An epic road trip cruises straight into viral fame
From left to right: University of Texas student journalists Lindsey Plotkin of Sports Illustrated, along with Daily Texan staffers: photographer Charlie Partheymuller and senior sports reporters Anna Ambrose and Zach Davis. (Courtesy of Zach Davis)
The 16-hour drive from Austin, Texas, to Greenville, South Carolina, was part of the plan for several University of Texas student journalists.
Their 15 minutes of fame was not.
It originated in a post-game press conference after the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Texas women’s basketball team 64-45 in the championship game of the SEC tournament.
Texas coach Vic Schaefer fielded a question from Zach Davis, a senior sports writer for the University of Texas’ Daily Texan.
“I asked him what he thought of the atmosphere — just like a general, basic question,” Zach said.
Instead of answering, Coach Schaefer turned the tables, asking Zach if he was one of the students who’d driven 16 hours to cover Texas in the tournament.
Here’s the clip:
Coach Schaefer later posted on X: “I really appreciated the student journalists who drove 16 hours each way to cover the SEC Tournament. If you want to contribute to them here is a link to support @thedailytexan.”
(I emailed the Daily Texan to find out if this moved the needle and will report back if I hear an update).
Zach said he didn’t expect the outpouring of support, but was glad to see journalism — and especially student journalists — in the spotlight.
“I hope the world knows that there's a lot of student journalists that wouldn’t do this,” he said. “Being a student journalist is such a grind. It's fun, and you get paid 10 cents on the hour, but it doesn't really matter, because it's the experience. You know, I really want to do this for a living.”
He said one his favorite parts about the viral experience was the response on social media of professional journalists who shared their own college remembrances.
“I think 90% of what I've seen has been people just being able to tell their own little 16-hour drives (stories) when they were in college,” he said.
