For the 29th year, the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association is pleased to announce its incoming Hall of Fame Class, set to be inducted at its annual awards banquet to be held on Sunday, April 6 at Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood.
This year’s Class of 2025 includes the following people who have graced Hoosier newspapers, radio stations, and television airwaves during the past several decades:
Curt Cavin, Indianapolis Star & Indycar.com _ After graduating from Franklin College, Cavin quickly found full-time employment with the Indianapolis Star beginning in 1987. Cavin scribed about both high school sports and Indiana basketball for more than a decade while also writing about motor sports. By 2001, Cavin had become The Star's lead motor sports writer, covering Indy 500s, Brickyard 400s and the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Cavin served as a contributor to WTHR for many years as well as hosting "Trackside" with Kevin Lee, which is in its 18th year of airing on 93.5 and 107.5 The Fan in Indy. Cavin shifted into INDYCAR administration in 2016, and he now writes all things motor sports for INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Len Davis, WGL Radio, Fort Wayne (deceased) _ From 1949 to 1980, Davis called over four thousand basketball games on the airwaves of WGL Radio, averaging a clip of over 90 games per season. The exploits of Davis over the airwaves weren’t limited to high school hoops as his range of events broadcast spanned activities such as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to weekly stock car races. After retiring from WGL, Davis continued doing basketball games on local cable television for a decade. Davis was a winner of the Distinguished Service award from the IHSAA in 1995, and passed away in 1997.
Brian Hammons, WXIN/WRTV/Golf Channel _ The Anderson native began his broadcast career with WRTV in Indianapolis while still a student at Butler University. That would eventually lead to being part of the Indiana Pacers television broadcasts and then becoming sports director at WXIN in Indianapolis. In 1994, Hammons then had the opportunity to be one of the first voices and faces of The Golf Channel, which launched in January of 1995. Hammons hosted Golf Central and did play-by-play for PGA, LPGA, and Champions Tour events, and even had a role in the movie Tin Cup.
Tony Kale, WCLS Bloomington/Ellettsville _ Kale has spent 38 years gracing the radio airwaves of the state of Indiana, and the last 37 of those have included doing play-by-play for high school sports. All of those have been in the area surrounding Bloomington, whether that’s WLSO in Spencer, WSKT in Ellettsville, or now WCLS based in Bloomington. Kale was the 2009 Marv Bates Award winner from the ISSA, and is approaching nearly 1,400 career games called, including six state championship appearances. Tony serves as the voice of the Edgewood Mustangs, handles numerous Owen Valley broadcasts, and hosts the morning show on WCLS as well.
Vince Turner, Elkhart Truth/WTRC Radio _A member of the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame, Turner spent nine years chronicling all things Elkhart sports and then an additional 13 years talking about them. Turner has previously received awards from Indiana football, wrestling, and baseball coaches, as well as athletic directors. Over the airwaves, Turner called area high school football and basketball, plus Notre Dame basketball as well. These days Turner is a communications specialist for the Goshen Chamber of Commerce.
Curt Rallo _South Bend Tribune: Rallo spent 38 years covering everything South Bend sports for the Tribune, ranging from Notre Dame, Big Ten, South Bend SilverHawks/Cubs baseball, to major league sports in both Chicago and Indianapolis. These days, Rallo still covers the Irish for the Associated Press, in addition to baseball for MILB.com in the Midwest League. Rallo was a winner of the IHSAA Distinguished Media Service Award in 1996. Rallo also teaches at Penn High School in both the English and journalism departments and has done so since 2001.
In addition to these new Hall of Famers, the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association will recognize winners of annual honors such as the Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year, the Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year, the Bob Williams Helping Hand Award, and the Ron Lemasters Lifetime Achievement Award. Those winners are as follows:
Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year: Todd Kibbey, Regional Radio Sports Network _ While Kibbey has been active in play-by-play since 1993, he made the move across state lines to Indiana in 1998, and has been either courtside or in a press box ever since. Kibbey spent four years calling games for WJOB in Hammond, and then joined Regional Radio Sports in 2002. Kibbey has covered a variety of teams for RRSN in the last 23 years, but has been the primary voice of Lowell High School football since 2012, and East Chicago Central hoops for the last three seasons.
Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year: Justin Sokeland, WBIW.com _ Sokeland has 38 years of experience covering Indiana and national sports. Sokeland is currently the high school sports editor and publisher for WBIW.com and BNLathletics.com, covering nearly every Bedford North Lawrence High School sporting event. Sokeland also produces a daily morning sports report for WBIW radio. Sokeland worked as the Indiana high school basketball reporter and golf writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal from 2004-16, and was a writer and Sports Editor for the Bedford Times-Mail from 1986-2004.
Bob Williams Helping Hand Award: Bill Wagner, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications, Depauw University _ Wagner, affectionately known as ‘Wags,’ has been a fixture of all things DePauw sports since 1986. Wagner is a member of the College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame and has worked off-campus events ranging from the Pan Am Games in 1987 to the 2010 NCAA Final Four. He has served on CSC's Academic All-America Committee for over 20 years, was on the CSC Board of Directors for three years and elected the first president of D3SIDA (2008-11). Wagner oversees communications for all 23 intercollegiate athletic programs at DePauw, and the annual Monon Bell Classic between the Tigers and Wabash College, perhaps the biggest game in all of small college football which has aired on ABC, AXS TV, Fox Sports Indiana, and now ISC Sports Network over the years. He has served as the media host for over 100 NCAA Division III competitions including three national championships.
Ron Lemasters Lifetime Achievement Award: Pat McKee, Indianapolis Star _ McKee covered a variety of teams and events for The Star, primarily on the high school sports beat. Following his days of covering sports, he spent 11 years coaching them at a very high level, serving as the girls’ basketball coach at Columbus North, leading the Bull Dogs to the 2015 4A state championship. McKee has remained active both as a writer and with basketball, as he assists the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association’s administration of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series, maintaining and adding to the records database for both the game and all of Indiana high school basketball. He was a winner of the IHSAA Distinguished Media Service Award in 2002 and the ISSA Corky Lamm Award in 2005. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the ISSA Hall of Fame in 2009.
These ten honorees will be recognized at the association’s annual banquet on April 6, which begins at 2 p.m. at Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood. Tickets are available with a meal included for $50. To order tickets, send a check for $50 to Fred Inniger, ISSA Treasurer, 3011 Noble Hawk Drive, Kendallville, IN 46755.
Also, those wanting to renew their memberships to the ISSA, or to become new members, send $25 to Fred for your annual dues.
Please order your banquet tickets before March 24.
The Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association was founded in 1946. The ISSA created its Hall of Fame 50 years later in 1996. The Hall of Fame currently has 147 members including this year’s honorees.
