My internship with the Delaware Blue Coats has been an opportunity of a lifetime. I have been blessed with the opportunity to do play-by-play for a G-League team. Very few students and people ahead of me can say they have had that experience.
Before coming into this internship, the most I had done was host “Lloungin’ with Lloyd” [sic], a talk show I started in high school at West Essex in North Caldwell, New Jersey. My teacher Mr. McGlynn came up with the idea, and ever since then I have fallen in love with the idea of interacting with students and discussing sports.
I continued to do the show, as well as play-by-play broadcasting, when I went to County College of Morris (CCM). Commentating was something that I had no idea I would get into. When I went to CCM, I had intentions to play basketball because I trained all summer to try out for the team.
One night, I was driving my teammate and coach home from practice. My coach, Anwar King, asked me that night, “Why do you want to play basketball?” and I replied, “I just love to hoop.” He told me that I should do something that I can see myself doing in the long term future. I had no aspirations of going to the NBA or playing basketball at a Division I or II school. In a way, you could say coach King saved my life because there was a point in high school before “Lloungin’ with Lloyd” when I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.
When I started recording games for the basketball team I would later ask my director Mr. Dan, who was in control of letting me use the equipment, if I could also use a microphone to broadcast the games. CCM never had a real broadcasting department like Rowan, so all the games I did were recorded on a SIM card.
However, when the basketball team made the playoffs and the game was in Buffalo, New York, I was the first ever to call a live game in the school’s history. It was a moment I will never forget because I was incredibly nervous. I am originally from Rochester, New York, which is only an hour from Buffalo, so it was like a homecoming for me. That was the start of this life journey of broadcasting.
Since I did not have any real experience calling games live on a consistent basis, I was nervous when it was time for my audition at Rowan. When Rowan professor and broadcaster Derek Jones, Director of Sports Communication and Social Impact Neil Hartman and Alex Yoh from the 76ers blessed me with this opportunity, I felt a sense of “belonging” because I had truly “got it out of the mud;” meaning that everything in terms of broadcasting had been self-taught up to the internship.
Working with Yoh and the marketing team has also been fun because I am able to be creative with his assignments. I have had projects where I have to create a promotional schedule, or come up with ideas for a halftime show, theme night and even prizes that the Blue Coats could potentially give away. It allows me to get in the mind of a fan and ask myself, “what would be cool to see at a game?”
The internship has been nothing short of a blessing. I was able to work with an amazing team: Kayla Santiago, Jason Joseph and Aaron Hook. These guys made the experience the best. I have made connections and learned so much and will continue to pursue my dream to one day become a broadcaster, and one day call a New York Knicks game.
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