Persons of Interest

Jim Benson recently wrapped up a 42-year career as a sports writer. He spent all of his years writing for the Bloomington Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal, Illinois).

In this podcast, Jim discusses a few moments and people from his time as a writer, including covering the University of Illinois men's basketball team making two Final Four runs, getting to interview Michael Jordan, covering Illinois State men's basketball and the Missouri Valley Conference and prep sports in central Illinois.

Follow Jim Benson on Twitter: @Pg_Benson

Tariq Ahmad has been on the forefront of all things sports marketing and sports management. He has been hands-on working in social media for several companies in addition to serving as an adjunct instructor in sports management. Recently, Tariq has turned his attention to the world of Name, Image and Likeness and educating others about the topic in addition to student-athlete representation.

In this episode, Tariq and Derrick reconnect with each other to catch up on the latest and also dive into Tariq's NIL work and an upcoming NIL webinar hosted by Tariq.

Follow Tariq:

Ben Fredrickson is a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He also contributes on the radio for The Big 550 KTRS. He grew up in Sedalia, Missouri and attended college at the University of Missouri. In this podcast, Ben shares the story of his career path, writing opinion articles, working in the digital media age and more.

Bio courtesy of CampusSonar.com

Founder and CEO

Liz specializes in creating entrepreneurial social media strategies in higher education and has a passion for empowering others, which she brings to colleges and universities as the founder and CEO of Campus Sonar.

Liz is an award-winning speaker, author, and strategist who was named a 2018 Mover and Shaker by Social Shake-Up Show and a finalist on GreenBook’s 2019 GRIT Future List. She has delivered top-rated talks at SXSW, SXSW EDU, the American Marketing Association Symposium, the Carnegie Conference, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and others; and is the author of two indispensable guides for higher ed: The Higher Ed Social Listening Handbook and Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy: A Guide for College Campuses.

Liz has more than 15 years’ experience in higher education, spanning the private and public sector (including the University of Wisconsin campuses in Milwaukee and Waukesha). Since 2013, she’s focused on driving social listening forward as a source of business intelligence in higher education. She received a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education at Cardinal Stritch University, a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University, and a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Follow/Connect with Liz:

Follow Campus Sonar:

Wyatt Wheeler returns for his fourth appearance on the podcast. In this episode, Derrick and Wyatt discuss the upcoming 2022-2023 Missouri State Men's and Women's Basketball Seasons and also touch on Art Hains, Wyatt's co-host on Sports Talk who is battling West Nile Virus.

Follow Joe on Twitter: @Joe_Pott

Joe Pott's Bio, courtesy, SIUE Athletics:

Joe Pott has been the "Voice of the Cougars" since 2008. The native of St. Louis, Missouri, oversees all communications and broadcasting operations for SIUE athletics.

He is the radio voice of Cougar men's basketball and baseball on 88.7 the Sound, all home broadcasts on ESPN+ and also has appeared on FOX Sports Midwest as part of the Cougars' basketball television coverage.

He has called nearly 400 SIUE men's basketball games and more than 400 Cougar baseball games in addition to several hundred more soccer, volleyball, softball, and women's basketball games, while also serving as the host and emcee at many Cougar athletics special events throughout the year.

Pott also manages the student video crew responsible for the live production of SIUE Athletics events online. He recently oversaw the transition of Cougars broadcasts from the OVC Digital Network to ESPN+.

Off the air, he heads the Athletic Communications Department and is the primary media contact for men's basketball, baseball, men's soccer and golf. Away from SIUE, Pott joined the sports staff at KMOX Radio and serves as a host on the station as well as the St. Louis Cardinals Radio Network.

Prior to coming to SIUE, Pott served as the radio play-by-play voice for the Gateway Grizzlies, a member of the Frontier League of professional baseball in Sauget, Illinois, from 2001-2010. The three-time Frontier League Broadcaster of the Year also served as a guest speaker and emcee at a number of public events promoting the baseball Grizzlies.

He was a play-by-play voice for the game of the week for football and basketball for Team 1380 and FOX Sports Radio 1490 in St. Louis from September 2007 to March 2008. He worked as the voice of the Edwardsville Tigers during the 2003-2004 boys’ basketball season on WAOX radio.

Pott earned a bachelor of arts in communication in 2000 from the University of Dayton, where he worked as an Athletics Communication Assistant, called many sports on radio, and served as a play-by-play voice for local telecasts of Flyer volleyball and soccer. He remains a tried and true Flyer basketball fan.

Kevin Agee returns for another episode. This time, we talk about his career change, leaving his content strategist position at Missouri State University to begin a new role at an agency. Kevin discusses his time at Missouri State, what he learned on the job and what he's looking forward to in his new position.

Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, co-hosts The Sports Reporters on Jock 96.9 FM, 99.9 FM and 1060 AM on Monday mornings with Ned Reynolds and is co-host of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. 

Follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton

Anthony Shavies currently serves as a Mortgage Loan Officer at Central Bank of the Ozarks. His professional experience in helping others repair their credit led to a personal goal to help clients reach homeownership. He is a former Missouri State basketball player and earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Missouri State University. He returned to Springfield, MO after playing professional ball overseas. In this episode, he discusses how he landed at Missouri State, the current Bears Basketball team, and his current role with Central Bank.

Follow Anthony on Twitter: @AnthonyShavies