MSN Personalities |
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Warren Baker Women’s Basketball Analyst  Warren Baker enters his fifth season as the women’s basketball analyst for the Mountaineer Sports Network. A native of White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., Baker has spent the past 24 years as an assistant professor of education at Fairmont State University, where he was awarded the William A. Boram Award in 2005 for teaching excellence. Prior to this position, Baker was a basketball coach and physical education teacher at West Virginia Wesleyan, as well as at North Marion High where he was twice named NCAC Coach of the Year. He also spent seven years as a guidance counselor at Westover Junior High. Baker was a dominant inside player for the Mountaineer men’s basketball team from 1973-76, where he scored a career 1,556 points and grabbed 1,070 rebounds. He is the only player in school history to lead WVU in rebounding each of his four seasons. Along with Jerry West, he is one of only two players in school history to score more than 1,500 points and grab 1,000 rebounds. To this day, he is one of only four players in school history to grab more than 1,000 rebounds. In addition to the women’s basketball broadcasts, Baker has served as a basketball analyst for the past 10 years on WAJR Morgantown.  Tony Caridi Play-by-Play Tony Caridi enters his 15th season as radio play-by-play announcer for Mountaineer football and basketball on MSN and his 27th overall with the network. Tony has become a household name throughout the state for his work on MSN. Prior to 1997, Caridi served as play-by-play man for the network's football replay telecasts. Along with his play-by-play duties, Caridi continues to serve as host and feature contributor for West Virginia's popular online video productions through Mountaineer TV. In addition to MSN, Caridi has done play-by-play for ESPN, PIA Radio, the BIG EAST, Prime, Atlantic 10, Creative Sports and Mutual broadcasts. He currently is the sports director of the MetroNews Radio Network and hosts a nightly statewide sports talk show as well as working with coaches Dana Holgorsen and Bob Huggins on their statewide talk shows. Tony is also a frequent contributor on WVUsports.com. Caridi has been named the West Virginia Sportscaster of the Year on three occasions. A native of Lockport, New York, and graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Caridi oversees the Metronews Internet division and serves as Special Projects Manager for Pikewood Creative. Tony and his wife Joan have three children, Michael, Andrew, and Matthew.  Jed Drenning Football Sideline Reporter Jed Drenning is now in his fourth season with the Mountaineer Sports Network as its sideline reporter on West Virginia football broadcasts. Drenning is no stranger to football in the Mountain State. He was a two-time all-State quarterback at Tucker County High School, where he led the Mountain Lions to two Class A state title game appearances, and was named the Kennedy Award recipient from the West Virginia Sportwriters Association as the state’s top prep player. After starting his collegiate career on the roster of Terry Bowden’s Samford squad, Drenning transferred to WVU, where he spent two years (1990-91), playing for Hall of Fame coach Don Nehlen. He finished his career at Glenville State where he was a record-setting three-time All-America quarterback. He was the two-time WVIAC Player of the Year, and threw for 400 yards in the NAIA national championship game. He finished his career as the conference’s all-time career leader in passing, total offense, touchdown passes and touchdowns responsible for, despite only playing three seasons. In his senior year at Glenville, Drenning won the Hardman Award from the West Virginia Sportswriters as the top amateur athlete in the state. To this day, Drenning is just one of four players in the state’s history (Randy Moss, J.R. House, Curt Warner and Drenning) to have won both the Kennedy and Hardman Awards. Following his collegiate playing career, he turned in different stints as the quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator at Glenville from 1994-99, while also playing professional football in Germany and in the Arena Football League with the Albany Firebirds. Since 2001, Drenning has worked in sales and in broadcasting throughout West Virginia.  Jay Jacobs Basketball Analyst Former West Virginia cager Jay Jacobs enters his 35th season with MSN and 13th as analyst on MSN radio. Jacobs spent 18 seasons as basketball analyst on MSN-TV and worked through the years with play-by-play announcers Jack Fleming, Woody O'Hara and Tony Caridi. On radio, Jacobs joins Caridi to form a talented two-man team that brings all of the Big East action to Mountaineer fans. Through the years, Jacobs has also provided analysis for other regional television networks, and provides commentary each spring at the West Virginia state high school basketball tournament. However, Mountaineer basketball is his first love having been part of the school's golden era as a teammate of Jerry West. Jay is also a contributing columnist on MSNsportsNET.com. Jacobs retired in 1996 from his job as assistant principal of Ballenger Middle school in Frederick, Md. He now takes great pleasure in devoting all of his time to the Mountaineers.  Travis Jones Women's Basketball Play-by-Play Travis Jones joined the MSN team 12 years ago as the play-by-play announcer for women's basketball. MSN will once again carry all regular season and postseason action on a network of stations throughout West Virginia and also on the Internet. Jones has extensive experience in sports broadcasting, having co-hosted the Sunday Night Sportline since 1996. Jones is also the radio play-by-play voice of Bridgeport Indians football and basketball, and has also done play-by-play work for Salem International as well as the State Tournament Networks on MetroNews. Travis is currently working as the Director Of Operations for West Virginia Radio-Clarksburg, a position he held since 1997. Prior to that, the Parkersburg, W.Va., native was program director at WKKW from 1993-97.  Hoppy Kercheval Studio Host The radio “dean” of West Virginia broadcasters, Hoppy Kercheval is in his fourth decade with MSN. Through the years Hoppy’s assignments have spanned the gamut to include news, sports, and talk. Kercheval has been a key member of the Mountaineers Sports Network family. His pregame, halftime, and post game scores and highlight features have become a staple of MSN broadcasts. Kercheval also does television play-by-play for MSN women's basketball. A native of Summit Point in Jefferson County, Hoppy began as a news anchor/reporter at WAJR in Morgantown while still attending West Virginia University. After graduating with honors from WVU, Kercheval took over as News Director at WAJR and began carving an identity as the state of West Virginia’s most professional and respected journalist. A founding father of Metronews, Kercheval served as News Director until assuming the role of Vice President of Operations in 1991. In 1993, he created Metronews Talkline, which has become a signature program of the network. Hoppy’s gift of interviewing has made Talkline a must-listen for lawmakers and anyone interested in state politics and the day’s top news events.  Dwight Wallace Football Analyst Former WVU assistant football coach Dwight Wallace is beginning his second decade with the Mountaineer Sports Network as its football analyst for radio. Wallace joined Don Nehlen’s staff in 1985 as quarterbacks coach and added the responsibilities of the receivers and assistant head coach before he left in 1990. With Wallace on the staff, the Mountaineers went to three straight bowl games (Sun, Fiesta and Gator) and he tutored Heisman Trophy finalist Major Harris for three seasons. Prior to his stint at West Virginia, Wallace served as head coach at Ball State where he coached the Cardinals to a 10-1 record and the Mid-American Conference championship in 1978. He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 1978. While at Ball State, he also served three years as athletic director. Wallace also served stints as an assistant coach at Colorado, Ball State, Central Michigan, and Iowa Wesleyan. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green. While at Colorado, Wallace was not only the quarterback and receivers coach, but also the recruiting coordinator and coached in the 1975 Bluebonnett and 1976 Orange Bowls. Wallace lives in Indianapolis, Ind.  Kyle Wiggs Studio Host Kyle Wiggs begins his 10th season as host of the men’s basketball broadcasts on MSN radio. He provides team and BIG EAST information as well as updates and scores during MSN’s exclusive coverage of Mountaineer basketball and gets the broadcasts started with the popular pregame show “The Mountaineers Today.” Wiggs is a sports anchor for West Virginia Radio Corporation and the Mountaineer flagship stations WAJR-AM and WVAQ-FM in Morgantown. He also is the host of the statewide MetroNews broadcasts Coliseum Countdown and Point After radio shows. In his duties with West Virginia Radio Corporation, Wiggs also is a part-time host of the nightly Statewide Sportsline and does play-by-play for high school football, basketball and baseball including state championship events. Wiggs also hosts the weekly radio show BIG EAST Today in the fall that airs statewide before every WVU football broadcast on MetroNews. In addition to the men’s basketball broadcasts, Wiggs also works with MSN in the network’s coverage of West Virginia wrestling, women’s basketball and baseball. Wiggs is a native of Belleville, Ill., and a graduate of Southern Illinois University. He has spent the past 17 years in West Virginia covering the Mountaineers.  Adam Zundell MSN Contributor Adam Zundell joined the MSN team in 2008 as a television analyst for men’s and women’s soccer. He currently hosts Inside the 18, a weekly video segment on WVUsports.com that provides an in-depth look at both Mountaineer soccer programs. Zundell is currently the Director of Athletic Media Relations and Marketing at Fairmont State, where he is responsible for providing information and news to the media and fans for all 15 varsity sports. Prior to his position with FSU, Zundell was an assistant media relations director for three years at the University of Maryland. There, he was the primary media relations liaison for men’s soccer, wrestling and women’s lacrosse. Zundell also spent time in the sports communications office at West Virginia while working toward a master’s degree in public relations/integrated marketing communications. At WVU, he worked with men’s soccer, wrestling and baseball. A native of Fairmont, W. Va., Zundell attended Wheeling Jesuit where he was a four-time All-WVIAC and three-time NCAA Division II Academic All-America performer in cross country, and won three individual conference titles in track. |
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