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Alan York will be taking over Liberty Athletics radio play-by-play duties starting this fall.
Following a national search that drew names and interest from the highest level of NCAA Division I athletics, Liberty Athletics has hired former ISP broadcaster Alan York as its new radio play-by-play broadcaster for its football and men's basketball programs.
York will be replacing Liberty's legendary play-by-play broadcaster Jerry Edwards, who held the position of "Voice of the Flames" for 29 years before retiring from broadcasting last spring.
Edwards had broadcast more than 300 football games and 800 men's basketball contests during his three decades of work, having traveled as far as Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico to cover Liberty's athletics programs.
"We were very fortunate to find someone like Alan to follow Jerry Edwards as the next ‘Voice of the Flames,'" said Jeff Barber, Liberty's Director of Athletics. "He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience and is the right person to build upon the foundation that Jerry built for our radio network.
"I told Alan when he interviewed for the position that our goal is to have the best radio network in college athletics, and I believe Alan is the person to make that happen."
For the past 12 years, York has been an assistant production manager for ISP, America's Home for College Sports on the radio for the last two decades.
While at ISP, York was based out of Winston-Salem, N.C., and was the lead broadcaster for the ACC National Game of the Week in football. He has also gained experience broadcasting various Wake Forest's men's and women's basketball and baseball programs.
York's vast experience has allowed him to produce the radio broadcasts for the ACC, Wake Forest, South Carolina, Georgia and Arkansas as part of the ISP family.
"It's an exciting time right now to be a Liberty Flame," commented York. "The energy felt throughout this University is contagious and I am fortunate to have this once in a lifetime opportunity."
"I'd like to thank Jeff Barber and Kevin Keys for their confidence in me," continued York. "My No. 1 goal is to uphold the tradition of quality play-by-play that Jerry Edwards provided for the last 29 years.
"I am excited to be working with one of the best broadcasting teams in the country. With a concerted effort, we will continue to make the Flames Sports Network the gold standard in play-by-play broadcasting."
Starting in the spring of 2000, York also served as the Director of Broadcasting/Media Relations for the Winston-Salem Warthogs, a single-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
During his six years with the Warthogs, York handled radio broadcasting duties for the program's entire 140-game schedule, coordinated player media responsibilities, supervised the press box, updated the team's web site, created proposals for sales purposes and sold various forms of sponsorship.
York is no stranger to Big South Conference athletics. From June 2001 to March 2006, he served as the radio play-by-play broadcaster for High Point's men's and women's basketball programs.
York has also worked with WXII-TV, an NBC affiliate in Winston-Salem, N.C., as a production assistant and radio producer for three years, where his duties included hosting the NASCAR Minute show.
York has worked two different other stints that have association with Major League Baseball. He was a broadcast assistant for XM Radio's coverage of the World Baseball Classic in 2006, and he served as the Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting for the Arizona Fall League the same year.
York is a 1999 graduate of Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in sport management, with a business management minor. York was a Dean's List student at Guilford and a four-year letterwinner in football and baseball.
York will be the fourth person to hold down the position as the Flames' play-by-play broadcaster for football and the fifth for men's basketball.
Kevin Keys, Liberty's Associate Athletics Director for External Operations, who headed up the national search which led to York's hire, started the Flames Sports Network in 1979.
Keys, who handled men's basketball play-by-play himself for two years during the infancy of the network, worked with Wayne Campbell and Frank Capiello before eventually selecting Edwards for the job in 1981.
Edwards broadcast his first football game against Catawba on Sept. 12, 1981. During the following three decades, Edwards only missed one football game and just a handful of men's basketball games.
Edwards will continue his ties with the Flames Sports Network. He still remains the station manager for Victory FM, the 50,000-watt flagship station for the radio side of the Flames Sports Network.
Within the last year, the radio station has greatly expanded its footprint, which now includes five full-power radio stations and 24 operation translators, placing Liberty's radio broadcast throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and much of the state of North Carolina.
The change in on-the-air voice talent is not the only adjustment that will be made regarding Liberty's radio broadcast. Edwards assumed direction of the Flames Sports Network during a time of change within Liberty Athletics and continued to lead the network until his retirement from his play-by-play duties.
However, with a much more robust Liberty Athletics department now operating, the radio side of the Flames Sports Network will return under the direction of the department, just like it was when Keys started the network 30-plus years ago.
Originally started to provide radio coverage for Liberty's football and men's basketball programs, the Flames Sports Network now regularly covers all football, men's and women's basketball games, plus providing significant radio and internet video coverage for Liberty's baseball, softball and men's and women's soccer programs.
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