Special Awards Salute: An Interview with 2021 and 2020 Jake Wade Award Recipients Gus Johnson (Fox S
College Sports Information Directors of America
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Related Content
- 2021 Special Awards Announcements and Features
- 2020 Special Awards Announcements and Features
- #CoSIDA21 Virtual Convention Home
- Past Jake Wade Award Recipients
Special note: Due to the cancelation of the in-person 2020 and 2021 conventions, our CoSIDA Special Awards winners from those two years are being honored online this year. Leading up to our 2021 June Convention, we will honor many of them via video tributes and interviews. Along with video interviews, you also will find links to the recipients' feature stories and photo galleries.
An interview with the 2021 and 2020 Jake Wade Award Recipients
- Inteview with Nick Guerrerio – CoSIDA Professional Development & Education Committee
See below to read more about 2021 winner Gus Johnson of Fox Sports
Click here for a feature on 2020 winner Ivan Maisel, College Sports Reporter/Author
Jake Wade Award
Presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to the field of intercollegiate athletics. Voted on by the Special Awards Committee. Nominee must be a member of the media.
Gus Johnson – FOX Sports
2021 Jake Wade Award
by Ed Hill, Jr. – retired Howard University Sports Information Director
Gus Johnson is known as one of the most exciting voices in sports, but a future as an announcer was nowhere on his radar when he arrived at Howard University. Johnson, who played baseball at Howard, initially declared a major in political science before an internship changed the course of his future.
That internship at WHUR was under the guidance of Glenn Harris, an All-MEAC baseball player at Howard who was in the midst of a legendary broadcast career in Washington, DC.
“He gave me the foundation," Johnson said of Harris. "He talked about where this experience could lead to career wise.”
That experience has led Johnson to be at the top of his craft, one of the most recognizable voices in the world of media. He’s been the basketball play-by-play voice for NBA teams and the Big East, called NFL games for CBS and gained national prominence for his memorable calls of the NCAA basketball tournament for CBS.
That experience, which now includes being one of the lead voices of college football and basketball games on Fox Sports, is the reason why Johnson’s been named the 63rd recipient of the prestigious Jake Wade Award presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It’s an award that goes to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to college athletics.
The FOX Sports college football lead broadcast team of Joe Klatt and Gus Johnson at Ohio Stadium.
Johnson, a Detroit native, is the first African-American male and first HBCU graduate to receive the honor.
"I am deeply honored and grateful to COSIDA for the Jake Wade award," Johnson noted. "That I’m the first African-American male and first HBCU alum to receive it, is even more rewarding.”
Johnson has the highest praise for Harris, who enjoyed a 40-year career as a broadcaster in Washington which included his role as the host of WHUR-FM’s “Let’s Talk Sports.
”He not only taught me professionalism,” Johnson said of Harris. “He was like a father."
And, there were others who were also instrumental in his guidance. One was Isaac "Ike" Darden, the manager of athletic facilities at Howard University.
"Mr. D, as he is called, helped me and made sure that I had all the things that I needed to get started in my early career,” Johnson said. “He was always there for me and for that I am forever indebted to him."
Another person Johnson cites is Sanya Tyler, the legendary women’s basketball coach at Howard who facilitated Johnson covering the women's basketball program. Those games, aired in the dorms on campus, allowed Johnson the opportunity to work on his craft.
"Coach Tyler believed in me and saw potential," Johnson noted. "She was like a mother to me, giving advice, guidance and direction."
After graduating from Howard in 1990 with that degree in political science, Johnson began a journey of working in small media markets, making strong impressions along the way. His big leap came when Johnson was hired by the MSG network, where he did radio and television play-by-play of New York Knicks games. Johnson would eventually expanded his horizons by adding other sports, including boxing and hockey, to his repertoire.
That work caught the eye—and ears—of Rick Gentile, the then executive sports director at CBS, who was searching for a play-by-play announcer when he “discovered” Johnson.
“My assistant brought me tapes from this large selection of candidates; I had listened to over 30 tapes until I received a phone call,” said Gentile, the current Senior Associate Commissioner for broadcasting with the Big East Conference. “While I was on the phone, I heard this voice and I told the person on the other line that I would call them back. I listened a few times and decided that’s the one.'”
“I got in touch with Gus and I asked if he could do a game that weekend,” Gentile added. “He said yes, and the rest is history."
There are people who say that with his game calls Johnson, during his tenure at CBS, put Madness into March Madness. It’s impossible to name a best Gus Johnson call, which is why there are dozens of entries if you Google it.
"The thing that separates Gus is his ability to anticipate sensation, his grasp of the moment, his delivery, recognition and description,” said Bill Raftery, who called games with Johnson at CBS and currently works alongside him now at Fox Sports. “That is unique in the profession, but he has it. He has worked hard at his craft and it shows."
And is now recognized by CoSIDA with the Jake Wade Award as the first African-American male recipient, and the first from an HBCU.
“It is very very humbling to have my name association with the unbelievable list of prior Jake Wade recipients,” Johnson concluded. “It is my hope that more young African-Americans will be motivated by this recognition and it will encourage them to pursue this as a career."
Gus Johnson, 2021 Jake Wade Award
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