Dan usually has a will to win, with twenty minutes on the clock to make a good impression he knows he has to be precise and accurate. I spoke with him about how he manages to stay calm and collective when conducting an interview with many important and famous people. Dan responds with stolid confidence, "famous people and celebrities are just like us. There is nothing to be afraid of when interviewing them and I always make sure I have my notes prepared before every interview." The 21-year-old Editor-in-Chief of “Visions” newspaper has a passion and love for all things sports.
Growing up, Dan played competitive soccer for various different travel and club teams. He switched over to basketball and played throughout high school. Towards the end of his junior year of high school he began thinking of ways to expand his love for sports. Because his school did not have a student newspaper he decided to go out to charity events such as the “Walk to Cure Lupus” at “MetLife Stadium” and interview some of the New York Jets football players.
Dan would also interview Oscar winning director Guy Nattiv at one of the premieres of the feature film “Skin” in New York City. Following the “Legacy Minded Men” Good Friday breakfast at the Brownstone in Paterson, Dan interviewed two time Super Bowl Champion and former New York Giants running back Lee Rouson. Along the way, any opportunity that presented itself to interview someone, Dan would take it.
At the beginning of the school year in January, Dr. Waldeyer approached Dan about writing for the school newspaper. She told him that there was nobody writing sports for the paper and it would be perfect for him to join. He accepted and began covering the Men’s and Women’s basketball team attending every game as well as interviewing players and coaches after the games. After the spring semester ended and former Editor-in-Chief Ashely Diaz graduated, Dan accepted duties to become the new EIC of “Visions.”
Besides being the EIC of the school newspaper Dan also hosts his own podcast called “The Dansportsnews and Friends Podcast.” Some of the guests on his show have included Former boxing champion Kendall Holt, WNBA champion Cappie Pondexter, Vina Love who is the daughter of legendary Kid Capri, and former New York Giant Super Bowl champion Spencer Paysinger who’s life story is based on the hit TV show “All American” which recently was renewed for a third season. Dan’s podcast has amassed over 30,000 downloads and streams on Spotify, Google Podcast, YouTube, and Apple Podcast. Major news outlets such as NBC Sports and Yahoo Sports have used his interviews on their platform.
One of the compelling and inspiring stories from the “Dansportsnews and Friends Podcast” was on Horace Jenkins, a 6-foot tall 29-year-old mailman from New Jersey. Jenkins played college basketball at William Paterson University and later was a mailman for several years. Eventually he quit his job as a mailman to achieve his dream of playing in the NBA. He became one of the oldest rookies to ever play in the NBA signing his first contract at 29 years old. He played alongside 2004 NBA Finals MVP Chauncey
Billups on the Detroit Pistons. Jenkins proved that hard work and dedication pays off no matter the circumstances.
All in all Dan hopes to become a sports reporter as well as working somewhere in the realm of being an advisor or manager for athletes and entertainers. His dream interviews would be with Lecrae, Kirk Franklin and Jay-Z.