KU alum Chavez to call women’s hoops for alma mater

Jimmy Chavez(October 7, 2015) Anyone who has struggled to take the next step in their sports broadcasting career will find motivation in Jimmy Chavez. After leaving a national radio network, Chavez spent the past three years doing freelance work to keep his sports broadcasting dream alive.

It has paid off.

An STAA member, Chavez has been named Women’s Basketball Voice and Coaches Show Host at his alma mater, the University of Kansas.

“This is a dream position to call basketball inside Allen Fieldhouse, which is the mecca of college basketball,” says Chavez. “Add the fact that I am a KU alum makes it as special as it gets.”

After graduating from KU in 2006, Chavez’ career began a steady upward climb from Russell, KS, to Wichita, to Yahoo Sports Radio Network. When he left YSR in 2012, Chavez could not have anticipated how challenging it would be to take the next step forward. He spent the past three years doing freelance play-by-play for high school games and working in a variety of positions outside of broadcasting.

“It was hard many times and honestly, I came close to throwing in the towel a couple of times,” admits Chavez. “It was team of people that would keep me fighting when I started to question how much fight I had left in me. It was my wife. It was my family. It was friends in the business that really wanted me to not give up. People like Brian Hanni, like [STAA’s] Jon Chelesnik, like Jay Sanderson, like Chris Allison and Blake Cripps, like Greg Sharpe, like Wyatt Thompson and many others that would give me encouraging words or be ready to help at a moment’s notice.”

Chavez’ biggest takeaway from the past three years in the sports broadcasting job market is how quickly things can change. “No matter how dark it seems or how lost the battle may appear, everything can change with one break,” he says. “Suddenly, you realize that everything happens for a reason and it was all leading you to this point and that it’s never an easy journey. But, if you stay with it, keep pounding the rock and don’t skip steps, something special might just happen for you and you’ll be ever the more grateful and appreciative of the journey.”

Chavez’s first KU broadcast will be on a Sunday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I honestly don’t think I’ll fully comprehend how special [the KU job] is until that first game when I sit down and I see the sun shining through those windows,” he smiles.

(Visit Jimmy’s STAA Talent Page).

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