I am a senior at Cal and a sourced authority on Golden Bears football and basketball, while simultaneously in my third year covering the Bay Area's professional franchises with NBC Sports.

My name is Joaquin Ruiz, and I am from Whittier, CA. I am a senior at the University of California (Berkeley) pursuing a B.A. in Digital Media Studies and a minor in Disability Studies while furthering my career as a well-rounded sports journalist.

I am a digital editor at NBC Sports Bay Area, where I started as an intern in 2023. I have over 1,000 bylines across the company and Yahoo Sports (all articles syndicated), covering the Athletics, Golden State Warriors, San Francisco 49ers and Giants, Sacramento Kings, and San Jose Sharks. My favorite works come from the A’s final season in Oakland, when I interviewed stars such as Aaron Judge and Lawrence Butler.

I am the leading California Golden Bears reporter for UC Berkeley's school newspaper, The Daily Californian, covering and commenting on Cal football and basketball. I have conducted exclusive interviews with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Ron Rivera, covered the “Big Game” between Cal and Stanford and broken the news about Cal hiring Tosh Lupoi. I write a weekly “Ruiz Report” column on Cal football and co-host a weekly Cal podcast for the Bleav Network. I also broadcast Cal games on KALX 90.7 FM, UC Berkeley’s student radio station. I have been with the paper and radio since my freshman year and am a primary authority in the community.

I also serve as Cal's inaugural representative for ACC women's basketball voting and am the co-chair of the NAHJ's inaugural "Students and Universities" committee within the sports task force.

And in my spare time, I go to class.

Moving people through writing moves me. I am comfortable breaking news or providing features, gamers, analyses, enterprises and sidebars, while soundly assembling and maintaining sources. I adhere to the AP Stylebook and remain current regarding SEO practices. I also have rich experience managing large social media accounts and creating social graphics and media/push notification copy.

Growing up, I played organized football for 13 years, taking home All-District honors from Pop Warner to CIF-SS. I also played organized basketball and baseball. My experience as an athlete, paired with my addiction to sports journalism, led me to pursue a life in the industry; factor in my passion for storytelling, and it's clear I never had a chance at being anything else.

I am a first-generation student, sibling of the disability community and Los Angeles-raised Latino. I am a compassionate and serious person capable of working alone, with a team or anything in between.