{"id":35445,"date":"2023-01-27T12:21:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T17:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbox615.com\/?p=35445"},"modified":"2024-02-13T15:14:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T20:14:01","slug":"nashville-voices-kevin-ingram-of-vanderbilt-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pressbox615.com\/ro\/nashville-voices-kevin-ingram-of-vanderbilt-basketball\/","title":{"rendered":"Nashville Voices: Kevin Ingram of Vanderbilt University"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NASHVILLE –<\/strong> College basketball in Nashville has always been fantastic, with a rich history of championship teams and deep-rooted rivalries. It was king before Nashville welcomed the Titans and the Preds into town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not many know Nashville college sports and college basketball as well as Vanderbilt\u2019s Director of Digital Operations and basketball play-by-play voice Kevin Ingram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingram has covered sports in Nashville for over 20 years, including the Titans’ historic Super Bowl run, the Predators and notching 17 years as the voice of Belmont men\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kevin Ingram. Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cI think I knew from a young age that it was something I wanted to do,\u201d Ingram shares with\u00a0Steven Boero of Pressbox615<\/em>. \u201cI always knew I wanted to announce games and that it was something I wanted to pursue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, he has covered almost every team in Nashville since moving here in 1998. His first job was with WSM and WTN as their morning news anchor before becoming their morning sports anchor in early 2000. The first Saturday of the month happened to be the AFC Wild Card game between the Titans and Bills, which would go in NFL history as the Music City Miracle game. That was Ingram\u2019s first experience covering sports in Nashville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingram went on to cover the Titans’ historic run to the Super Bowl, which they ultimately lost in dramatic fashion and was an experience he would never forget.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny because it was at the end of 1999 and I was ready to maybe try something else or go back to Bowling Green, but they decided to start the sports anchor job. It all went from there and it has been really great,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingram dabbled with some Predators coverage with WSM and WTN, covering pre-games and post-games in 2004\u2013the first year the team had ever made the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, over the last 20 years or so, Ingram has solidified himself as one of the best college athletics\u2013especially basketball\u2013play-by-play voices in Nashville, serving as the voice of the Belmont men\u2019s basketball team since 2002, calling OVC football games on Saturdays, and now, Vanderbilt men\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI did the 2002-03 seasons with Belmont and then there was some transition to the radio stations,\u201d Ingram notes. \u201cFor a year, I hosted the Predators radio pre-game and missions post-game and that sort of thing.\u00a0Willie Daunic<\/strong>\u00a0[the current TV voice of the Preds] did the Belmont games, but after the dust settled, we all ended up working at 104.5 The Zone. Willie and I switched the jobs back and I went back to doing Belmont for the 2004-05 season and we went from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continues, \u201cAround the same time I started at Belmont in 2002, I also started doing sidelines for Vanderbilt football broadcast and did that until 2011. I started doing an OVC Game of the Week on TV and then the SEC Network came along in 2014. Vanderbilt hired me for that and we started doing a lot more games on TV through that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Belmont, Ingram transitioned from the radio voice to the TV voice for home games when the ASUN, and later, the OVC Digital Networks were launched. He saw the program\u2019s exponential growth from ASUN to OVC and from Striplin Gym to the Curb Event Center. Following\u00a0Rick Byrd<\/strong>\u2018s career until his retirement in 2019, Ingram was a witness to the change and was part of so many massive Belmont basketball games and moments, including the team\u2019s first NCAA Tournament win in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Kevin Ingram with Vandy football analyst Norman Jordan. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was crazy when you think about where the program was when I started doing the games in 2002.\u201d Ingram recalls, \u201cIf you told me then what that program would become, I\u2019m not sure even the most optimistic person would have believed it. The Curb Event Center was finished in 2003-04, and the transition felt like it sped up after that happened. The real breakthrough, of course, was in 2006 when they won the Atlantic Sun championship, and that classic against Lipscomb in overtime in Johnson City.\u201d He adds, \u201cThat was really the breakthrough. They got to the tournament for the first time and they actually ended up winning three straight tournament titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think people like Casey Alexander<\/strong> [Belmont\u2019s head coach], Brian Ayers<\/strong> [Belmont\u2019s assistant coach]\u2013and even coach Byrd and those who\u2019ve been around for a long time\u2013think about those years and realize Belmont was not just without a home, but without a conference. To see all this happen and what that program\u2019s become is really amazing,\u201d he admits. \u201cI was so thankful to spend so many years with Coach Byrd. I did 16 seasons with him and the first season with Casey. They\u2019re great friends and wonderful guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending 16 years with the same team is a long time, and just like Belmont grew and became better, so did Ingram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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