“Wyatt Padilla is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo,” is not a phrase readers are going to see at the end of new articles anymore as the UNM senior out of Los Lunas retires and his contributions to the paper become reflected upon fondly.
Wyatt Padilla got his start at the Daily Lobo in the spring of 2025, after being a student manager for the UNM women’s basketball team for two years. When he left that job, he knew he wanted to stay in sports in some way, but he didn’t know how.
That was until he met the Daily Lobo Sports Editor Rodney Prunty, who encouraged him to apply for a job as a freelance sports writer.
“It has been amazing. Even though I only had the opportunity to work for the (Daily) Lobo for a year, it has been one of the most rewarding years of my life,” Padilla said
Padilla found the most rewarding part of his experience with the paper to be staying involved with sports and the student athletes.
“The best part about working here has been the ability to stay involved within athletics, especially when it comes to covering the student athletes, who truly are the reason why covering sports is so rewarding,” Padilla said.
In his time with the Daily Lobo, Wyatt wrote 28 articles. He spent his time as a journalistic swiss army knife, covering whatever was asked of him, whether it was city politics, updates on University construction and sports, as he never left his basketball roots.
Padilla’s favorite story being basketball coverage wasn’t surprising given that it’s his favorite sport.
“My favorite story that I wrote has to be when the women’s basketball team knocked down Air Force — Joana Magalhães knocked down a career high 29 points. When I worked for the women’s team, I saw Jo get recruited, was there with her for freshman year, and got to see her break out her sophomore year. She’s special — just an amazing person and player. She deserves the world,” Padilla said.
Due to his consistency and hard work, Padilla was quickly promoted from freelance to beat reporter within the ranks of the Daily Lobo.
“I was very grateful to be promoted to beat writer and was thankful that Jaden (McKelvey-Francis) and Rodney (Prunty) had trust and support in me as they have been nothing but stellar bosses,” Padilla said.
As Padilla graduates and leaves the Daily Lobo, he will look to the future as he will pursue a master’s degree in sports administration. He hopes to eventually return to college basketball in his career.
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Marley Herndon is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @Dailylobo
