“I think it’s rare that a high school kid with his enthusiasm and level of enthusiasm would give up being in the student section to come over and do commentary for cable TV,” Serino said. “Often he was a one-man show. Just the fact that he did this shows his passion and commitment to sports journalism and broadcasting.”
Serino added that he broadcast the game “exceptionally well,” with many shocked to discover that Madden was a high school student after hearing him call the game.
Although college basketball is his main passion, Madden said he enjoys sports as a whole, especially as a die-hard Boston fan, which led him to pursue a career in sports journalism.
“I always thought the best job in the world would be something that involved sports,” Madden said. “If you get paid to cover sports and just watch sports, that’s my dream.”
And what’s more fitting than pursuing that dream at one of college basketball’s blue-blooded giants?
Madden will attend the University of Kansas to study sports journalism this fall. His goal is to cover basketball teams as an announcer during their early years.
“It’s like the cathedral of college basketball,” Madden said.
He now enters college with an incredible icebreaker: he defeated Woj in one of the biggest stories in basketball this year.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Abington High graduate shares news about Dan Hurley staying at UCONN
