By Phil Kaplan
APSE continues its commitment to collegiate sports journalists by awarding four scholarships for 2026.
And for the sixth year in a row, two of the scholarships are awarded to student journalists attending historically Black colleges and universities.
Noah White, who will be a senior at the University of Florida, is awarded the Joe Sullivan/Jack Berninger Scholarship; Trevor McGee, who will be a senior at the University of Tennessee, will receive the Roy Hewitt/Tim Wheatley Scholarship; and Xavier Burton, who will be a senior at North Carolina A&T, along with Bradmond-Lee Harewood, who will be a senior at Hampton University, are the recipients of the Garry D. Howard Scholarships.
The scholarships are for $1,250 apiece and are awarded based on the quality of the journalism, academic record, and need. The scholarship was established in 2007. All four winners will also be given APSE student memberships.
White is majoring in journalism with a minor in public relations at Florida. He is an intern this summer at The Washington Post and previously interned at the Buffalo News. During the school year, he serves as a correspondent for the Miami Herald, covering Florida football and basketball. He is the editor of Florida’s Grandstand Magazine and student director of Florida’s ESPN-affiliate radio station WRUF. White has finished in the top 10 twice in the APSE student contest and received two top 10s in the 2025 APSE writing contest.
McGee is studying journalism and media at Tennessee. He is an intern this summer at the Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee. McGee is the sports editor of Tennessee’s student newspaper, The Daily Beacon. He was part of a group of students at Tennessee serving as credentialed writers for USA TODAY Sports at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Italy. McGee finished in the top 10 in the APSE student contest this year.
Burton is studying multimedia journalism at North Carolina A&T. He is an intern this summer at the Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee. Burton’s internship is through the Sports Journalism Institute as a member of the 2026 class. He is a sports anchor for student news station Aggie News and a contributor to the school newspaper, The A&T Register.
Harewood is a third-year journalism student at Hampton University in Virginia. He is a 2026-27 Rhoden Fellow with ESPN’s Andscape and is spending the summer in Bristol, Connecticut. Harewood works as a sports/photo editor of The Hampton Script newspaper, associate producer of Saber Sports TV, and line producer of WHOV-TV, the student-led newscast. He serves as the president and vice president of Hampton’s APSE and NABJ chapters, respectively.
Members of the APSE Scholarship committee are John Devine of the Miami Herald, Jane Havsy of the Daily Record, Julie Jag of the Salt Lake Tribune, Phil Kaplan of the USA TODAY Network South Region, Naila Meyers of the Star Tribune, Meredith Perri of MassLive, Jim Pignatiello of MassLive, Matt Schubert of The Athletic, and Lisa Wilson of The Athletic.
