Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Media Guides 2013-14 MVC Women's Basketball Media Guide | Página 20

ServiceS/Tv

Missouri Valley Conference Television Network
Missouri Valley ConferenCe on-air TalenT
MiTCh holThus, Play-by-Play

Entering his 19th season as one of the league’s playby-play voices is Mitch Holthus. He served as The Valley’s lead television play-by-play man for 13 seasons.
In 2007, Holthus was named the third recipient of
the league’s John Sanders Spirit of the Valley Award
-- given to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of
the late MVC staffer and demonstrates passion for the
Conference, strong work ethic and sense of humor.
A native of Smith Center, Kan., Holthus is in his 20th season as the radio play-byplay voice of the Kansas City Chiefs -- the longest tenured play-by-play announcer
in KC history -- on their 80-station network.

Jill huTChison, Analyst

Jill Hutchison is in her 15th year as a member of
the MVC Television Network talent as a women’s
basketball analyst.
A member of the Missouri Valley Conference’s
Athletics Hall of Fame, Hutchison was inducted
into the Women’s Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame
in June 2009.
The former head women’s basketball coach at Illinois State, she retired following the 1998-99 season. Hutchison finished with
a 461-323 career record, 10 conference championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Three-time president of the WBCA, she was named conference coach of the year
three times and district coach of the year in 1996.

A 28-year broadcast veteran, he was the play-by-play voice of the Kansas State
Wildcats for 12 seasons. He served as television host of the Kansas State
football and basketball coaches shows from 1985 to 1996. He also toiled as
play-by-play announcer at WIBW Radio, flagship station of the Kansas City Royals, from 1983 to 1996.

laura leonarD, Analyst
Laura Leonard is in her second tour (13th year overall)
with The Valley Network, and is slated to serve as the
lead analyst for women’s basketball and the 2014
MVC Softball Championship in Normal, Ill.

He has earned the distinction of being the Kansas Sportcaster of the Year eight
times -- 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998 and 2001 -- from the National
Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters, and has been voted the Metro
Sportscaster of the Year by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters nine times.

Prior to returning as a softball analyst in 2005, Leonard had previously handled a women’s basketball
analyst role for the league during the mid-1990s.

Holthus was inducted into the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame
in October 2008 and was tabbed the Kansas City Sports Journalist of the Year
in 2010.
In September of 2012, Holthus was awarded an Emmy for his video and on-line
work by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
A 1979 Kansas State grad, he and his wife, Tami, a former college basketball
player at KSU, have a son Brian (31) and a daughter Hayley (28), who both played
basketball and graduated from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan

sCoTT WarMann, Play-by-Play/Host

Scott Warmann is in his ninth season as a member
of The Valley TV Network.
Warmann will perform play-by-play duties and serve
as the between-games host for the 2014 MVC Men’s
Basketball Championship at Scottrade Center in St.
Louis. He will also handle play-by-play responsibilities
for the 2013 MVC Women’s Soccer Championship at
Evansville, Ind., the 2013 MVC Men’s Soccer Championship at Peoria, Ill., and the 2014 MVC Women’s
Basketball Championship at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
In 2014, he will be in his third year as a member of the ESPN3 talent team as
a baseball play-by-play voice for the MVC Cha mpionship from Terre Haute, Ind.
Warmann does play-by-play as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference telecast team for the last 12 seasons.
A St. Louis native, Warmann was a studio host for the St. Louis Rams radio
network for five seasons at Clear Channel Radio, including the 1999 Super Bowl
championship season.
Currently, he works at KMOX Radio (1120 AM) in St. Louis as a sports show host
and studio host for the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues radio networks.
Warmann also fills in as studio host for the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis
Blues telecasts on FOX Sports Midwest.

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In her 25th year as a sales representative for Eli
Lilly Pharmaceuticals, Leonard enters her 24th season as the radio analyst for
Drake women’s basketball.
A two-sport athlete at Drake University from 1979 to 1983, she played both
basketball and softball, earning Academic All-America women’s basketball
honors in 1983. Leonard later became head softball coach for the Bulldogs
from 1985 to 1988.
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Leonard received a bachelor’s degree in education from Drake University in 1983 and earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy
from Drake in 1987.

r.C. MCBriDe, Play-by-Play/Host

R.C. McBride is in his 11th year with The Valley Network, and is slated to serve as play-by-play for the
2014 Missouri Valley Conference Softball Championship telecast from Normal, Ill.
In addition to his softball responsibilities, McBride
will handle between-game host duties for the 2014
MVC Women’s Basketball Championship at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., for a fifth-straight year.
The radio play-by-play voice of Illinois State women’s basketball, McBride works
for Illinois State University Marketing and Communications as Director of Trademark and Licensing.
Previously, he spent 15 years as Program Director of WJBC Radio in Bloomington,
Ill. McBride has received recognition for his news reporting and sports play-byplay, including a National Edward R. Murrow Award for news anchoring in 2002,
while the station was named the National Small Radio Station of the Year by the
National Association of Broadcasters in 2005 and 2009.
A native of Danville, Ill., McBride is a 1995 graduate of Illinois State University.
He and his wife Christy have daughters Paige, Allison and Lauren, and live in
Normal, Ill.