Paul Oren, of the Victory Bell, and lecturer at Valparaiso University shares his experiences and insights covering Valpo athletics and his journey in sports journalism. From starting at the Northwest Indiana Times to launching his own platform on Substack, Oren discusses the challenges and joys of covering high school and college sports, the impact…

Mike and Derrick discuss the challenges and rewards of working in college sports, balancing family life with professional commitments, and Mike's love for bobblehead collecting. Mike expresses his dedication to team sports, reflects on his 20-year career, and emphasizes the importance of relationships in shaping his journey in sports communication.…

Chris shares his unique journey from hosting a college radio show to starting his own podcast, originally called 'Offstage Radio,' later evolved into 'Mad Props.' He explains his shift from a rigid, question-answer format to a more conversational and organic approach to podcasting. Chris also talks about the importance of engaging social media plat…

Steve's Bio from wwuowls.com: Steve Wilson joins WWU from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas, where he has led the athletic department since 2019. Under his leadership, the Coyotes twice won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Commissioner's Cup, in 2020 and 2021, and won seven KCAC championships. Kansas Wesleyan also grew its athle…

In this podcast, Martin talks about the Morning Grind and his radio experiences, the relationships he's developed with various coaches and athletes his own podcast projects and more. Martin's bio from Fox2Now.com: Martin Kilcoyne is the Sports Director at FOX-2, a position he’s held since 2002. He joined the station as a Sports Reporter in July, 19…

I didn't realize it until Shelby said it while we were recording, but I've known her for 10 years now. This episode is a little different because I'm having a conversation with someone that I know but we still discuss some things about each other that we didn't know. Shelby works at Baylor University in the athletic department, serving as director …

In this special episode, Derrick is joined by fellow Missouri State alums Kevin Agee, Kevin Grogan, and former Bears Basketball player Anthony Shavies. Their discussion focuses on the 2005-06 Missouri State Men's Basketball team that was left out of the NCAA tournament with a 21 RPI. This episode was inspired by Wyatt Wheeler's series about the 200…

I think of Corey Riggs as a "swiss army knife" of sports broadcasting. He has experience on TV and radio, on and off the screen, in front of and behind the camera. From his own Twitter/X bio, he is a "Sports Announcer/Prod/Dir in SWMO. Proud Webb City native & Missouri State grad (SMSU on my diploma). Find me on ESPN3, MC22, MAVTV, Missouri State r…

Eric's bio via NABC.com Eric Wieberg joined the NABC staff in May 2016. As Director of Communications and Digital Media and as the primary NABC spokesman, Eric leads all public and media relations efforts for the NABC including strategic messaging, press releases, media appearances, member communication, and event media operations. He also oversees…

About Jeff Bidwell (via RacerBasketball.com) "I started covering the Murray State basketball programs in 2002. After 20 years of following the Racers around, I retired from my television career. Now I’m back and ready to pick right up where I left off — and hopefully be better than ever. My greatest athletic achievement is being accused by a viewer…

Jim Benson recently wrapped up a 42-year career as a sports writer. He spent all of his years writing for the Bloomington Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal, Illinois). In this podcast, Jim discusses a few moments and people from his time as a writer, including covering the University of Illinois men's basketball team making two Final Four runs, gettin…

Tariq Ahmad has been on the forefront of all things sports marketing and sports management. He has been hands-on working in social media for several companies in addition to serving as an adjunct instructor in sports management. Recently, Tariq has turned his attention to the world of Name, Image and Likeness and educating others about the topic in…

Ben Fredrickson is a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He also contributes on the radio for The Big 550 KTRS. He grew up in Sedalia, Missouri and attended college at the University of Missouri. In this podcast, Ben shares the story of his career path, writing opinion articles, working in the digital media age and more. Read his work…

Bio courtesy of CampusSonar.com Founder and CEO Liz specializes in creating entrepreneurial social media strategies in higher education and has a passion for empowering others, which she brings to colleges and universities as the founder and CEO of Campus Sonar. Liz is an award-winning speaker, author, and strategist who was named a 2018 Mover and …

Wyatt Wheeler returns for his fourth appearance on the podcast. In this episode, Derrick and Wyatt discuss the upcoming 2022-2023 Missouri State Men's and Women's Basketball Seasons and also touch on Art Hains, Wyatt's co-host on Sports Talk who is battling West Nile Virus. LINK: Support Art Hains as he battles to recover from West Nile Follow Wyat…

Follow Joe on Twitter: @Joe_Pott Joe Pott's Bio, courtesy, SIUE Athletics: Joe Pott has been the "Voice of the Cougars" since 2008. The native of St. Louis, Missouri, oversees all communications and broadcasting operations for SIUE athletics. He is the radio voice of Cougar men's basketball and baseball on 88.7 the Sound, all home broadcasts on ESP…

Matt Chittim is the host of the Rambling Runner Podcast, which is for amateur runners who are working hard to get better and achieving inspirational results while balancing running with the rest of their lives. In this episode, Matt shares how he got started with podcasting, how running plays a role in his life and he shares some running tips with …

Kevin Agee returns for another episode. This time, we talk about his career change, leaving his content strategist position at Missouri State University to begin a new role at an agency. Kevin discusses his time at Missouri State, what he learned on the job and what he's looking forward to in his new position. --- Send in a voice message: https://p…

Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, co-hosts The Sport…

Anthony Shavies currently serves as a Mortgage Loan Officer at Central Bank of the Ozarks. His professional experience in helping others repair their credit led to a personal goal to help clients reach homeownership. He is a former Missouri State basketball player and earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Missouri State University. He returned…

During the college basketball season, Matt Hackman spends time creating spreadsheets of interest to college basketball fans. He generates conference tournament seeding probabilities for several conferences in advance of their conference tournaments. In this podcast, Matt discusses how he started doing the spreadsheets, the process behind the work a…

Greg Bussmann curates a free marketing email newsletter called "The Growth Mindset." From his website: As a curator, I aim to weed out the signal within the noise. Every Sunday, you get a carefully curated list of the most interesting content I find each week. As a writer, I try to add my current thoughts on various marketing topics to help you dir…

A member of the Missouri State Baseball program from 2012-2015, Hawkins was part of the 2015 club that won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals. He was named the 2015 MVC Defensive Player of the Year and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. After his stint in the minor leagues, his career has now t…

Chris' Bio courtesy of the South Bend Cubs Website: Chris Hagstrom-Jones joined the South Bend baseball franchise in January of 2014. As Assistant General Manager for Marketing and Media, Hagstrom-Jones’s primary focus is leading the Marketing, Media Relations & Broadcast, Production, and Community Relations departments. Hagstrom-Jones was instrume…

Benjamin Hochman is currently a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He grew up in the St. Louis area, attended college at the University of Missouri, and has previous career stops in New Orleans and Denver. In addition to his sports columns, he has also written several books. In this podcast, Ben shares the story of his career path of…

In his own words from JakobEliason.com, here's a bio of my guest in this episode: "Right now I’m living, working and spending all my free time in downtown Memphis. I left my 9 to 5 job in November of 2019 to pursue work that I was passionate about. My wife and I sold our house in August of 2020 to ride out the pandemic from our favorite place in th…

Springfield News-Leader Sports Reporter Wyatt Wheeler makes his return to the podcast to discuss Missouri State Football, Bears Basketball and Lady Bears Basketball. We also discuss: How he handled the fall high school sports season A new program he has in place mentoring college students Joining Art Haines as co-host of "Sports Talk" Follow Wyatt …

Charlie Marlow is a sports anchor/reporter who joined the FOX 2 News team in April of 2008. He came to FOX 2 from WLNS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Lansing, Michigan where he was a sports anchor/reporter for two years. Prior to that, Charlie worked for WLUC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Marquette, Michigan as the weekend sports anchor. He has won or shared …

Drew Richards bio via UNCPBraves.com After leading Lander to its most regular-season wins in 20 years, as well as a Peach Belt Conference Tournament title, as the head coach of the Bearcats in 2019-20, Drew Richards returned to Pembroke in March 2020 as the 16th head coach of the Braves. It will be the second coaching stint at UNCP for Richards, wh…

Katy Winge works as an analyst, reporter, and host for Altitude TV and the Denver Nuggets. She previously was the in-arena reporter and an associate producer at the Pepsi Center, hosting the pregame and halftime show Courtside Countdown. Basketball became Katy's passion in 3rd grade. Through her early playing years, a dream to play in college devel…

Graphic Design has been an interest of mine for a long time so it was only a matter of time before it became a podcast topic for me. My guest in this episode is Steve Wilson from Clarksville, Tennessee. Steve is a graphic and web designer and brand specialist that has done his share of design work over the years. In addition, he’s also written a bo…

The name Nafis Ricks might sound familiar to some of my Missouri State friends because he was the starting point guard on the 2010-2011 Bears Basketball team that won the regular-season Missouri Valley Conference championship. But his story isn’t just about basketball. Nafis made the most of his opportunities to get an education while also overcomi…

Matt Gardner has made the most of his career in sports. Working in Tennis, NBA, and currently the Vice President, Digital Media & Emerging Technology for the St. Louis Blues, he shares some insight into how he got started working in sports, how technology has shaped his career, and developing relationships with the athletes to tell their story. Mat…

The “official” Julie Smith description: Julie has been teaching media literacy and media-related classes at the university level since 1997. She holds her B.A. in Public Relations from the University of Tulsa and her M.S. in Mass Communication from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville. Julie is currently on the faculty at Webster University …

My guests in this podcast are Bill Behrns, Ryan Haley, Austin Hansen, and Jeremiah McCallie. These four gentlemen were part of Loyola’s run to the final four, serving as part of the athletic department staff in communications, social media, and video content. Together we watched the Ramblers take on Miami and the guys shared stories and thoughts ab…

Chester Lampkin first joined WUSA 9 in December 2019. Chester comes from KSDK-TV in St. Louis, Missouri, the sister station of WUSA 9. As a child growing up in St. Louis, Chester has always had a strong interest in weather. While growing up, he experienced some big weather events, including the "blizzard" of 1982 and the Great Flood of 1993. Cheste…

Highly respected sports journalist Paul Suellentrop joined Wichita State as a senior communicator to provide comprehensive coverage of the Shockers' momentous first season competing in the American Athletic Conference and beyond. Suellentrop's stories, podcasts, and videos on WSU sports will be posted primarily on GoShockers.com and will also be ma…

Earlier this year, The Springfield Cardinals announced the promotion of Matt Turer from Public Relations Coordinator to the organization's newly created position of Public Relations & Digital Media Specialist. Matt joined the team in November 2017, leading the social and digital media efforts, serving as the team’s public relations contact and digi…

David Kvidahl covers prep sports in the St. Louis area for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and STLHighSchoolSports.com. In this podcast, I talked with David about his time covering prep sports in town, some of his favorite prep sports memories, and the recent all-decade team selections that were a hot topic on social media. Follow David on Twitter: @Da…

Joel Adam has been a physical education teacher and coach at Holt High School, Wentzville Middle School, and Wentzville South Middle School in the Wentzville School District for 30 years. He has coached baseball, softball, basketball and football, winning conference championships, district title and reaching state finals on multiple occasions. The …

Kansas City native Jon Poorman has worked to be a writer since high school and carried his goal forward to college, writing for the student newspaper and eventually serving as news and sports editor and the editor in chief. Now, he’s the sports editor for The Courier of Montgomery County daily newspaper, that serves Conroe, Texas, located just nort…

John Servizzi is Chief Technology Officer at Tupelo Raycom. Servizzi founded WebStream Sports in 2006, bridging experience in high-level sports television production and high-quality, low-cost digital production methods. WebStream was acquired by Raycom Media in 2015 and merged with Tupelo-Honey in 2017. The combined Tupelo Raycom has offices in Ne…

Tom Ackerman is Sports Director at KMOX, overseeing a department that serves as the flagship station for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is also the lead sports anchor on KMOX’s “Total Information A.M.” and a host on the Cardinals Radio Network. In 18 years at KMOX, Ackerman has worked as a host, play-by-play announcer, anchor, and reporter since begin…

RJ Abella arrived at South Carolina University in the spring of 2013 as an assistant coach for the indoor and beach volleyball teams and In 2015, he transitioned to full-time beach volleyball assistant coach. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for the Wichita State Volleyball program. In this episode, RJ and I discuss a few of the ins and out…

When I first started this podcast, the intent was to share stories of people that would hopefully provide some inspiration to others. The background of my guest in this episode checks that box. He’s the first in his family to make it college. And when get got there, he had to figure things out. In the process of figuring it out, he found things he …

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 20, 2020, marked the 25th anniversary of the day of service that celebrates the life and legacy of MLK. This year in Wentzville, Missouri, the community Celebration of MLK featured keynote speaker Juan Wilson. Juan is currently the coordinator of diversity and awareness for the Fort Zumwalt School District…

Ryan Fagan covers Major League Baseball and college basketball for the Sporting News. He has seen many notable events in person and as a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, he also votes for the MLB Hall of Fame. In this podcast, Ryan discusses his background, how his career got off the ground, some of the events he's covered an…

Marcus Wilson serves as the Executive Director of the Monsanto Family YMCA in the heart of St. Louis but before that, he was part of the men’s basketball staff at Saint Louis University as the video coordinator. And before that, he had a phenomenal college basketball career that became a pro career overseas. We discussed his past, present and event…

Two years ago, Marcus Wilson came into the MVC Office to record a podcast interview to reflect on his past, present, and future. This episode from 2017 is republished from that interview where he discusses his career at the University of Evansville, winning the 1999 MVC Player of the Year Award, playing overseas and his current role as Executive Di…

If you’re a college basketball fan like myself, chances are you’ve watched a game or two on ESPN and you’ve heard the voice of my guest in this episode. Mark Adams has been an ESPN analyst since 1999 and I had the opportunity to work with him during my tenure at the Missouri Valley Conference. During our conversation, Mark and I discussed his coach…