Garrett Jones is a Division I football and basketball voice just one year after graduating from college. And he doesn’t have to relocate for the opportunity. An STAA member, Jones is the new voice of the Houston Baptist University Huskies.
He succeeds fellow STAA member Lonnie King.
The way Jones found the opportunity is a common one. “Through an STAA Job Leads email, of course,” he grins.
STAA learned of the opening when King notified the agency that he was retiring from the position. STAA shared the openings with it’s members, then sent the most qualified candidates onto HBU’s hiring manager. ” I pounced on it right when I saw they had an opening,” Jones recalls.
Houston ties
Jones moved to Houston last year to be with family after graduating from the University of Missouri. He’s been doing fill-in play-by-play for the University of Houston and Rice University but the HBU gig is one he’s watched closely. “I feel super lucky to have been able to call games for several great schools in an awesome city in my first year as a professional. Broadcasting college sports is right where I want to be, so I feel like getting the radio gig at this point in my career is the perfect spot. It’s also nice to have a home base after mostly freelancing for a year.”
Smart follow-up
Following-up his HBU application with what he calls “polite persistence” helped Jones distinguish himself from other candidates. “I followed up multiple times, including what turned out to be very early in their hiring process, but I didn’t go over the top. Just enough that they knew I was really interested,” he remembers.
Jones’ follow-up also included one extraordinary step. “I recorded a demo tape using a HBU game from last year and sent that in instead of the football tape I had previously.”
Traveling man
One aspect of the job that Jones is eagerly anticipating is traveling. “I’m excited to get to New Mexico in September — that’s road trip number one. But HBU basketball has played several big time programs in the past few seasons — Michigan, Michigan State, Arizona, Oklahoma, Wisconsin. And of course, winning at Wake Forest. Those trips to the Power 5 schools are going to be a lot of fun.”
The Huskies also play at Rice in a few years. “It will be great to broadcast from the visitors booth at a school that helped me get my start,” Jones enthuses.
The STAA edge
Jones joined STAA in 2019 on the recommendation of fellow University of Missouri alumnus and STAA member Ben Wilson. Jones adds, “I also got wind [of STAA] through social media, and applied for the Jim Nantz Award each of my last two years of school.”
Jones’ reasons for joining STAA were simple. “To learn, grow, improve, network and be the best broadcaster I can be,” he says.
Now Jones is taking the skills he has polished to Division I HBU athletics.
“I’m incredibly excited to get started and bring games to the airwaves for Husky fans!”
