(August 16, 2017) In May, John Fanta was honored as the 9th most outstanding collegiate sportscaster in STAA’s annual All-America program. Shortly thereafter, he graduated from Seton Hall University. Now, Fanta has earned a high profile job.
An STAA member, Fanta has been named host of Big East Shootaround on FOX Sports GO. The program is a live weekly online show that focuses on men’s basketball in a full digital-forward approach. The first episode will air on Thursday, Aug. 10, and continue weekly over the coming year.
A native of Westlake, Ohio, Fanta gained considerable studio host experience in his four years at Seton Hall. He also demonstrated uncommon versatility as a sideline reporter and play-by-play broadcaster for many sports. He’s been a digital correspondence and broadcaster for the Big East Conference Digital Network since 2014.
“From talking to mentors, they told me to really try as hard as I could to stay on live events. Bringing that desire back to the conference led to them working out a plan for me to do the show, Shootaround, every Thursday, and then move throughout the conference on games each weekend,” says Fanta.
Relationship building was critical in this opportunity to coming to fruition for Fanta. “Interning at FOX Sports last summer, one of the coordinating producers said that they want to hire people that they will enjoy working with. ‘We don’t want to hire guys that are going to be a pain,’ he said to me. There is a lot of talent out there, but his message that it goes beyond that is why I try to be the best person I can be each day, because it makes a difference in so many ways,” says Fanta.
Big East Shootaround will be interactive as fans can submit questions for Fanta and guests on Twitter and on Facebook.
(Visit John’s STAA Talent Page).