(October 18, 2016) Dave Polaski has done freelance Division I college basketball play-by-play. Now, he’s excited for something permanent. An STAA member, Polaski is the new radio voice for Radford University men’s and women’s home games.
Fellow STAA member Kyle West, is broadcasting Radford women’s basketball home games on the Big South Network live stream and road games on the radio.
Ironically, this won’t be the first time Polaski has broadcast Radford women’s basketball. He did fill-in work for them a couple seasons ago.
“It’s a steady job in NCAA Division I basketball,” says Polaski. “I’ve had D-1 gigs before, but they were always on a fill-in basis, either at Rider University when I lived in New Jersey and did sports broadcasting as a side career or with Radford. Being able to set my schedule and prepare ahead of time is pretty exciting for me.”
Polaski learned of the Radford opportunity through an email from STAA. “I quickly reached out to Rick Watson, the school’s Director of Broadcasting. He was familiar with me and impressed by my recent work, so we coordinated a time to meet up for an interview,” says Polaski.
Radford isn’t the only basketball broadcasts in which Polaski will be involved this Winter. He’s also the studio host for the IMG/Texas Longhorns Radio Network. It means that Polaski will be spending a lot of time on the road between IMG’s studio in North Carolina and the Radford campus in Virginia.
“Most of the conflicts occur during the conference season, and IMG has been very supportive and accommodating of my Radford schedule,” says Polaski. “As long as I give them a heads-up so a suitable fill-in can be found, it typically isn’t an issue.”
Polaski is a 2002 graduate of Ohio University. In addition to college basketball, he has broadcast high school sports and worked for minor league baseball’s Winston-Salem Dash and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Polaski has been an STAA member since 2012.
(Visit Dave’s STAA Talent Page).