Aaron Heisen is a freelance sports writer based in Southern California. He works at Fox Sports as a Trending Topics Writer and Editor. He is the UCLA men’s basketball beat reporter for the Southern California News Group. In addition to his writing and reporting positions, he worked in television broadcast as a Paris Olympics editorial researcher at NBC.

Aaron’s pursuit of a career in journalism and sports media began in college. He attended the University of Oregon, where he majored in journalism and was the sports desk editor at the school newspaper, the Daily Emerald. As the sports desk editor, he managed a desk of 10 student reporters responsible for publishing a weekly football edition and covering each of Oregon’s Division I teams. He edited weekly newspapers and worked with the copy desk to coordinate the print schedule. In addition to this role, Aaron was the beat reporter for the Oregon men’s basketball team and football team.

After graduating from college, he began freelancing for the Southern California News Group, covering high school sports. As he gained experience, he earned opportunities covering the Los Angeles Rams, UCLA women’s basketball, LA Sparks, and additional beats. He pitched features and profiles that were published in the SCNG’s papers including the Orange County Register and LA Daily News. Ultimately, that led to earning the opportunity to cover the UCLA men’s basketball team full time. Although Aaron remains a freelancer in title, he acts as the beat reporter for the Bruins, developing sources and being an extension of the team, covering each practice and game, and writing features and profiles.

In the summer of 2024, Aaron earned the opportunity to work as a researcher in Stamford, Connecticut at NBC during the Paris Olympics. He supplied broadcast talent, statisticians and writers with stats, facts and storylines to ensure the accuracy and integrity of NBC’s live TV coverage of track and field. The research team, along with the producers were awarded for their work with a Sports Emmy.

In Aaron’s current position at Fox Sports, he identifies pertinent headlines throughout the NFL, CFB, MLB, and other leagues under FOX Sports’ umbrella. He pitches and writes stories about relevant topics amplified with segments from FS1 shows and collaborates with production teams on content media packages.

He continues to contribute to the Southern California News Group with long-form stories and coverage of significant local events, as well as being their UCLA men’s basketball beat reporter.

As his career continues, Aaron is seeking freelance opportunities and full-time jobs in newsrooms as a beat reporter for collegiate and/or professional sports. He is also open to research jobs in sports TV broadcast.

Awards: The Jim Pensiero Award for the Daily Emerald’s best Human Interest story in 2022-23; Associated College Press Finalist: Sports Game Story of the Year; Sports Emmy: Outstanding Live Special – Championship Event.

Please feel free to reach out to Aaron: