Whether you’re watching a Bobcat baseball game, tuning into the “State’s Up” podcast for a football recap or just catching up with Texas State sports via social media clips, you’ll likely hear the voice of Texas State’s Broadcast Coordinator, Brant Freeman.
Like many others, Freeman started his career at Texas State due to the resources it offers its students. After working for KTSW calling games play-by-play on the radio, Freeman had his start as a broadcaster, but Texas State refused to part ways with him.
“I graduated in [2006], and athletics wanted to kind of, keep me around,” Freeman said. “So, I remained the radio voice for the football program for about 15 years or so.”
Following his graduation from Texas State Freeman took a job as a sports director for a New Braunfels radio station, AM 1420. Meanwhile, Texas State gave him a contract to cover its football games on the side.
In 2018, a partnership developed between ESPN and the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) which allowed for there to be a broadcast coordinator at every SBC program. With his experience and tenure, Freeman filled the opening and said since then he’s felt lucky to be in the position he is.
“I’m very, very fortunate to be where I’m at,” Freeman said. “There’s only 330 Division I schools in the country. Not all of them have exclusive TV coverage. Even fewer have a full-time role for somebody like [me].”
Freeman’s covered historic moments at Texas State for decades, and during his time he’s become heavily embedded in the Bobcat community. Freeman believes being in touch with his community helps him to excel at his job.
“I have a daughter who’s about to be 13 years old, so roots have kind of been planted here a little bit,” Freeman said. “I’ve been very happy to have served in the role that I have over the last 20 years or so.”
When it comes to a job opening this rare, one would expect he who fills it to go above and beyond, and Freeman does just that according to Texas State’s radio play-by-play announcer Clint Shields. Shields said Freeman possesses a rare and astounding ability to not only commentate but to practice good-quality journalism in the process.
“To [Freeman] specifically, he’s a guy who’s got talent beyond Texas State and San Marcos,” Shields said. “That comes out of my mouth sounding like I’m disparaging San Marcos, and I’m certainly not. But [Freeman] got the type of talent, and it’s not just in his play-by-play delivery. He’s got the type of talent that he can do this at a bigger level.”
Atop his ESPN duties, Freeman also works in other settings around Texas State including helping with radio broadcasts and hosting a podcast titled “State’s Up.”
It can be said with confidence that Freeman has set the bar high for simply covering sports at Texas State. What some may not know, however, is he also plays a part in the growth of the Texas State student body by mentoring students who aspire to be like him.
Joey Gonzales, an electronic media senior at Texas State, had the opportunity to work with Freeman during his time at KTSW. According to Gonzales, Freeman exemplified great example of how to work in the broadcast room and passed down some valuable methods.
“The most interesting thing I found about him is just how prepped he is for every game,” Gonzalez said. “He treats the soccer game on a Thursday the same as he treats the football game on a Saturday,” Gonzales said. “There’s so much prep that he goes into, so it’s just cool to see that he takes every game so seriously.”
Freeman has worked for decades to bring entertainment to Texas State’s audience and achieve his goals in sports broadcasting. Because of his hard work, ability to mentor and pure talent when it comes to play-calling, Texas State can surely say it has someone rocking the mic.
