Berkeley athlete, sports journalist dies in jet ski accident at age 22

BERKELEY, Calif. - Brandon Bailey, a first-generation Sacramento State College graduate and sports journalist, died in a jet ski accident earlier this month.

The 22-year-old Berkeley High alumnus with a promising career in journalism was at a family outing at Folsom Lake on July 2 when he crashed. He died in a Roseville hospital a day later, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Bailey was co-captain of Berkeley High's football team during his senior year, and he played on the Willard basketball team in middle school.

Bailey joined The State Hornet online newspaper staff in his junior year of college, working as a football beat reporter and declaring journalism as his major. Given the Above the Fold award, Bailey was declared as the Hornet's most valuable journalist during his time there.

He graduated from Sacramento State College in May 2022 as the first in his extended family to graduate college, captioning his celebratory graduation post on Instagram that "Imma be a legend out of my city just give me some time."

In another post he gave a shout-out to his mom, "It took us an extra year but Momma I made it!"

A few weeks after his graduation, Bailey covered his first professional sports game at Oracle Park for 4.0 Sports Media, an online sports magazine.

Bailey is survived by his mother, father, sisters and brothers.