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Oklahoma 'Voice' Chris Plank Gets New Time Slot on KREF

OU's wildly popular "Voice of Sooner Softball" will leave his 9-12 morning slot for an earlier show on the Norman radio station.

John E. Hoover

Chris Plank interviews Patty Gasso
Chris Plank interviews Patty Gasso / Chris Plank via Twitter/X
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Oklahoma fans will soon hear a familiar voice in a new time slot.

Chris Plank, the “Voice of Sooner Softball” and OU football’s sideline reporter since 2011, is moving his daily sports talk show on KREF to the station’s 6-9 a.m. slot.

On June 18, Plank officially replaces fellow “Voice of the Sooners” Toby Rowland, who leaves his morning radio show to take over as sports director at KWTV Channel 9 in Oklahoma City. Former Sooner quarterback Dean Blevins recently announced his retirement as sports director at OKC’s CBS affiliate.

"I’ve been truly lucky to work with great dudes in sports radio and do shows with Don King, Pop (Jeremie Poplin), Arnie Spanier and Josh Helmer," Plank told Sooners On SI. "Just the best … I'm constantly learning and hoping to get better every time I crack the mic. To have a chance to take over for Toby and T.J. (Perry) on a show I listen to every day is a dream come true. It’s a massive responsibility that I don’t take lightly and am excited to get started."

Rowland told Sooners On SI he will still call OU football, men’s basketball and baseball games. His new role with KREF will be one segment in the afternoon with former OU linebacker Teddy Lehman and host Tyler McComas,

Plank will maintain his duties calling play-by-play for Oklahoma's four-time national champion softball team. He has called OU softball games since 2016.

Plank’s co-host for his new morning gig is Blake Gamble, who has worked on the station’s video and podcast productions.

“We are incredibly excited for 'The Voice of OU Football, Baseball and Basketball' to hand the reins to 'The Voice of Oklahoma Softball' for our morning show,” KREF owner Casey Vineyard said in a statement posted on social media. “We’re extremely confident the REF Army will enjoy starting their day with The Plank Show.”

Plank is a University of Tulsa graduate who spent 18 years in Tulsa on air with am1430 The Buzz — most of it as program director.

He also co-hosts a nationally syndicated show every Sunday night from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. on Fox Sports Radio with Spanier, and will be on air this summer from 1-4 a.m. for Fox Sports Radio, as well as an 8-11 a.m. slot on Sirius XM College Sports Radio.

KREF must now fill Plank's 9-11 a.m. time slot. Multiple sources told Sooners On SI to expect a national media personality familiar to Sooner fans to be named soon as host of the late-morning show.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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