25 Years of Memories: Women's Basketball Radio Announcer Reflects on Cherished Time at TCU
When the TCU women’s basketball team honored Jeff Williams before the Kansas State game on February 18 for 25 years of service, the team’s radio play-by-play announcer could barely stand the attention.
“Mortifying,” Williams said of being recognized at midcourt. “I’m just a guy on the radio who talks and could probably talk a dog off a meat wagon.”
Former TCU coaches Jeff Mittie, now the head coach at Kansas State, and Raegan Pebley stood on each side of Williams while everyone smiled for the camera. You could almost see 25 years worth of memories coming back into focus. Williams had worked with Mittie for 15 of those years and Pebley the last nine.
Williams also received a pair of custom-made purple, white, and red Nike shoes, which now sit in a display case at his Weatherford home.
Williams is quick to deflect attention when talking about himself and likes remaining as anonymous as much as possible, which is why the pre-game ceremony made him uncomfortable.
But it still meant the world to someone who left veterinarian school more than 30 years ago to pursue a career in sports radio.
“I appreciate (TCU and the women’s basketball program) more than they could ever know,” Williams said. “Just let me do what I do and have fun.”
Weeks after the Kansas State game, Williams's tenure as the team's radio announcer ended.
Getting Started in Radio
Williams arrived at TCU fresh off a three-year stint in State College, Pennsylvania. Calling women’s basketball and men’s and women’s volleyball games, among other sports, for Penn State University helped Williams gain experience and “catch up” with his sports radio peers.
“I would do anything they asked me to do pretty much if I knew the sport,” he said.
As a kid, Williams played baseball but felt drawn to a career as a veterinarian. He earned an Animal Science degree from Angelo State and earned a spot in the veterinarian program at Texas A&M. After two years, Williams determined that was not the right path.
He transferred to UT-Arlington, graduated with a second bachelor’s degree in radio, TV, and film in 1991, got married, and landed a job at Weatherford’s KZEE spinning country records on the weekend. Williams took on a new role when the station’s sports radio announcer left shortly before football season.
He called games for Weatherford High School and girls' and boys' basketball games for Brock and Peaster high schools.
After a couple of years, Williams decided to pursue collegiate sports radio. He landed in Pennsylvania at WMAJ as the sports director.
Williams enjoyed Pennsylvania, but he and his wife, Kathy, wanted to return to Texas. About a year after their oldest son was born, TCU’s Director of Broadcasting Brian Estridge gave Williams that chance.
Creating a Lifetime of Memories Through TCU Basketball
The women’s basketball program had started turning a corner when Williams came on board before the 1998-99 season.
During coach Mike Peterson’s third season, and the only one with Williams, the Horned Frogs finished .500 in conference and won 16 total games. That was a major improvement from the eight total wins Peterson’s predecessor accumulated over three seasons.
Peterson then left for an assistant job with the men’s team at Minnesota, and Mittie stepped in.
Mittie’s second year (2000-01) resulted in a WAC regular season title, tournament championship, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament. Strangely enough, Williams knew the first-round opponent better than anyone else.
Penn State finished the season ranked in the top 25 and snagged the No. 6-seed in the Ruston, LA Regional.
“I always told Jeff, if you ever get in the tournament, you want to face Penn State,” Williams said. “You can get them early. They always struggle in the first and second round.”
Those woes continued as the No. 11 Horned Frogs prevailed 77-75. Louisiana Tech, a three seed, ended TCU’s run in the next round, 80-59.
“That was probably the most exciting (memory) because of the emotion I had,” Williams said. “And because of my ties with the (Penn State) head coach, and it was the first NCAA tournament win.”
As Williams talks about that team, he can’t help but wonder what might have been for another NCAA Tournament-caliber squad.
Pebley’s 2019-20 team finished the regular season 22-7 overall and second in the Big 12 Conference standings behind Baylor. No matter what happened at the conference tournament, the team would go dancing.
Williams saw Sweet Sixteen potential.
“I was hoping for a six, thinking maybe seven seed,” he said. “It was the best team in the history of the program.”
Then the world shut down.
Williams was not with the team when the Big 12 Tournament, and later the NCAA Tournament, were canceled. The team had gone up to Kansas City a day before Williams planned to arrive.
He was minutes away from heading to the airport when a text came through saying do not come.
The team was heading home.
“It’s one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever experienced,” Williams said. “Those kids didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.”
It’s easy to play the “what-if” game thinking about that team.
If the Horned Frogs had made a deep run, it would have been commemorated inside Schollmaier Arena. The program would have had a new recruiting pitch.
Instead…
“All of their momentum was just slammed into a brick wall,” Williams said.
The next season consisted of COVID protocols and socially distanced broadcasts. Williams did not travel with the team and could not foster many relationships.
He called road games on a couch in Texas while watching a satellite feed. He sat in the upper deck at Schollmaier Arena for home games while wearing a mask, which muffled the on-air sound.
On-air interviews were conducted through Zoom.
Nothing felt the same.
“I was not nearly as emotionally invested,” Williams said. “You can’t; it’s impossible. You’re not around them; you’re not on the road. You’re not in a big ballroom and hearing them as a group at a table laughing. Lost all of that.”
The Horned Frogs finished 10-15 that season and won just three more Big 12 games between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. The lone conference win in the 2022-23 season happened to come against Kansas State - the same night TCU recognized Williams.
Williams admits he had a stronger emotional connection with this particular team. He admired how the student-athletes never quit on each other or Pebley and always had a positive attitude, even in the 30-point losses.
It reflected the culture Pebley built.
“I don’t know what her magic formula is in terms of the character of kids she recruits, but they meshed, they bonded,” Williams said. “They had each other’s back. It’s a really rare thing to be able to pull something like that off.”
Combine the season's struggles with that game's emotion and some ongoing concerns about his dad’s health, and the Kansas State win hit Williams hard.
“All of that came crashing down,” he said. “I was openly weeping on the air. I won’t deny it. I’m not exaggerating. [Raegan] just started talking until I couldn't get it together.”
William’s final season with TCU women’s basketball might not have ended in a championship or NCAA Tournament run, but it encapsulated how much the last 25 years had meant.
A multi-talented sports broadcaster
Within that quarter of a century, Williams assisted with other TCU sports.
He spent 13 years working the sideline during football broadcasts. Williams also called non-conference men’s basketball games when they conflicted with football. This endeavor brought a few extra traveling opportunities, including a 2018 Christmas tournament in Hawaii that turned into a family affair.
Williams knew leaving Kathy, his two sons, and his daughter behind for a week would not sit well at that time of year. So, they hopped on a plane and joined him.
“I’m not a huge fan of being away from home at Christmas, but this was a one-off that they will remember and love for the rest of their lives,” he said.
When the Horned Frogs competed in the WAC from 1996-2000 and played the University of Hawaii regularly, Hawaii almost became a second home for Williams. At one point, he had visited Hawaii five times in an 18-month span between football and basketball.
Outside TCU, Williams called Aledo High School football games from 2000-2022. During that time, he worked ten state title games, including two where Mittie’s son, Jordan, starred at linebacker.
Juggling all these roles took a toll at times. Preparing for each TCU game could take 6-7 hours, while Aledo games required 15-20 hours. When football and basketball seasons collided in November and December, the calendar got very messy.
It might mean covering six games in an eight-day span.
“There were times I would look at (the calendar), and tell my wife there’s no way,” Williams said. “I would get to the end and say I have no idea how I did that.”
Even more impressive, Williams did his sports radio “play job” while working at WBAP for 13 years of the 25 years. He started on an overnight show and later produced a talk show.
Williams then became the estate manager for his parent’s 1,500-acre ranch in Bosque County.
What’s Next
Williams cherishes his time with the TCU women’s basketball program. He knew entering the 2022-23 season, no matter what happened on the court, this would be his last year. The friendships formed with coaches and their families, staff members, and student-athletes will undoubtedly carry over into this next chapter.
Williams will continue working as his parent’s estate manager. His dad passed away on March 10, which has brought some changes. Williams wants to support his mom as much as possible during this time.
Taking a step back from radio also allows Williams and Kathy to travel together since their work schedules rarely matched up over the past 33 years.
Or Williams can just enjoy staying home.
“I’m a homebody by nature, which is why ultimately, after 25 years, I’m stepping away,” he said.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Williams will never pick up a headset again. If TCU needs help during the busy winter months, you might hear him calling a non-conference basketball game.
Just a guy on the radio who found a home at TCU.
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