PEORIA, Ill. – Dave Snell will serve as the Voice of the Braves, the radio play-by-play talent for Bradley Basketball on 1470 WMBD, for a 34th consecutive season when the 2012-13 campaign tips off with the first of two exhibition games Oct. 29 at Renaissance Coliseum.
Snell anchors a team of broadcasters from the JMP Radio Group who will describe the action of both Bradley men's and women's basketball during the 2012-13 season. Snell will be joined on the men's basketball broadcasts by former Brave Chad Kleine, while morning show personality Dan DiOrio will continue to host the hour-long Braves Plus pregame show.
For the second consecutive year, JMP will cover the entire Bradley women's basketball season on 1290 WIRL and Ed Hammond will provide the radio play-by-play call for the Braves for an 11th consecutive season. Hammond will be joined on the air during home games by former Bradley men's and women's basketball head coach Joe Stowell and on road games by Jim Rea, Bradley Associate Director of Athletic Communications.
“This is an outstanding lineup of sports broadcasting talent,” said Mike Wild, senior vice president and general manager of JMP Radio Group, LLC. “We like the concept of having former players and coaches involved in our broadcasts, so Chad and Coach Stowell fit perfectly with Dave and Ed on the respective broadcast teams.”
A member of the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame and current president of the National Sportscasters and Sportwriters Association, Snell has participated in 1,016 consecutive Bradley men's basketball regular-season and postseason broadcasts on 1470 WMBD since taking over the play-by-play duties for the 1979-80 season.
Kleine, who was the television analyst for Bradley Basketball on WTVP the last three years, was a post player for the Braves from 1991-96. He helped Jim Molinari's teams to three consecutive postseason appearances – 1994 NIT, 1995 NIT, 1996 NCAA Tournament – and the 1996 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title. Kleine replaces fellow former Brave Danny Adams, who was unable to commit to a complete broadcast schedule for a third season due to his promotion with Stryker.
DiOrio is the popular co-host of The Greg and Dan Show weekday mornings on 1470 WMBD and is preparing for his 11th season as the host of the Braves Plus men's basketball pregame show.
A news reporter/anchor for 1470 WMBD, Hammond took over as the primary play-by-play voice for WMBD's limited women's basketball broadcast schedule during the 2002-03 season and he also has worked as an analyst on WTVP Bradley Women's Basketball telecasts. He remained the women's basketball radio play-by-play talent on 1290 WIRL when JMP expanded the team's coverage to the full schedule last season.
Stowell has been associated with Bradley Athletics for 65 years, dating back to his playing days from 1947-50. He later served as men's basketball and baseball assistant coach, before going on to become the second-winningest head coach in Bradley Basketball history, compiling a 197-147 record from 1965-78. Stowell later coached the Bradley women's basketball team to a 33-22 record in two seasons from 1981-83 and served as the men's basketball radio analyst from 1985-2010 and the primary women's basketball analyst since WMBD began broadcasting women's games in 1998.
Rea has served as the primary Athletics Communications Office contact for the women's basketball team since 2001 and provided audio streaming play-by-play on BradleyBraves.com during road games from 2006-11.
