Bringing Their Visions To Life

Big Ten Network's Student U program offers hands-on experience to students at every Big Ten Conference member institution, allowing those interested in a career in sports television to learn all facets of video production.

However, the Maryland Athletics broadcast and production team provides even greater opportunities for students involved in the program. The team produced a “megacast” on Big Ten Plus for the Maryland men’s basketball game against Canisius on Nov. 19. 

The broadcast boasted a production that filled the entire length of this game, including its 15-minute halftime and timeout breaks. The game coverage entailed more extensive analysis, pre-produced player features, interviews, stat graphics, and other captivating ways to engage the audience. 

It marked the first time a broadcast of that caliber with no breaks was successfully produced across Big Ten Student U member schools.  

“We're trying some creative ideas to provide the maximum level of broadcast we can do,” said Alex Baker, Maryland Athletics’ Director of Big Ten Plus. “What's unique about this and Big Ten Plus as a platform is once you have your subscription, you're not watching ads during the games. You're often going to a live shot where you're getting different feature things here and there. But what we really want to do is take advantage of that and just make it a college basketball fan's dream.”

Jack Susanin, an analyst for the broadcast, shared a similar sentiment. He also explained how the “megacast” mutually benefited viewers and the Student U team he works alongside. 

“The way I look at Big Ten Plus is through two angles. One, you want to put out the best broadcast possible for people watching it, and two, you want to get the best experience possible for the people doing it,” he said. “I think doing something like this helped in both those because everyone who’s watched sports doesn’t like seeing commercials. They want to hear more about the game. Obviously it's not plausible in a lot of situations to not have commercials.”  

He continued. “But having information and different types of content come at you during the game makes it really cool to watch as a viewer.

I would think, and then just participating in it, taking a step back and looking at everything that goes into it is cool because every detail that happened tonight required some serious thought.”

The game's broadcast was accomplished by adding three roles outside the play-by-play and analyst roles. It featured a sideline reporter and two studio hosts, mimicking a professional-grade broadcast. 

The student-led broadcast team consisted of Tyler Lochte (Play-by-Play), Susanin (Analyst), Alexa Wootten (Sideline Reporter), Nathan Schwartz (Studio Host) and Ryan Martin (Studio Talent). 

“When I got to Maryland, I wanted to do play-by-play for men's basketball,” Lochte said. “So to get to my senior year, finally be able to do it, and it's an experience like this. I don't think that there's anything that can prepare you for the real broadcast world that compares to what we just did tonight.”

According to Baker, the idea behind the broadcast was fulfilled because students desired to enhance coverage and work in specific roles they were interested in. They also built up to the “megacast” by incorporating components here and there over the semester. On Tuesday, they finally pieced everything together. 

“This is about student development and student growth, not just here, but across the Big Ten student U programs,” he said. “So for us, a lot of the ideas we're incorporating are ideas that we've gotten from students and things that students want to work on.” 

Wootten is one student who has pushed for extra ways to incorporate storytelling into the broadcasts. She sought to do that by incorporating a sideline reporter role. During the broadcast, she gave a season recap thus far, a report on star freshman big man Derik Queen and a deep dive into the relationship between Selton Miguel and former Terp Bruno Fernando. 

The broadcast even aired an interview Wootten did with Canisius head coach Jim Christian during the pregame and a live postgame interview with Miguel. It was just the second time Wootten worked as a sideline reporter on a Big Ten Plus broadcast and her first time doing live hits. 

“It’s kind of a dream come true just because coming into college, I really knew I loved interviewing and the actual breakdown of the game, so I wanted to find a combination of the two,” Wootten said. “When I got the opportunity to join Big Ten Plus last year and get to do all these opportunities, it kind of revived my love for journalism.”

Schwartz and Martin tackled the halftime coverage. They set up at a desk with a camera angle overlooking the XFINITY Center court. The pair collaborated by providing a recap of the first half while also previewing Maryland’s Big Ten home opener against Ohio State and looking at other men’s basketball games around the Big Ten. 

The halftime show also featured an interview with Damon Evans, Barry P. Gossett's Director of Athletics, during which he discussed the game, the brand-new Maryland Club and the Building Champions — Maryland Athletics Facilities Campaign. The broadcast team even collaborated with the Student U program at Iowa to relay a report from Carver-Hawkeye Arena before the Iowa men’s basketball game against Rider. 

“It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but my favorite part is that it wasn’t,” Martin said. “None of the cool things we did would’ve been possible without the creativity and trust from our Big Ten Plus leadership. Their willingness to try out new things with students that you’d see professionals doing at a network level speaks volumes to the experience they’re trying to give us here at Maryland.”

Schwartz also praised the production crew for always listening to students' ideas and finding feasible ways to incorporate them into broadcasts.  

“If they had an idea, it was put into a vision, and it came to life,” Schwartz said. “We're a very open group. We want to try new things. I think this semester has been amazing because we've been able to do everything that we've wanted. I really feel like we're bringing our production and raising the bar for other Big Ten Plus productions as well.”

The Student U cast, Baker and Lucas Mair, the Assistant Director for Big Ten Plus, hope their model could be something other programs follow. With the help of ambitious, aspiring broadcasters, history was made. Baker credits everyone involved for the product aired on Big Ten Plus on Nov. 19.  

“We've gotten great investment from our athletic department, from Big Ten Network and from our Big Ten Plus Student U program,” Baker said. “And frankly, we've got a really great group of students. … I hope other schools incorporate what we did to tell a story about their own programs and elevate Big Ten Plus as a platform. That's something that’s a common goal that we all have.”