Meet Alex Derlago and Oliver McMaster, Steve Brandon Scholarship winners

Alex Derlago wants to do “everything under the sun, under the journalism umbrella” as he works toward forging a career in sports journalism

There were seven or eight finalists for the third annual Steve Brandon Scholarship, given in honor of my late sportswriting colleague at the Oregon Journal, The Oregonian and Portland Tribune, who died in 2022 at age 68. All of the budding sports journalists were excellent candidates and deserving of a cash award to help further their schooling.

After choosing a single winner in 2024 and ’25, the selection committee decided to name two scholarship winners this year — Alex Derlago and Oliver McMaster.

Derlago is a 2026 graduate of Wilsonville High. McMaster is a ’25 grad of Franklin High. Both are attending the University of Oregon.

“I know Mr. Brandon was one of the great sports journalists in our state,” Derlago says. “I am honored to get this award.”

“Getting this scholarship is amazing,” McMaster says. “It is great to see some of the hard work I put into sports journalism and broadcasting pay off, and help pay for my tuition. It is truly an honor.”

Let me tell you a little about each of these fine young men:

• Alex Derlago is starting college this fall with hopes of getting a bachelor of science and journalism degree, with a double minor in sports business and political science. He intends to work for Oregon’s student newspaper, the Emerald.

“I have talked to a few advisors,” he tells me. “I am excited to get started with it. I want to do everything under the sun, under the journalism umbrella.”

Derlago graduated with a GPA of 3.50, a mark which reflected considerable improvement during his final two years in high school. He said he had a change of attitude after attending a roundtable discussion at Wilsonville conducted by John Strong, a Lake Oswego High and UO grad now working as the voice of Major League Soccer. Strong emphasized having a “yes mentality,” which resonated with Derlago.

“It was about saying yes to every single thing that arises,” he says. “Even if you don’t know what you are going into, even if you aren’t confident about doing it, just say yes. He gave a great example of a dog show he (served as broadcaster for). He didn’t know anything about it, but the night before he did all this research, and he loved it. He was glad that he said yes.”

While working for the Wilsonville Broadcast Network, he was asked to call play-by-play for a lacrosse game.

“I knew nothing about the sport,” Derlago says, “but I tried it out, and had a blast doing it.

“My first two years (in high school), I had a lack of motivation toward school. It is hard to have drive when there isn’t a clear product on the other end of the work. I was underperforming. I didn’t have a yes mentality. After listening to Mr. Strong, that changed. I know now that if I have a goal, I will accomplish it.”

Derlago got more incentive when, late in his sophomore year, he was approached by journalism advisor John Fitzgerald, a language arts teacher at Wilsonville.

“My first two years, I was in the journalism program but didn’t know if I wanted to do it or not,” Derlago says. “I was writing mostly lifestyle stuff. Mr. Fitzgerald came up and asked if I was interested in taking on a leadership position as sports editor. I always kind of wanted to do it, but never knew why. I wasn’t proactive about it.

“When he offered it to me, I jumped on it. That led to me falling in love with sportswriting. And I decided that if I really want to do this in life, I have to up my academics to get on board with that. It opened my eyes to all the things that I’m capable of doing.”

Derlago is a sports junkie.

“I live and breathe it, pretty much,” he says. “Football, basketball and baseball are my big three. Go Ducks! I’m a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, of the Trail Blazers — gotta stay local — and the Mariners. My dad is a big Dodgers guy, so I have to have support them a little bit, but I am more of a Mariners guy.”

Alex pitched for the Wildcats JVs as a sophomore and junior, and truth be told, baseball is his favorite sport.

“I love the pace of the game, the fact there is no time limit on it,” he says. “There is always time for a comeback.”

Derlago worked all four years with the Wilsonville Broadcast Network, working his way up to managing editor of the school newspaper — the Paw Print, which published quarterly — and its online product.

“We did all kinds of multi-media,” Alex says. “We wrote weekly articles for each of our sections. I was mainly in sports. As managing editor, I would come up with ideas, assign articles and make sure the day-to-day stuff was going well.”

The WBN has a partnership the NFHS Network, a subscription-based streaming service dedicated to broadcasting high school sports. NFHS suppled the WBN with cameras and equipment, and since 2016, the WBN has used its site to livestream Wildcat home sports contests.

“Our system was one of the best in the state, maybe second to West Linn, if not matching it,” Derlago says. “We were one of the first high schools to broadcast our home sporting events. I would consider WBN to be a pioneering program in the high school (broadcasting) space.”

Derlago called play-by-play for many Wilsonville sports contests, including football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball, wrestling and, yes, lacrosse.

“It was great experience,” he says. “The first game I did was a baseball game my freshman year, which led in me to doing all the football games my sophomore year. I learned quickly that it was different than being a normal student watching from the stands. It was like a part-time job, getting all the equipment set up an hour and a half beforehand, and going through to the postgame.”

As a senior, Alex also filed high school reports for the monthly Wilsonville Lifestyle Magazine.

“They needed a sportswriter to fill a column in their publication,” he says. “At first they were just going to have me write about high school football. Then it carried over to basketball and baseball, so I did it for the whole school year. It was fun and more good experience for me.”

Athletics are an important activity at Wilsonville High. No wonder the Wildcats have so much success on the gridiron, hardcourt and diamonds.

“Everybody I know comes out for sports events on Friday nights,” Derlago says. “It’s a sports school. It brings everyone together. Getting to tell the stories that go along with that is really special for me.”

Oliver McMaster has taken on a wide range of duties in sports journalism

• Hey, Chad Doing. Oliver McMaster wouldn’t mind following in your footsteps.

McMaster would like nothing more than a career as a sports broadcaster and radio show host.

“I’ve listened to Chad a lot (on Rip City Radio) and love what he does,” McMaster says. “It’s the kind of thing I’d like to do for a career.”

Like Derlago, Oliver is a sports nut.

“I have been deeply involved with sports my entire life,” he says. “Most of my free time is spent doing something sports-related, whether that is playing Madden, watching a Trail Blazers game or shooting some hoops. Sports supplies me with an endless amount of entertainment and joy. Having a career in sports is crucial to me.”

McMaster’s GPA at Franklin was 3.88. His freshman year at Oregon, where he is majoring in journalism with a minor in sports business, was all A’s. “I take my grades very seriously,” he says.

During his high school years, McMaster refereed youth basketball and soccer and served as an assistant coach for a youth basketball team. But his biggest involvement as a participant has been in golf. Oliver was a three-year varsity golfer who played No. 1 for the Lightning as a senior. “I was the only four-year golfer when I was on the team as a senior,” he says.

McMaster says golf has taught him the importance of honesty, integrity and the importance of following rules.

“Golf is a sport that is mentally draining and causes people to become negative with themselves and peers,” he says. “I try to be a good role model. In high school, there is a lot that goes on, like cheating and people being dishonest. I try to be a leader in that sense, lead people in the right direction. You can say you had a double bogey when you really had a triple, but it is karma. It comes back to bite you. It is an honesty thing. I like that about golf. I always try to keep a smile on my face and be friendly with coaches and competitors.”

As a junior at Franklin, McMaster won the PIL Legacy Award for golf after filling out a questionnaire.

“It was about honesty and what golf means to us,” he says. “The PIL coaches voted on what they felt was the best response and gave awards to one boy and one girl. I won a $1,000 gift certificate at Redtail. I got club fitting and brand new irons out of it.”

McMaster worked as a “cart boy” for two summers at Heron Lakes and as a caddy for a summer at Waverley. “It was hard to get loops, but when I got them I enjoyed it,” he says. “You’re outdoors in a great atmosphere, talking to high-powered people and helping them enjoy the game.”

McMaster served two years on the staff of the Franklin Post, the school newspaper, which published seven printed papers through the school year and also has a website.

“I wrote articles my junior year, but my senior year, I wanted to take it up a notch and became the sports editor,” he says. “Getting a chance to edit copy was a great experience. You see a lot of mistakes that you might not make yourself, but it helps your writing to see. I learned a lot of new skills in the editing process.”

His last two years at Franklin, McMaster broadcast basketball games through KBPS, the historic student-run high school radio station.

“I was pretty much the only one who did it through my junior and senior years,” he says. “It was my first-ever experience with broadcasting. I was mostly an analyst for Sean Philipsen, a teacher who has been doing it for years. He was the play-by-play and a mentor for me. Every once in awhile I’d step in and do play-by-play for a quarter.

McMaster is a sophomore majoring in journalism at Oregon

“We did a PIL game a week, and during the playoffs, two games. I learned a lot of cool tips and things that will help me in my career.”

As a freshman at Oregon, McMaster has become connected with KWVA (88.1 FM), the UO student radio station. He has served roles as both play-by-play and analyst for Oregon basketball, volleyball, softball and baseball, and also has done some production work at the station. KWVA is also affiliated with Big Ten-plus streaming service.

“I will be doing some football this fall, too,” he says. “I’ll help broadcast (NAIA) Bushnell sports, and I’ll be the co-voice of Cottage Grove High’s football team. And I might try to get involved with Duck TV, the news source, where you go to games and record story lines.”

It is a labor of love for McMaster as he goes about learning the business. He will take a class this fall that is taught by Joey McMurry, director of broadcasting and executive producer of the Oregon Sports Network.

“I am excited for that,” Oliver says. “I am trying to get better at my craft. For me, it is about getting reps. I have met so many people. And this scholarship is such a great help to me in improving myself and getting more opportunities.”

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