Published: December 25, 2008 04:09 pm      

VOICE OF A LEGEND: Longtime broadcaster Jenkins to be inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in March

Basketball is part of the fabric of the culture in Clark in Floyd County

From New Albany’s 1973 state championship team, Jeffersonville’s 1993 state title squad and Floyd Central’s beloved “Super Hicks,” and their journey to the 1971 Final Four — the hardwood is home to some of the most-told stories in the history of their hometowns.

One man — and one voice — has woven that fabric together for the last four-plus decades via the airwaves.

That man is Charlie Jenkins — perhaps the best-known play-by-play radio broadcaster for Southern Indiana high school athletics.

“I don’t think there is any question that Charlie Jenkins has been the consummate professional for decades,” New Albany head boys’ basketball coach Jim Shannon said. “In the 11 years I’ve been at New Albany, I’ve found him to be a positive influence for our program and a positive influence for high school basketball.”

On Dec. 1, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame honored Jenkins’ dedication to broadcasting — awarding him with the Hall of Fame’s Silver Medal Award.

The honor is given annually to an individual who has made contributions to Indiana basketball in some fashion other than as a player or a coach.

Earning the Silver Medal automatically inducts Jenkins into the Hall of Fame, which will officially take place on March 25 in Indianapolis.

Jenkins will enter the Hall with several Hoosier basketball greats like 1983 Indiana Mr. Basketball and former Indiana University All-American Steve Alford and former Michigan State guard and current Milwaukee Bucks’ head coach Scott Skiles — who led Plymouth to the 1982 state championship.

“I’m tremendously excited,” Jenkins said. “It’s the ultimate for any Hoosier to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I hoped it would come about one day and my dream came true.”

This is not the first time that Jenkins has been honored for his broadcasting prowess. He won the IHSAA Distinguished Media Service Award during the 1988-89 season and was inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame in 1999.



RADIO HAS BEEN JENKINS’ LIFE

Jenkins has been interested in the radio business since he was a teenager growing up in Sellersburg and attending Providence High School.

Jenkins’ first on-air opportunity occurred in his high school days. He found out in a PHS speech class that a New Albany radio station was broadcasting a show about the happenings at several area high schools. Students from each school announced the upcoming events at their respective schools.

Jenkins jumped at the opportunity.

“Since then, I’ve been a radio buff,” said Jenkins, who played on Providence‘s first two football teams in 1955 and 1956 and also played basketball his freshman and sophomore years. “I listened to radio games and the area disc jockeys. It solidified me working in broadcasting.”

After graduating from Providence in 1957, Jenkins enrolled IU.

Even though Jenkins earned a bachelor’s of science degree in education, radio was still his first love. He took several radio and television courses at IU through the education school, and he broadcasted several Hoosier sporting events for the school’s radio station, WFIU-AM.

Jenkins also worked part-time at a radio station in Seymour while he was in college.

“I was doing well in commercial radio at the time, so I thought it would be my career path,” Jenkins said.

Once he graduated from in 1961, Jenkins got a full-time job at the Seymour station that spring where he was news director and a disc jockey. He did a 15-minute newscast each day during the lunch hour.

In the fall of 1961, Jenkins broadcasted the first high school game of his career, a football contest between Seymour and North Vernon.

That stop in his career ended in 1962, when Jenkins left Seymour to become a news reporter for WHAS-AM in Louisville. Later that year, he left WHAS to become news director at WSAC-AM in Fort Knox, Ky.

After working for nearly two years in Fort Knox, Jenkins moved on to his next station, a place where he would work at for 33 years.

Jenkins became the news director at the now-defunct WXVW-AM in Jeffersonville in October 1964.

Not only did Jenkins do newscasts, he got an opportunity to do something he missed doing — broadcasting high school athletics.

Jenkins started out at WXVW broadcasting tape-delayed Silver Creek and Providence basketball games. Shortly thereafter, WXVW’s top play-by-play announcer left the station, opening up the opportunity for Jenkins to broadcast live high school football and basketball games.

Jenkins continued to broadcast prep events for WXVW until 1997. Along with his broadcasting duties, his responsibilities at the station increased. He was station manager and a part-owner of WXVW from 1981-1997.

In ‘97, Jenkins sold his shares in WXVW, left the station and became an advertising sales representative for Clear Channel Radio in Louisville. In addition, he started broadcasting New Albany boys’ basketball and football games for WKJK-AM.

Jenkins still works for Clear Channel in both capacities. He is a senior account representative where he sells advertising spots for five radio stations.

And of course — he continues broadcasting high school sports.

“I don’t look at it as a job,” Jenkins said about sportscasting. “I like the camaraderie of the coaches and the fans. I have no other hobbies.”

In any game Jenkins broadcasts, he attempts to do two things — be prepared and be impartial.

“I try to be well-prepared. I talk to the coaches and get as much information as possible,” he said. “I try to be pretty much straight down the middle with my broadcasts. People depend on me to be their eyes and ears. I try to be a person who gives an accurate summary of what’s going on on the floor.”



OTHER BROADCASTING VENTURES

High school athletics is not the only thing Jenkins has broadcasted in his 47-year career. He has announced minor-league baseball and college basketball.

From 1968-1971, Jenkins was the play-by-play man for the Triple-A Louisville Colonels on WXVW. He can remember broadcasting Colonels’ road games even though he did not travel with the team. Jenkins would follow the game through the Western Union wire, relay the action to listeners and use sound effects like fans cheering or booing after a play.

Jenkins also broadcasted Bellarmine University men’s basketball games during Bob Valvano’s coaching tenure in the 1990s.

Being the Colonels’ play-by-play guy gave Jenkins an opportunity to interview one of baseball’s all-time greats.

In 1969, Jenkins got a chance to sit down and talk to the late Hall of Famer Ted Williams during an All-Star game in Louisville. Williams was the manager of the Washington Senators at the time.

“It was one of the best interviews I’ve ever had,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins almost made it to the big time in the mid-70s. In 1974, Jenkins was a finalist for the Cincinnati Reds’ play-by-play announcing job.

The man who beat out Jenkins — longtime Reds’ announcer and National Baseball Hall of Fame member Marty Brennaman.

“I really wanted that job, but I was happy doing the high school games,” said Jenkins, who also applied for the Indiana Pacers’ play-by-play job around that time. “I wanted it, but it wasn’t life or death.”



JENKINS’ MAIN SIDEKICK

When it was announced that Jenkins was heading into the Hall of Fame, nobody was prouder of him than his former broadcast partner and color commentator at WXVW, Jeff resident Ted Throckmorton.

“He’s very, very deserving because of the dedication he’s shown,” said Throckmorton, who is currently broadcasting area high school games for WQKC-AM.

For 34 years, Jenkins and Throckmorton became one of the top radio tandems in Indiana at WXVW. They covered the one-class IHSAA State Finals throughout their tenure together, and Throckmorton said none of the other play-by-play announcers at state compared to Jenkins.

“When we covered the state finals in Indianapolis, Charlie was better prepared than any of the announcers along press row,” Throckmorton said. “His preparation is his strong point. His impartiality is another strong point.”

Throckmorton says Jenkins is a big reason for his own longevity in broadcasting high school games.

“The only reason I’ve lasted this long is because of my relationship with Charlie,” Throckmorton said. “He gave me the credibility for as long as I wanted it. My association with him is still there, and it makes me proud to be a part of that association.”

Jenkins says he could not do his job without the help of others like Throckmorton. Jenkins is thankful for his current color commentators — former New Albany and Providence baseball coach John Buerger and former Clarksville boys’ hoops coach Paul Love - and for former Tribune sports editor Eddie LaDuke, who helped Jenkins gather statistics and information for his WXVW broadcasts.

“Those four were instrumental in me doing the games,” Jenkins said. “I’ve had good people working with me and that makes it enjoyable, too.”



ADMIRATION FOR JENKINS

Jenkins has several admirers of his work because of his dedication to broadcasting high school athletics.

One of those admirers is Mark Lambertus, a former assistant and head coach for the Jeff boys’ basketball program.

“Charlie Jenkins is class,” Lambertus said. “I think the sheer professionalism he conducts himself with during the broadcast and the off-air preparation puts Charlie in a class by himself. Charlie never became a cheerleader for the local team. Yet, he was able to bring the game to the locals with honesty and integrity. Charlie knows everybody who is involved in Indiana basketball. He uses his knowledge to make the game and the history of the game more interesting and fun.”

Shannon echoed those sentiments.

“Probably, his main ingredient is that he’s such a great person,” Shannon said. “His broadcasting skills are tremendous. He could certainly be doing this at any level.”

Lee Kelly, who has managed New Albany High School’s radio station (WNAS-FM) for 36 years, shows a lot of respect and admiration for Jenkins by using Jenkins’ broadcasts as teaching tools for his students at NAHS. Kelly is happy to see Jenkins heading to the Hall of Fame.

“I can’t imagine anyone more deserving than Charlie,” Kelly said. “He has a passion for what he does. He’s a fan of sports, in particular high school sports.”



NOT HANGING IT UP ANYTIME SOON

If you think Jenkins is ready to hang up his microphone, think again.

Jenkins says his plan is continuing to broadcast games for a long time.

“As long as I’m healthy and I enjoy doing it, I’m going to keep doing it,” Jenkins said.

Throckmorton says Jenkins’ passion for athletics and just being around teenagers keeps him broadcasting.

“He keeps doing it for the same reason I do it — it keeps us young,” Throckmorton said. “It keeps him energized. He’s just as energized at the end of a broadcast as he is at the beginning of one.”

That energy should keep Jenkins telling memorable tales about future high school teams for years to come.



2009 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

* Charlie Jenkins, Providence - Silver Medal Winner

* Steve Alford, New Castle

* Denny Bishop, South Bend Central

* Steve Bouchie, Washington

* Phil Cox, Connersville

* Fred Fleetwood, Southport

* Dick Hickox, Fort Wayne North

* Bill James, Scottsburg

* Ted Kitchel, Cass

* Gregg Popovich, Merrillville

* Dolph Pulliam, Gary Roosevelt

* Wayne Radford, Indianapolis Arlington

* Bob Sakel, Jasper

* Scott Skiles, Plymouth

* Vaughn Wedeking, Evansville Harrison

* 1969 boys’ basketball state champions, the Indianapolis Washington Continentals



SILVER ANNIVERSARY TEAM MEMBERS

On Dec. 9, two former standouts from the Clark-Floyd area - Jeffersonville’s P.K. Falkenstein and Floyd Central’s Kevin Owens - were named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s Silver Anniversary team. The team consists of high school seniors from the 1983-84 season and will be honored at the Hall of Fame’s banquet on March 25.



The following is some of Falkenstein’s and Owens’ accomplishments during the ‘83-’84 campaign:

* FALKENSTEIN: All-Hoosier Hills Conference team, Academic All-HHC team, McDonald’s All-America team nominee, named to The Courier-Journal and Bloomington Herald All-State teams, ranked the third-best point guard in the Midwest by Gold’s Scouting Report.

* OWENS: All-HHC team, Academic All-State team, Academic All-American, all-state third team, made the all-sectional, all-regional and all-semistate teams.