When Jevin Redman entered the conference ballroom filled with over 200 sports broadcasters from across Indiana, he didn’t know what to expect.

“It was cool to be in the same room as people you listened to or watched growing up and then to go accept the award in front of them was very humbling and a cool achievement for me,” he said.

Redman, the sports director for the university radio station WSWI, claimed the Indiana Broadcasting Association Spectrum Award for Sports in the Radio Market at the association’s annual conference in Carmel, Indiana.

The awards are split into six categories: best newscast, radio station broadcast personality or team, local community involvement, sports, commercial and best promotional campaign.

The Radio Market 1 includes the Indianapolis metro area, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Evansville.

Only a handful of college students have ever been chosen for this award as it is designed mostly for professional broadcasters.

Redman grew up playing tennis, basketball and baseball and knew he wanted to do some kind of broadcasting since he was 6-years-old, but wasn’t sure he wanted to make a career out of it.

“The radio and broadcasting stems from listening to Pacers and Cardinals games on the radio,” he said. “Playing sports, I would always take a radio out if I was throwing or hitting and listening to whatever game was on. “

Redman has broadcasted sports for WSWI since his freshman year and has covered a wide-range of sports from high school football to men’s and women’s basketball to baseball.

“After that first semester, I felt pretty comfortable doing behind the scenes stuff as well and from then on it’s taken off,” he said.

Redman said he was overwhelmed in his first broadcast, but learned to research more to give his audience better background information.

“They always say a broadcaster’s job is to inform and entertain, so I think the key thing on my side is to do preparation going into a game,” he said. “I’ll go to practice, see what they’re working on as far as what to expect from the other team that kind of gives them more knowledge on the opponent as well”

Redman said he puts in around 3 or 4 hours of preparation and research before each broadcast.

“You do a lot of that work and they always say 80 percent of the stuff you do you don’t use on your broadcast, but you have that there in case you need to use it,” he said.

He said he hopes to land with a university or professional team after he graduates in the spring.

“My goal is to be a play-by-play broadcaster for a team and hopefully I’m fortunate enough to work up to the top level,” he said. “Its competitive and difficult to break through, but I feel like I’m in a good position to make it to the top.”

John Morris, the general manager of the WSWI radio station, said it was amazing how well Redman has improved since he began broadcasting in his freshman year.

“He was polished when he came in,” Morris said. “He had some experience from the high school level, but since then he’s worked really hard to get to where he is.”

Morris said Redman has a number of qualities that enhance his broadcasts, including voice and pacing.

“Truthfully, when you narrow it down to everything, he can draw a picture,” he said. “He draws that picture that the audience can see what’s going on and he can really pull them into the ballgame.”

Morris said he takes a lot of pride in Redman’s accomplishments, but it all comes back to his work and what he has put together.

He said Redman is a continuation of high-quality broadcasters that have worked at WSWI, but none have reached the level that Redman has. He said other members of the station see the quality of work he is doing and they know if they put in that kind of work, the have the opportunity to reach the same level as Redman.

Morris said he has essentially turned over the sports department to Redman, who is in charge of scheduling and makes sure all games are prepped.

“When he graduates, that’s one of the things I’m going to miss is that leadership,” he said. “We’ll have some younger people next year and I know that will mean a little bit more hands on involvement.”

Morris said he believes Redman has the skill level to broadcast any type of sports team, including NBA and MLB teams.

“I know our listeners over the years have really learned how fortunate they are to have Jevin to listen to,” he said.