(November 19, 2012) George Von Benko has enjoyed a long and notable career in play-by-play. However, he has watched the industry trend toward younger talent and the veteran broadcaster wasn’t sure he’d have another opportunity to broadcast college sports. That chance, however, has come his way. An STAA client, Von Benko is the new play-by-play voice for University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball.
“It came out of the blue,” Von Benko says. “I thought my days doing games were over. Scott Stiller, who was doing the games, took a full time job and they had an opening. Longtime Pitt play-by-play announcer Bill Hillgrove recommended me to IMG and they hired me.”
Von Benko’s play-by-play resume includes football and basketball for the University of Cincinnati and California University of Pennsylvania. His time at Cincinnati coincided with Bob Huggins’ tenure as the Bearcats basketball coach. In addition to hosting a daily sports talk show, Von Benko was most recently providing color commentary for Duquesne University men’s basketball.
“I am thankful that I am back doing play-by-play, which I always felt fit my skill set better than doing color. It is deja vue, because I had done some work with Pitt years ago. Some of the same people are still there, so I feel very comfortable, and it fits perfectly with some of the other things I do.”
(Visit George’s STAA Talent Page).