Steve Jones, the voice of the Penn State football and Nittany Lion basketball programs, will address graduates at the Penn State Wilkes-Barre commencement ceremony Saturday, May 14 at 10:00 a.m. in the campus' Athletic and Recreation Building.
A 1980 Penn State graduate with a degree in speech communication and broadcasting, Jones began doing radio play-by-play of Nittany Lion basketball games during his undergraduate career. He became the voice of the men's basketball team in 1982 and debuted on the football broadcast with the 2000 Blue-White Game. In all, he has done radio play-by-play for more than 800 Penn State basketball and football games.
Jones' responsibilities at Penn State also include hosting the "The Penn State Football Show" and the "Penn State Basketball Show" call-in programs every Thursday during the fall and winter, as well as producing the "Inside Penn State Athletics" segments for the Penn State Sports Network five days a week.
He has worked on a number of freelance television assignments for WPSU Television over the last decade, including telecasts of Penn State men's and women's volleyball, men's and women's gymnastics, and wrestling. He also has worked on the game day coverage of the Emmy Award-winning "Penn State Football Story."
Richard and Sue Barry of San Rafael, Ca., recently made a gift to Penn State University to create the Steve Jones Student Sports Broadcasting Complex, housed in Recreation Hall at the University Park campus. The new media center will allow student journalists to work in control rooms and an editing lab to produce live sporting events, a unique opportunity for students in the College of Communications. The center will be used for all varsity sporting events at Rec. Hall and can also be used for project review, class presentations, and guest speakers.
Richard Barry and Jones met as students at Penn State Wilkes-Barre and the Steve Jones Student Sports Broadcasting Complex continues a history of philanthropy from the Barrys, who also donated gifts for the Abram Nesbitt III Academic Commons and the John R. Murphy Student Services Center at the Wilkes-Barre campus.
Jones and his wife, Kathy, live in State College and have five children and one grandchild.
During this year's commencement exercises, Penn State Wilkes-Barre expects to award 58 diplomas to students who are completing six associate and 52 bachelor's degrees.
For more information, please contact Melissa Gunshannon, Public Information Coordinator, at [email protected] or 570-675-9269.