Op-Ed: How Lipscomb gave a sports broadcaster the fuel for his future

If you had asked me to draw out how my Lipscomb career would look before I started college, I wouldn’t have it right by a mile. Lipscomb has provided me with career opportunities, internships and even external broadcasting experiences. Every aspiring sports broadcaster has a journey, and this is mine.

I grew up about 30 minutes outside of Nashville, and I never wanted to be too far away from home. So, I knew Nashville was that sweet spot for being close to home, but still having a little bit of space. As it turned out, Lipscomb was the only school in the area that actually promised broadcasting opportunities to me.

Going into my freshman year, I expected anywhere from 10-15 games, knowing that would already be a huge step ahead of the typical freshman studying sports broadcasting. To my surprise, I found out that I would already have my first game scheduled just two days into the semester. The first game of my career was color commentary for a Lipscomb men’s soccer game. Although I had absolutely zero knowledge about soccer back then, I knew that dreams aren’t achieved by saying no to opportunities that scare you.

Before the beginning of basketball season, I had already reached 11 games, which is what I thought I would do the entire year. I had played basketball since I was five years old, so I knew that was the sport that would feel the most natural commentating. I got a few games before the new year, but the most memorable part of my first year was the second semester.

Spring semester brought the most exciting moments of the year, including the chance to travel to a few away games and being on the call when Lipscomb clinched the number one seed on senior night. The most memorable highlight for me was being courtside for the ASUN Tournament Championship as Lipscomb stormed the court after they punched the program’s second-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

In total, my freshman year brought 41 games across numerous sports. I gained so much confidence after each game I did. The support I had from professors, mentors and family was insurmountable, and this was just year one.

Year two brought new opportunities right off the bat, starting with the addition of Public Address (PA) announcing to my arsenal. A professor recommended me, and the rest is history. I did PA announcing for the entire football season, and that led into more PA opportunities for other sports. I gained experience with not only football, but basketball and soccer as well.

I continued to do color commentary for men’s soccer for the rest of the fall season, and proceeded into basketball season once again. But this time, no one else was there to call games.

Unlike my freshman year, there would be some opportunities to travel to the Power-Four teams that Lipscomb played, such as the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Cincinnati Bearcats, and a team that I will truly never forget getting to see, the Duke Blue Devils.

The opportunity to call this game remains my favorite broadcasting memory of my career. My family has been Duke fans for years, and my dad raised me to be a fan as well. So when I saw my childhood team on the schedule, I couldn’t help but shed some tears. A team that I had rooted for practically since birth, I would now be getting to do what I love in a stadium I had always seen on TV.

I thought the best part of that trip was going to be everything but the game, assuming a top five team in the country would easily dominate Lipscomb, but I was wrong by a mile. The game started with back-and-forth scoring, with the game tied at 16. As an absolute shocker to everyone in attendance, Lipscomb jumped out to a 10-point lead and kept it for the majority of the first half after that point. Lipscomb ended up losing in the end, but this was an experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life, and it’s all thanks to Lipscomb University and the opportunities they have provided me with.

I have tallied over 130 games in my career and broadcasted games at numerous venues such as Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis, Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., and Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn. I can confidently say I would not get this amount of experience at any other school, and I know 100 percent that Lipscomb is preparing me for greatness. I leave with this: take that chance, do the things you are not comfortable doing, and never stop dreaming big. Because I know everyone is capable of achieving what they are truly passionate about, even if it might be outrageous and niche, like pursuing a career in sports broadcasting.

If you are student at Lipscomb University and would be interested in calling any games, please this fill out this broadcasting interest form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1fRGk_Y9_aHPyUrW88lklnVPMXrNtchZl-YNAbOVMnJo/edit

Feature image courtesy of Will Blackmon