When Brad Woznicki calls the play-by-play for Bowling Green’s women’s basketball team, he does so with
some inside information learned the hard way.
A 2008 graduate of Perrysburg High School, Woznicki gets a first-hand look at the Falcon women’s team as
a member of the men’s practice squad that head coach Curt Miller uses to help get the team ready.
"Basketball is definitely my favorite sport to broadcast," Woznicki said. "But I also love
baseball just because it’s so conversational.
"Being with the BGSU women’s basketball team, it’s just so real. You’re traveling with the team;
you’re eating meals with them," Woznicki continued. "Coach Miller is just such a great person
to be around. And the players are so fun."
Woznicki had previously tried out for the practice squad, but didn’t make it because of his class
schedule. This year he was able to arrange his classes to be on the squad.
"That makes it even better just to learn what their opponent is going to be like and practicing
against them," he said. "I love competing in basketball. That’s another great opportunity I
was able to do my final year here … Helping the team get ready for a game just makes it that much more
exciting. You feel a part of the team when that game is going on."
A member of the 2007-2008 Perrysburg boys basketball team which reached the regional semifinals, Woznicki
ran the Cellar Sports website at the high school. He wrote recaps of games and also did photography.
"I always just loved going to sporting events and watching the games. I would find myself keeping
track of the statistics during the game," Woznicki said. "Going to baseball games and
basketball games, it’s just always been a fun thing.
"When I came to visit BG, one of the first things I found out was that you get on air as a freshman.
That was huge for me, and my dad (James) really loved the idea. And the fact it’s so close to home is
great," he added.
Now a senior, who plans to graduate in May, Woznicki has embraced his time at Bowling Green.
He has done a wide variety of things including, serving as executive director for the Bowling Green Radio
Sports Organization (BGRSO); running WBGU-FM as the general manager; serving as a sports anchor on BG 24
News; and doing play-by-play for the Falcons.
He’s taking three classes and an independent study this semester. To help with expenses, Woznicki
received a year’s tuition waiver from the WBGU-FM Talent Scholarship.
"He is highly motivated and really puts a lot of effort into the radio operations at BGSU,"
said Stephen Merrill, the faculty advisor for radio operations. "He balances those responsibilities
while being, as far as I know, an exceptional student
"He’s busy and he does a good job with it," Merrill added. "He tries to make the other
students who work with him in broadcasting better and make sure they are as professional as
possible."
Woznicki enjoys the challenge of multi-tasking.
"It makes it better for me job-wise in the future, with the ability to do different things,"
Woznicki said.
Woznicki also gained valuable experience in two summer internships.
He was with the Miami Heat after his sophomore year during the summer when LeBron James made his decision
to leave Cleveland. This past summer Woznicki had an internship with KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Jason Jackson, a BGSU graduate, who does television work for the Heat, helped Woznicki get the internship
with the Florida NBA team.
"It was incredible. Working in the arena, seeing the different players they were trying out,"
Woznicki said after his experience in Miami. "At the welcome party, I was in front of the stage,
and I also sat in that press conference right afterwards. All that was great."
He got the internship in South Dakota to expand his knowledge of television sports.
"That was quite a different experience in a different area," Woznicki said. "It was great
because I got to do everything a sports anchor would do, shooting, editing, putting packages together,
and then towards the end I got to do some practice runs as a sports anchor."
Woznicki said he was able to do the two two-month internships, both of which were unpaid, with major help
from his parents James and Pamela.
With his wide-range of experience, play-by-play is still his love and Woznicki would like to find a job
at the collegiate or professional level calling games.
"TV is the primary goal, but radio has also become a strong interest. It’s whatever can get me on
air," Woznicki said.
"He has enough motivation to make his future very bright," Merrill said. "He is one of
those people who will push himself to make the next level.
"His future is bright for media relations, play-by-play, producing; he’ll start out pretty
well."