West Virginia University Athletics

As the Senior Director of Athletics Content for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, John Antonik is responsible for editorial oversight, reporting and feature writing for West Virginia University's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics' website WVUsports.com.

He is a member of the WVU Sports Hall of Fame and all-time team committees for men's basketball and football, and is frequently consulted on West Virginia University sports history. He serves as co-host on the Mountaineer Sports Network's football pre- and post-game shows and contributes to other live broadcasts, including home and postseason women's basketball games. 

Antonik joined the WVU athletic staff in 1991 after working as a graduate assistant for one year and a student assistant for two years in the Sports Communications Office. From 1991-1998, Antonik served as associate sports information director, helping coordinate the publicity efforts for West Virginia University’s 19 varsity sports, as well as working with the Mountaineer football and men's basketball programs. He earned several CoSIDA writing citations during his tenure, including a "Best in the Nation" award for his work on the 1992 women's basketball media guide. In addition to his publicity duties, Antonik also directed WVU’s community relations program.

Antonik, a past member of CoSIDA, the West Virginia Sports Writers and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers associations, became Director of Digital Media in 1999 with the responsibility of promoting West Virginia University’s 17 intercollegiate sports on the department's website, which he helped launch. Antonik was involved in all facets of the department’s web services program, including editorial oversight, site design and content development.

During his 30-plus-year affiliation with WVU athletics, Mountaineer football has made 26 bowl appearances, including trips to the 1994 and 2006 Sugar, 2008 Fiesta and 2012 Orange bowls; men's basketball has made 15 NCAA tournament appearances, including nine Sweet 16s, an Elite Eight trip in 2005 and a Final Four appearance in 2010, women's basketball program has made 14 NCAA tournament appearances and baseball has made seven.

A native of New Martinsville, West Virginia, Antonik received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from WVU in 1990 and a master’s degree in sport management from WVU in 1992. He received “The Lifetime Achievement Award” from Magnolia High School in August 2008, and in 2010, was the recipient of the Paul B. “Buck” Martin Award, presented by the WVU Alumni Association to an individual who has helped to preserve and maintain West Virginia University's traditions.

Recently, Antonik won the 2025 Morehouse Award, given by the West Virginia Sportswriters Association for contributions to journalism and named for the late Marshall University sports information director and broadcaster Gene Morehouse, who died in the 1970 airplane crash that claimed the lives of 75 Marshall football players, coaches, staff and fans. 

He has authored five books on Mountaineer athletics: West Virginia University Football Vault: The History of the Mountaineers, Roll Out the Carpet: 101 Seasons of West Virginia University Basketball, The Backyard Brawl: Stories from One of the Weirdest, Wildest, Longest Running and Most Intense Rivalries in College Football History, which was a 2012 Foreword Book of the Year finalist in the category of sports, Saturday Snapshots: West Virginia University Football, and his most recent effort coming out this fall, Almost Heaven: How Bobby Bowden's Ten Years at West Virginia University Helped Him Become One of the Winningest Coaches in College Football History.

Antonik and his wife Melinda have two children: daughter Sydney and son Jack.

You can follow John on Twitter @JohnAntonik.