New Voice of ORU Athletics

[ORUalum]

 

[Old Titan]

Here's his basketball demo tape - sounds pretty professional:

Adam Hildebrandt - Basketball Play-By-Play Demo (Sportscasters Talent Agency of America website)

Shockingly, he graduated from Oklahoma State...

[EagleManiac]

Sounds pretty good. They sure scooped this guy up quickly.

[tmh8286]

One of the things that made Geoff so special was that he was ONE OF US.  He loved ORU, he loved ORU fans, and he mixed with us regularly - on the air (via Twitter and email), on line, and at athletic dept. activities.  I can't remember the name of the guy that preceded him - he was just here for a season or two and left to call baseball in San Diego - but to him it was PURE business.  He came and went to games without interacting with anyone, and didn't post on the board or otherwise communicate at other times. 

I hope with time the new guy will connect with us like Geoff (and in times past, Dave Garrett) has done.

 

[tmh8286]

Apparently this is the second move THIS SUMMER for Adam:

http://staatalent.com/headlines/hildebrandt-moving-ncaa-dii-play-play/

 

[ORU82]

If what I saw elsewhere is correct, at one point a few years ago he ran a station in Broken Arrow.  Perhaps one of the locals on this Board could verify that information.  On a side note, welcome aboard Mr. Hildebrandt and welcome to the Golden Eagle family!

[ORob1]

TMH:

Was it Mark Neely?  He was a bit disconnected but called a great game.--As did DG.  One thing's certain, we always seem to have good radio folks.  I don't recall not being happy with our guy.  Some of the bush leaguers in our conference sound like they've never broadcasted before.  Not that I could do any better...

I too will miss Hax but I said that about Dave, MArk and the others.  Can't wait to hear Adam saying things like "Martin for three.....YES!" , "Another thunderous slam by Emmanuel Nzekwesi!" and "ORU wins another one!"

Go big blue!

Rob

[Old Titan]

According to the Tulsa World story, he came highly recommended by both Dave "PISTOLS FIRING!!!!" Hunziker and Geoff.

 

And, while Hildebrandt may be yet another Cowboy in the fold, he is a Tulsan who graduated from Lincoln Christian School, so that's pretty close to being "an ORU guy" without actually going to school there...

 

 

[tmh8286]

Haha!!  Sounds like a great fit!!  And yes, ORob, Neely was who I was talking about.  He was a great announcer, but never really connected with ORU fans.  Of course, he wasn't really around long enough to get very connected.

 

[Old Titan]

2 hours ago, ORob1 said:

TMH:

Was it Mark Neely?  He was a bit disconnected but called a great game.--As did DG.  One thing's certain, we always seem to have good radio folks.  I don't recall not being happy with our guy.  Some of the bush leaguers in our conference sound like they've never broadcasted before.  Not that I could do any better...

I too will miss Hax but I said that about Dave, MArk and the others.  Can't wait to hear Adam saying things like "Martin for three.....YES!" , "Another thunderous slam by Emmanuel Nzekwesi!" and "ORU wins another one!"

Go big blue!

Rob

Before Mark Neely (who I think still calls football & basketball for the Big Ten network), it was former Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints play-by-play man Dave Garrett, who now hosts his own evening call-in show on "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City (which can also be heard in Tulsa), and before THAT it was none other than "Big Al" Jerkins and his sidekick "Little Scottie" Sutton, who was fresh out of college!

[ORUalum]

Al Jerkens --  "Gill for 3..........give it to him!"

• Prior to the year with Scott, it was Bontrager providing color.  Bontrager's color commentary to me, was the highlight of the Jerkens years

Dave G -- The smoothest broadcaster of the bunch

Mark Neely -- Not much memory of Neely's brief time.  He did get to call the KU upset.  ORU seemed like a paycheck between gigs for Mark.

Hax -- The most passionate.  Improved a lot over the years and had a great connection with the fans.

 

 

20 years ago....

Quote

Scott Sutton Joins Self's Staff

Posted: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 12:00 am

Bill Haisten | 0 comments

Scott Sutton, son of Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton and a former

Cowboy guard, has joined Bill Self's basketball staff at Oral Roberts

University.

Sutton succeeds Steve Anthis, who was a Golden Eagle assistant for three

seasons. Anthis, who formerly served as a graduate assistant at OSU,

resigned in order to assume involvement in his family's land management

business in Muskogee.

During the Golden Eagles' 19-9 season in 1995-96, Scott Sutton was an

administrative assistant for the basketball program and also did color

commentary on ORU game broadcasts.

``I'll miss working with (play-by-play announcer) Al Jerkens, but I won't

miss doing radio,'' said Sutton, who turned 26 on Monday. ``When this chance

came for me to get into coaching, I jumped at the opportunity.''

``For a long time, my dad discouraged me from coaching. He knows how hard

it can be on a family,'' added Sutton, who is single. ``But once I made up

my mind, he was excited about it and he's excited about me working for coach

Self.''

As an OSU senior in 1993-94, the 6-5 Sutton averaged 2.6 points, 1.9

rebounds, 119 assists and 21 turnovers. He played two seasons at OSU after

transferring from Transylvania College in Lexington, Ky. Sutton's older

brother, Sean, is currently an assistant coach on his father's staff.

``Scott was an automatic choice,'' Self said. ``I had told him all along

that I'd love to have him on the staff, but there hadn't been any openings.

It was an easy choice. He'll bring a lot to the table from a basketball

standpoint.

``Steve has done a great job here. It's unfortunate he's getting out when

we're turning things around, but this was an opportunity he didn't feel he

could pass up.''

Anthis' wife, Angela, gave birth to a son three weeks ago.

``We all need a little change in our lives every once in a while, and

this change will allow me to spend a little more time at home,'' said

Anthis. ``I always wanted to be head coach or run my own business, and this

is an opportunity to get some business background.''

* During the spring semester, 14 Golden Eagle players had a collective

grade point average of 2.73 (on a 4.0 scale). Self said the GPA is the

highest of any team he has been associated with as a coach. Before moving to

ORU three years ago, Self was an an assistant at Kansas for one year and an

assistant at Oklahoma State for seven.

Sophomore guard Chad Wilkerson had a team-best 3.6 GPA, and senior guard

Earl McClellan recorded a 3.5.

 

[ManiacAlum]

I didn't get to post here at the time of the announcement, but I will definitely miss Geoff calling games. For all the reasons listed above, but also he's been "the voice" for the new golden era of ORU hoops and baseball.

Not to mention having the skills to engage listeners in two sports that are on the opposite ends of the announcing spectrum-- the nonstop action of basketball and the more conversational nature of baseball. The latter of which involved calling some games from the stands on a cell phone in the most miserable corners of the Summit League's baseball wasteland.