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WFLA Tech Lands Announcer Gig With Globetrotters

News Channel 8 photo by RUGENE MOORE

WFLA production technician Kevon Wilson has a new job as announcer for the Harlem Globetrotters.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

TAMPA - A News Channel 8 production technician has landed a dream job: He's going on the road as arena announcer for basketball's Harlem Globetrotters.

Kevon Wilson, at the ripe age of 23, has worked at WFLA just more than a year, coming to Tampa from South Florida, where he attended Florida Atlantic University and worked as a studio technician for two television stations.

His path has always been clear: broadcast communications, he said.

When he's not in the studio at WFLA, he takes classes at the University of South Florida to finish his degree.

Wilson, who maneuvers robotic cameras on the studio floor and does floor direction and other technical duties, said he first saw the Globetrotters' job opening last year. He applied, and, "They offered me a chance to come for the second half or the tour in February," he said.

"But," he said, "I declined due to the fact that I was learning stuff here; behind-the-scenes stuff, and I was still in school."

Wilson will do the public-address announcing at the games during the upcoming season, which lasts from December into early May. After that, he will come back to Tampa for one more semester of classes to get his degrees in communications and women's studies.

He said he is scheduled to go to an announcers training camp Sept. 28. The two-week session will teach him how to do the job, he said. Duties include how to announce the games, when to make quips during unscripted play and how to set up comedic segments between game action.

It's a great career opportunity, he said, even though the contract job is seasonal, and there is no guarantee he will be hired for more than one season.

"If I do a good job," he said, "I guess they'll call me up again."

Wilson joins a regular basketball tradition. The Globetrotters have been entertaining audiences for 82 years with their comedy-filled basketball exhibitions, typically accompanied by their whistled theme song, "Sweet Georgia Brown." The team has played more than 25,000 games.

The roster of past teams includes basketball greats such as Wilt Chamberlain, Connie Hawkins and Marques Haynes. Most fans are familiar with legendary likes of Meadowlark Lemon and Fred "Curly" Neal.

This season's tour begins in Cincinnati on Dec. 30 and travels across the United States and around the world. Games are scheduled for Mexico, Israel and Turkey, according to the team's Web site.

He will announce the games in English, he said. He has not yet mastered Spanish or Arabic.

"I guess I'll pick up stuff as we go," Wilson grinned during an interview this morning.

Wilson's training session this month also will take him away from his coaching duties for Blake High School's football team. He's the offensive coordinator for the junior varsity squad and wide receivers coach for the varsity team.

"I will miss two weeks of the football season," he said, "But I'll be back to finish the season here with the guys."

Wilson is eager to join the Globetrotter tradition. He said his family and colleagues are excited for him.

"It's a big, big opportunity for me," he said.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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